Dr Vino’s wine blog

First time here? Check out the "site highlights," send in a question, subscribe to the latest posts by RSS, daily email, or free monthly updates by email (right sidebar). Thanks for visiting!

One week from today, Gotham (Penguin) will release House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty by Julia Flynn Siler.

But if you are jonesing for a preview, you can check out Friday’s Wall Street Journal, which will run an excerpt. Maybe it will be the excellent prologue. Whatever section they run, I’m sure it will spark interest in the book. Unlike the new Diana book by Tina Brown that is excerpted in Vanity Fair this month, a broad audience is not likely to be overly familiar with the Mondavi family. The NYT today discusses whether such excerpts help books but I’d say that in this case it is a resounding yes. Hit the comments with your views.

From the advance copy floating around the Dr. Vino World Headquarters, I’d say that if you are interested in American wine, Napa Valley, business history, intergenerational family dramas, the (Italian) immigrant experience, and hubris, then this is one you want to pre-order. More later.