The House of Mondavi

The House of Mondavi

Author: Julia Flynn Siler

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 492

ISBN-13: 9781592402595

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An epic, scandal-plagued story of the immigrant family that built--and then spectacularly lost--a global wine empire. Award-winning journalist Flynn Siler brings to life both the place and the people in this riveting family drama.


The White Devil's Daughters

The White Devil's Daughters

Author: Julia Flynn Siler

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2019-05-14

Total Pages: 447

ISBN-13: 1101875275

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During the first hundred years of Chinese immigration--from 1848 to 1943--San Francisco was home to a shockingly extensive underground slave trade in Asian women, who were exploited as prostitutes and indentured servants. In this gripping, necessary book, bestselling author Julia Flynn Siler shines a light on this little-known chapter in our history--and gives us a vivid portrait of the safe house to which enslaved women escaped. The Occidental Mission Home, situated on the edge of Chinatown, served as a gateway to freedom for thousands. Run by a courageous group of female Christian abolitionists, it survived earthquakes, fire, bubonic plague, and violent attacks. We meet Dolly Cameron, who ran the home from 1899 to 1934, and Tien Fuh Wu, who arrived at the house as a young child after her abuse as a household slave drew the attention of authorities. Wu would grow up to become Cameron's translator, deputy director, and steadfast friend. Siler shows how Dolly and her colleagues defied convention and even law--physically rescuing young girls from brothels, snatching them from their smugglers--and how they helped bring the exploiters to justice. Riveting and revelatory, The White Devil's Daughters is a timely, extraordinary account of oppression, resistance, and hope.


Lost Kingdom

Lost Kingdom

Author: Julia Flynn Siler

Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

Published: 2012-01-03

Total Pages: 469

ISBN-13: 0802194885

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The New York Times–bestselling author delivers “a riveting saga about Big Sugar flexing its imperialist muscle in Hawaii . . . A real gem of a book” (Douglas Brinkley, author of American Moonshot). Deftly weaving together a memorable cast of characters, Lost Kingdom brings to life the clash between a vulnerable Polynesian people and relentlessly expanding capitalist powers. Portraits of royalty and rogues, sugar barons, and missionaries combine into a sweeping tale of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s rise and fall. At the center of the story is Lili‘uokalani, the last queen of Hawai‘i. Born in 1838, she lived through the nearly complete economic transformation of the islands. Lucrative sugar plantations gradually subsumed the majority of the land, owned almost exclusively by white planters, dubbed the “Sugar Kings.” Hawai‘i became a prize in the contest between America, Britain, and France, each seeking to expand their military and commercial influence in the Pacific. The monarchy had become a figurehead, victim to manipulation from the wealthy sugar plantation owners. Lili‘u was determined to enact a constitution to reinstate the monarchy’s power but was outmaneuvered by the United States. The annexation of Hawai‘i had begun, ushering in a new century of American imperialism. “An important chapter in our national history, one that most Americans don’t know but should.” —The New York Times Book Review “Siler gives us a riveting and intimate look at the rise and tragic fall of Hawaii’s royal family . . . A reminder that Hawaii remains one of the most breathtaking places in the world. Even if the kingdom is lost.” —Fortune “[A] well-researched, nicely contextualized history . . . [Indeed] ‘one of the most audacious land grabs of the Gilded Age.’” —Los Angeles Times


Reflections of a Vintner

Reflections of a Vintner

Author: Tor Kenward

Publisher: Abrams

Published: 2022-04-26

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 164700716X

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A compendium for wine lovers: a prominent vintner shares a lifetime of great wines, famous friends, deep knowledge, and insider insights Reflections of a Vintner recounts the lessons learned, relationships forged, and observations made from an insider’s nearly fifty-year journey through the burgeoning wine industry in Napa Valley. From the mid-seventies, when there were less than fifty wineries, to the present, with over eight hundred, Tor Kenward shares his recollections as the region became a world-class wine destination. Following the calendar year, each chapter opens with the challenges and opportunities a winemaker faces that month—in the vineyard, winery, tasting room, and out on the road. In addition to the wine knowledge Kenward imparts, the vintner shares stories of his friendships with legends of the modern American food and wine scene, including Julia Child, André Tchelistcheff, Andy Beckstoffer, and Robert Mondavi, among others. Kenward’s hard work as a vintner was recently acknowledged and celebrated. In the October 2021 Judgment of Napa, held forty-five years after the historic Judgement of Paris, TOR Cabernet was judged to be #1, outscoring legendary Bordeaux châteaux, Napa Valley, and international peers by leading critics and sommeliers. TOR wines, coveted by connoisseurs worldwide, received seven perfect 100-point ratings from leading critics for their 2018 Napa Valley wines. An iconic winemaker, Kenward has written, taught, and lectured on wine most of his adult life. What he is most often asked about are not facts or numbers about his wines, but the stories behind them. These are stories of inspiration and wisdom that shaped his journey. With Kenward’s impressive connection to Napa Valley and his legacy of creating inimitable wines, Reflections of a Vintner offers entertaining insights into an often intimidating and complex but highly enjoyable world.


