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| The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty | 
 enlarge | Author: Julia Flynn Siler
Publisher: Gotham
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $2.84
You Save: $12.16 (81%)
New (32) Used (31) Collectible (2) from $2.84
Avg. Customer Rating:  61 reviews
Sales Rank: 40361
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.2
ISBN: 1592403670
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.766320092273
EAN: 9781592403677
ASIN: 1592403670
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: book has normal wear to cover and is slightly bent Bayfront Books carefully selects the books it offers for sale on Amazon, and only includes those that are worthy of another read. While dust jackets may be missing and covers may show some damage, the contents are very readable... even in those books where previous owners had taken considerable notes or highlighting.
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| Customer Reviews:
House of Mondavi July 30, 2007
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Interesting read about the Mondavi family. Not a typical biography. Plenty of drama to hold my interest.
 Delicious July 29, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
After quickly buying in an airport bookstore, I devoured the contents like a nice pate and a fine Pinot, where you want to enjoy slowly but the tastes are too good to sip and savor.
As a wine lover who always like to know that all families have dysfunction, just some happen to have more zeros attached to their net worths - I absolutely loved this book. It would have been hard to keep up with the family members, but the family tree inside the cover was a nice addition so you could easily refer to the generations and many branches of the Mondavi dyansty.
I remember Ms. Silver's WSJ article and was fascinated by this ongoing drama back then. I'm very happy she followed up with a book to give those of us who are always curious to see the inner workings of such an interesting family with roots straight from the vines of Italy, and a curiousity of how corporate takeovers develop and then take place leaving waves of devestated egos and bank accounts crushed in the process.
I've been to Napa twice and have been planning on going back. I'm moving that trip up on my to-do list now as I have a new apprecition for the history of Napa and the ambassadorship of the Mondavis to the area and their role in American's fascination and consumption of wine.
Would recommend this book for anyone who likes wine, family drama, and history of businesses. Great job.
Dysfunction in the Vineyards July 27, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a big, sprawling epic of a biography, centered on the legendary vintner and California wine promoter Robert Mondavi but really about the Mondavi family, beginning with Robert's father Cesare, an Italian immigrant.
After some bootstrapping struggles in the Minnesota mine fields, Cesare moves his family to California's San Joaquin Valley, where he prospers as a grape wholesaler and bulk winemaker. Family conflicts develop early as Robert and his younger brother Peter compete for their parents' approval, conflicts that build to the point that Robert is ultimately forced from the family's properous Napa Valley winery. The split results in a famous lawsuit which eventually leads to Robert's apotheosis as the head of his own eponymous winery and his role as the elder statesman of California wines.
Robert repeats his parents' mistakes in raising his own family, resulting in fights between his two sons for primacy in his winery and the ultimate loss of control of his legacy.
Like "Moneyball", which told the story of the success of the Oakland Athletics baseball club, "The House of Mondavi" is about much more that the wine business, and will no doubt find a place on business school reading lists as a cautionary tale of how not to develop a family business. Very readable, it is written with great authority by a former Wall Street Journal reporter. Anyone interested in the wine business, or business and entrepreneurism generally should find it fascinating.
This book has it all July 23, 2007
This book is a great tale of Mondavi family issues and the spectacular growth of the California wine industry. However, the book is as important for the myriad of business issues it exposes:
- Before splitting from the family business, Robert Mondavi wanted growth and to invest in the business, and Peter Mondavi wanted more distributions.
- Robert traveled extensively and picked up many of his facility and "wine pairings" and "famous chef" event ideas from the French.
- Robert was a master at using education to sell.
- Using public relations and hospitality to grow a brand.
- The costly delays in making decisions that occur when there is divisiveness in a company.
- How the fall in 1980 of the Fair Trade Act radically impacted the wine distribution business.
- How the rise of Price Club (founded in 1976) and Costco changed the game of selling wine at retail (and the balance of power)
- Broaden the product line and face "doing too many things at once" or keep it narrow (and let competitors establish beach heads in their category?
- How philanthropy, ill planned, can put one in a pickle.
- and much much more.
This business and this family faced it all.
Incredible! July 21, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Not only was this book so well written I could hardly put it down, but the author definitely did her research. I have lived in the Napa Valley for 22 years, and know a lot of the people in the book....! The book was not only entertaining but very informative about our beautiful Napa Valley.
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