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

In early January 2004, Wall Street's demands were about to collide with the Mondavi family's dynastic dreams. Michael Mondavi, a son of the famous vintner Robert Mondavi, got a morning phone call from his younger brother Timothy. Heads up, his sibling warned him. You're about to get your ass handed to you in a sling. Michael, as chairman of the Robert Mondavi Corporation, had planned to lobby the two members of the company's board of directors he was lunching with that day to rein in Mondavi's CEO. His bravado faded as he walked through the Oakville winery's famous arch. After some small talk, the directors told him that they thought it best if he'd step down. Michael asked what his new job would be as vice chairman. "We'll figure it out," they said. Then sixty, Michael pushed his chicken breast around his plate with a fork. He'd spent decades building a wine empire spanning five continents for his heirs. Now, he'd been fired from the only company where he'd ever worked. Waves of anguish and disbelief swept over him after he learned that his sister, Marcia, had backed his ouster. He felt betrayed by his sister's decision. But his father hadn't protested his removal either. In fact, a closely guarded secret involving his father's personal financial problems had helped trigger the board coup that began that day. Within months, the directors would strip the Mondavis of control and begin dismembering the billion-dollar wine empire they had created.