Great Winemakers of California

Great Winemakers of California

Author: Robert Benson

Publisher: Robert Benson

Published: 1977

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13:

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Publisher description -- Like the bouquet arising from a fine wine, the winemaker's personality permeates each conversation in this sparkling collection. Robert Benson has captured the essence of 28 California winemakers as they discuss the myths and methodology of making great wines. Join Benson over a bottle of wine and plate of cheese as he listens to the secrets of producing wines which are today rivalling--even excelling--those of France and Germany.


A Tale of Two Valleys

A Tale of Two Valleys

Author: Alan Deutschman

Publisher: Crown

Published: 2003-04-08

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 0767914600

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When acclaimed journalist Alan Deutschman came to the California wine country as the lucky house guest of very rich friends, he was surprised to discover a raging controversy. A civil war was being fought between the Napa Valley, which epitomized elitism, prestige and wealthy excess, and the neighboring Sonoma Valley, a rag-tag bohemian enclave so stubbornly backward that rambunctious chickens wandered freely through town. But the antics really began when new-money invaders began pushing out Sonoma’s poets and painters to make way for luxury resorts and trophy houses that seemed a parody of opulence. A Tale of Two Valleys captures these stranger-than-fiction locales with the wit of a Tom Wolfe novel and uncorks the hilarious absurdities of life among the wine world’s glitterati. Deutschman found that on the weekends the wine country was like a bunch of gracious hosts smiling upon their guests, but during the week the families feuded with each other and their neighbors like the Hatfields and McCoys. Napa was a comically exclusive club where the super-rich fought desperately to get in. Sonoma’s colorful free spirits and iconoclasts were wary of their bohemia becoming the next playground for the rapacious elite. So, led by a former taxicab driver and wine-grape picker, a cheese merchant, and an artist who lived in a barn surrounded by wild peacocks, they formed a populist revolt to seize power and repel the rich invaders. Deutschman’s cast of characters brims with eccentrics, egomaniacs, and a mysterious man in black who crashed the elegant Napa Valley Wine Auction before proceeding to pay a half-million dollars for a single bottle. What develops is nothing less than a battle for the good life, a clash between old and new, the struggle for the soul of one of America’s last bits of paradise. A dishy glimpse behind the scenes of a West Coast wonderland, A Tale of Two Valleys makes for intoxicating reading.


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Author: Jeffrey Caldewey

Publisher: Board and Bench Publishing

Published: 2004-01-01

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 1891267302

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The wine label is a powerful icon of modern civilization; it is a precious object of art that symbolizes and disseminates the cultural and spiritual values of the land where the wine is grown. Wine label design has undergone a renaissance where art meets marketing in the most powerful way, penetrating the subconscious, and using the power of suggestion to imply flavor and quality. Jeffrey Caldewey and Chuck House are acknowledged masters of the new designs and they have created designs for some of the world's most sought after wines and this book is a collection of their most important works. Beginning with a short treatise on some of the philosophical aspects of modern iconography, this book documents 100 wine labels and bottle designs with complete descriptions of the genesis and thought behind each design concept. This book will become a classic in package design and essential for wine marketers and those who collect label art.


How to Launch Your Wine Career

How to Launch Your Wine Career

Author: Liz Thach

Publisher: Board and Bench Publishing

Published: 2009-09-01

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 1934259063

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Written by successful and respected industry professionals, How to Launch Your Wine Career gives practical, real-world advice on how to land, develop, and succeed in a career in wine making and production, vineyard management, marketing and sales, public relations, writing, education, winery management and administration, direct-to-consumer sales, and more. Featuring interviews with some of wine's most prominent figures—including winemaker Heidi Barrett and wine writer James Laube of Wine Spectator—the book builds a career from the ground up, explaining job descriptions, educational and skill requirements, the career ladder, how to get started, and job hunting strategies. Each chapter ends with a helpful resource guide of available conferences, books, and websites. The appendix provides a detailed action plan worksheet to help the prospective applicant plan, plot progress, and nail that killer wine industry job.


Blood and Wine

Blood and Wine

Author: Ellen Hawkes

Publisher:

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 504

ISBN-13:

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Both an eye-opening account of the financial and personal scandals at the nation's number-one winery and a devastating portrait of patriarch Ernest Gallo, Blood and Wine tells the riveting saga of the ruthless Gallo family and the history of the business that dominates the American wine industry. Photographs.