Book Review: The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty by Julia Flynn Siler

November 2004, the house of Mondavi took its final stand when accepting a $1.3 Billion bid from Constellation Brands, ending a family run business of over 100 years. This family business marks the effective beginning of the American wine industry, credit for establishing Napa Valley, and recognized as Unites State’s largest wine producer. Julia Flynn Siler, a writer for the Wall Street Journal, tackles the complicated story of the clashing Mondavi family, in her book, The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty. After hundreds of interviews, Julia was able to give picture perfect descriptions of each character and their role in the Mondavi family business. The book starts by telling the story of Cecar and Rosa; two Italian immigrants who lived a poor life economically but rich with love. They both had an admiration for wine and enjoyed hours of quality family time appreciating every spectrum of the grapes. Julia went back to Indiana, where the Mondavi’s originally lived, and found out that the couple just followed their heart, moved to California with the solemn goal of becoming wine connoisseurs. Once the Mondavi’s got to California they realized their knowledge of wine surpassed those of the current winery owners and invested in their first wine garden. Roberto and Peter Mondavi, the second generation, both inherited Charles Krug Winery, the first winery the Mondavi family owned. Robert being the aggressive, innovative, favored brother whose goal is to become the biggest wine seller in the United States over powers Peter, his younger brother, the shy brother who doesn’t gain fame but is really the genius behind the wine making. Roberts makes a curtail expansion decision without consulting his brother, ending up in a fist fight and their mother Rosa who was the highest share holder of the company, removes Robert from the business. Robert feels betrayed by his family and looks for revenge when in 1966 he gathers a group of investors to create Robert Mondavi Winery. The book now concentrates on the Robert Mondavi Winery and how the third generation carried on the “family tradition”. Julia uses this term “family traditions” to characterize a repeat sibling rivalry that Michael and Timothy Mondavi had to overcome. Michael, being exactly like his father used Timothy’s brilliant idea of creating a luxurious as well as a low quality wine to target every market. "Bob, you've got to think with your head, not with your heart," is some advice given to Robert when dealing with the rising issues of his son’s competition.
Robert decides to establish a board of directors of members that have no emotional attachment to the family issues, resulting in taking the company public and allowing investors to have a word in decision-making. Julia uses her Wall Street Journal knowledge to create not only a novel but also useful business guidelines that any businessman can benefit from. When the Mondavi family took their company public they immediately changed to a two-branch investor system; a business strategy used to secure a chunk of shares only for the Mondavi members. With a total of 6.4 Million shares ranging from $13 – $16, Robert decides to only sell 2.7 Million to investors, leaving him with the majority of the stock and voting power. The House of Mondavi, allows its readers to use their imagination and feel a family workings hard in order to benefiting socially and economically. Julia has written this book so well and with such passion businessmen feel the stressful challenges of starting a business and women marvel with the idea of living a luxurious life in the mountains of California. It’s a terrific story, foreshadowing tragic and victorious events keeping excited readers shocked but entertained. Gallo Be Thy Name is a book written by Jerome Tuccille giving readers an alternate understanding of family struggles while growing a business. Jerome’s book is described of having ugly people, ugly wine, and sloppy writing. The Gallo’s, family sure name, used illegal produced syrup that tasted like wine to make their first dollar and later buy their winery estate. I would recommend this book to someone who is interested in Mafia work, but to be truly educated on an entrepreneur’s success, The House of Mondavi is a better read. The legacy left behind by the Mondavi’s is one that should be observed by rookie entrepreneurs and used as a guideline to run a business. If there is an opportunity of passing the business to the next generation, Julia may have just saved a families unity by writing this book. I give huge credit to Julia for her dedication on the Mondavi family project and for leading our future businesses to success instead of turmoil. I would recommend this book to any entrepreneur, anyone interested in learning about the US wine industry, anyone interested in reading a real life family drama, and anyone who just needs some entertainment over a glass of wine.