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Posted: Fri, Jun 22 2007 5:00 PM

Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty captured in latest Book

The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty, written by Julia Flynn Siler was released in the US earlier this week. The saga of Robert Mondavi's meteoric rise in the sixties till the buyout by Constellation Brands are chronicled int the controversial book. Natasha Vohra in San Francisco reviews.

One man's passion that spans over seven decades and makes him into a revered, living legend;

A loving family that grows with the dream and makes it their own;

A sister's betrayal;

A son who tries too hard to fill his father's shoes;

One family's meteoric rise to fame and all that comes with it;

Greed; the heartache of filial betrayal; the allure of power; the well-timed manipulations of corporate vultures.....

All perfect ingredients for a classic Bollywood tear-jerker.

In fact, when you actually read The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty, it would not be too hard to visualize the Big B playing the role of the Mighty M, Robert Mondavi, once-Czar of the California wine industry. Shahrukh Khan could well essay the role of the crown prince, Michael Mondavi, and Abhishek Bacchan. would do justice to Timothy Mondavi's character. Personally, I would pay good money to watch a pony-tailed Shahrukh Khan roaring down the quaint streets of Napa on a Harley Davidson, as Michael Mondavi was wont to do in his younger, wilder days!

This true, ultra 'filmi' saga has played out at the other end of the world, in the now-famous region of California's Napa Valley, for over 30 years and the major players are the very people who put Napa Valley on the wine map of the world, the Mondavi family.

Author Julia Flynn Siler chronicles the saga of four generations of Mondavis, a story that began a hundred years ago and reached its zenith in the late '90s when the family lost control of its own business. It also sheds light on numerous scandals and controversies that have dogged the First Family of the American wine industry since even before Robert Mondavi first opened the winery in the mid-sixties.

For instance, Siler describes in detail the drama behind the ousting of Michael Mondavi as the Chairman of the family's wine business:

While his son Michael was managing the business as CEO, Robert had pledged $35 million to UC Davis to help create an institute for wine and food science. This pledge was largely backed by the value of Robert's stock in the company. But the unthinkable happened and the value of the stock plummeted to dangerous levels and threatened to destroy Robert financially. He tried, and failed, to re-negotiate the terms of his pledge with UC Davis. At this critical juncture, the Company's outside directors manipulated events to their advantage and ultimately succeeded in divesting Michael of the company's leadership. The sad fact was that this move was backed by Michael's sister, Marcia as well as Robert himself, in the hope that a new leadership would revive the family's stock value and help Robert out of a potentially embarrassing situation.

The book is peppered with such soap-opera-like events and has come under fire for leaning heavily toward the more sensational aspects of the story rather than focusing on the immense legacy that Robert Mondavi has, without a doubt, endowed the Californian wine industry with and the very real struggles that the family has endured thus far.

The former public relations director of the Mondavi company, Harvey Posert, echoes this sentiment and called the book 'mean-spirited'. The denizens of Napa, who view the Mondavi clan as resident royalty, are none too pleased either with old history being dredged up.

Fact or fiction; true story or elegantly disguised tabloid journalism; whatever the case may be, the publishers are laughing all the way to the bank. The hype created for the book is immense and it is currently retailing at $28 in bookstores across the United States. Discounts of around 35% are available on websites like Amazon.com

The bottom line is, The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty , makes for interesting reading. After all, even enjoying Bollywood films call for a suspension of disbelief! So read it in that spirit and decide for yourself whether you should send a copy to Karan Johar.

Natasha Vohra
San Francisco
June 21, 2007

Ms. Natasha Vohra is a wine connoisseur and a writer who has moved from Mumbai to San Francisco. She can be reached at nat.vohra@gmail.com - editor

Comments By Some Other Journals :

June 23, 2007 9:45 PM
 

"The House of Mondavi's cast rivals that of.....Falcon's Crest, with episodes of sex, violence, greed, envy, nepotism and betrayal."------- Wine Spectator

"A compelling, sweeping, and ultimately heartbreaking American story of ambition, lust, and wine. The reporting on the rise and fall of the Mondavis is stunning. Think 'Barbarians at the Grape.'"
.................................................................................................Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brech
.........................................................................Authors of The Wall Street Journal Guide to Wine

A man's got to do what a man's got to do. A woman must do what he can't.

 
 

 
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