The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty

A Non-Fiction Page Turner!

Julia Flynn Siler's The House of Mondavi starts with everything that makes a great story: a wonderfully complex and larger-than-life character, a lush wine-country setting, a conflicted family, and a great undertaking. She brings the story to life with a journalist's eye for the telling detail and a fine fiction writer's sense of plot, pacing, and instinct for the great tragedy that so often results from excesses of pride. The result is a page-turner that leaves the reader not just with the sense of having enjoyed a satisfying story, but also with a deep knowledge of the history of the rise of California's wine industry and a better understanding of human nature. I would recommend this book to anyone.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Excellent historical account of the inner workings of a family of wine "wine royalty" within the US

I have always been intrigued by the Mondavi family, and the strife between brothers Robert and Peter. I am a champion for "the underdog", and Robert Mondavi was certainly such a character after having been tossed out of the Mondavi family. On that point alone I would purchase Rober Mondavi wines - in addition to the fact they were excellent.

For years all I really knew of the Mondavi family was learned through media reports once in a while, and the wisps of "insights" of how deep the gap had become when Robert Mondavi's own brand of wines hit the marketplace. Julia Siler's research into the Mondavi dynasty and the dynamics of its inner workings was excellent on all points. Then again, if I were one of the subjects I may not have been as excited to have seen such an insightful account of my life.

I received this book as a gift, and upon learning a client was interested in good wines, and enjoyed traveling to vineyards that included those in the Napa Valley, I purchased a copy for her. I know she loved the book as much as I did. I have yet another client who wants to visit Central California, and visit Napa Valley. I am going to purchase yet another book for him to read before he goes there, as this is as important as a road map (or GPS) to get a sense of where one is within the pages of the rich history in the region, and the continuing impact of the Mondavi family in Napa Valley and the wine industry as a whole.

A Dysfunctional House

I couldn't finish this book. I was halfway through and just couldn't bring myself to read any more pages detailing the dysfunction of the Mondavi family. The sibling rivalries, the raw greed, the marital affairs, and the suffering children who repeated this dysfunctional cycle across several generations.

What a sad, pitiful tale Julia Flynn Siler has crafted in "The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty". If you can get past Siler's overlapping sequence of events, you'll find a story that leaves little to be desired.

There is chapter after chapter of family members suffering from the dysfunctional relationship between Robert and those around him including his brother, sister, mother, wife, kids, nephews and nieces. It seems no one was spared in the suffering surrounding Robert Mondavi, which he either ignored or was oblivious to.

There was little, if anything, to be inspired by here, which created a struggle for me to get through the remaining chapters.

A Legacy Lost on the Vines of Wine

Having read the latter parts of the events from this book real-time as they unfolded I was eager to learn what had occurred leading up to the climatic loss of a once powerful and legendary force in the wine industry. While I found the beginning difficult to get into and several sections feel to become somewhat static the pace starts to pick-up as Flynn Siler starts to gain a rhythm.

It truly feels as if the reader is there in the living room of the Mondavi's or watching the interaction at the winery or gazing on as the events unfold. The only slight is the focus tends to steer towards Michael and his portion of the family giving short thrift to Peter and the sisters. Understandably, Michael was the most forceful personality and no doubt would have been proud to inadvertently or not be the sun in which the plot of the book revolves but it would have provided the reader a broader look at the Mondavis and not just Michael.

That being said, the book is an excellent read with its richness of detail, easy flowing style and unique ability because of the authors profession to provide us with intricate details into the family, the company and the industry.

A fascinating read

This book is for anyone who is even remotely interested in wine and anyone who has fallen in love with Napa Valley. There are quite a few characters so it was at times difficult to get them straight but all in all I would highly recommend this book. I couldn't put it down.

Take notes and read everything twice...

'House of Mondavi' was my first entry into wine literature, and it is spectacular reading. Some of the stories of a fractured and dysfunctional family read like fiction because you might not believe that blood relatives would do some of the things they did to each other. My admittedly meager wine knowledge did not come into play - I was shocked as I continued to read (captivated, might I add) that I did not need to be the stereotypical 'wine snob' to follow the happenings in the book. What I did need was a notepad and several looks at the family tree on the inside covers. Between people's names, vineyard names, and brand names, this book likely invites 'War and Peace' jokes for how many names and references you have to keep straight. Having said that, if you read slower than your normal speed, which I would highly recommend, you'll read a fantastic family and business story that is aptly summed up by the quote on the back cover: 'Think 'Barbarians at the Grape''. The similarities to the RJR Nabisco story are telling, and while F. Ross Johnson and Co. weren't dealing with family members, one could argue that the different branches of the Mondavi family weren't dealing with family members either. Blood might be thicker than water, but it's apparently thinner than wine.

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