Robert Mondavi was a true American pioneer. At a time when no one believed that we in America could ever create world-class wines, Robert stuck out his jaw and said, "Oh yeah? Well, I'll show you! And show us he did. With vision, passion, and a galvanizing sense of mission, Robert led the rise of the Napa Valley from a dusty California backwater into one of the great wine-producing regions of the world, standing proudly next to Burgundy, Bordeaux, Tuscany and the Loire Valley. And that was just the beginning. Guided by his Swiss-born wife Margrit, Robert joined hands with fellow pioneers like Julia Child, Alice Waters and Thomas Keller and turned the Napa Valley into a dream destination for wine and food lovers from all around the globe. Last year, some 3.5 million visitors came to the valley to taste The Good Life, California style, and also to enjoy the very best in American art, film, and music. This is an intimate portrait of Robert and what made him so special, as a leader, as a creator, and as a man with a unique ability to inspire others to build their dreams and come join his cause. And no one knows the subject better than author Paul Chutkow. Paul ghost-wrote Robert's acclaimed memoir "Harvests of Joy," published in 1998, and the two men remained close throughout the final ten years of Robert's life. With warmth and objectivity, Paul shows us Robert and Margrit in their times of triumph, and also in their times of heartbreak and sorrow, when their winery was suddenly and brutally sold out from under them, and the result is a book that is sure to stir hearts and earn a vast following throughout the world of wine and far beyond.

Running Free: The Wisdom and Spirit of Robert Mondavi

Biographies & Memoirs

Chutkow, Paul

Professionals & Academics

Val de Grace

Sparring with Rembrandt

Is a novel of heartbreak &amp; challenge, misery and triumph, as Norman take us along on a journey from Brooklyn to California. Rembrandt follows him every step of the way, illuminating Norman's path and ours as well.

Katz, Monroe

Arts & Literature

99 Bottles of Wine: The Making of the Contemporary Wine Label illuminates the creative process and positioning behind some of the world's most iconic wine labels. Melding story, heritage, imagination and marketing with evocative design, Napa-resident and author David Schuemann, owner and creative director of CF Napa Brand Design, reveals the inspiration and strategic thinking behind ninety-nine of the most successful wine labels--from solutions for boutique producers to some of the largest wine companies worldwide. Rich stories of the wineries, people and history combine with stunning photography for an enchanting read. Along with a dust jacket poster of each of the featured wineries and a foreword by Agustin Huneeus, the renowned creator of Napa Valley's Quintessa Estate, 99 Bottles of Wine offers wine lovers, serious collectors, and design aficionados a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how contemporary packaging and innovative design are driving the success of today's leading wine brands.

99 Bottles of Wine

Arts & Photography

Graphic Design

Winemaker Steven Kent Mirassou has brought forth a jewel of a book, one that will have a unique place in the literature of American wine. With his decades of winemaking expertise, and with his extraordinary gift for evocative writing, Steven takes us straight into the heart of his calling: how it looks and feels to be in a vineyard heavy with grapes, awaiting the dawn and the throbbing pulse of a harvest about to begin. It's a magical moment, and it's the beginning of a journey deep into the art, the craft, the passion, and the 8,000 years of history that lie inside the finest of wines. This is not glossy PR copy. This is raw truth, dirty jeans, arms deep in crushed grapes, heart pounding, dust in your nose, spirit in your mouth writing, flowing from a winemaker who sees crafting beautiful wines and combining them with healthy food as a way to serve others, to bring people together in joy and common cause, a noble calling that Steven Mirassou aptly terms "the true north" of our civilization. And every step of the way, Steven helps us feel his connection to the six generations that the Mirassou family has been growing grapes and crafting wines in California, the last thirty years in the Livermore Valley. It's a region that struggles, image-wise, in the shadow of the Napa Valley but holds fast to its belief in the virtues of its hills and valleys and fertile soils, and to its unshakable faith that crafting beautiful wines and sharing them with others is, at its core, good for the heart and pure tonic for the soul. There is high drama too. Like all family-owned wineries, Steven's faces a mountain of challenges: rough growing seasons, business mistakes, the loss of cherished vineyards and more. And Steven loses something larger too: his beloved wife, from a terrible illness. But as Steven shows us, with the proper attitude every loss can be a new beginning, an opportunity to live more deeply, and, with luck, to improve the character of the wines you craft and the enduring wisdom you can pass along to the next generation. In the literature of American wine, there is nothing quite like what Steven Kent Mirassou has brought us. Come feel the spirit, come share the wine.

Lineage: Life and Love and Six Generations in California Wine

Mirassou, Steven Kent

Community & Culture

When a Wall Street tycoon insists that his family join him for an annual backpacking trip into the Sierra, some of his children are not enthusiastic about the idea. And that's before people start turning up dead. Ranger Dan Courtwright is &#64257;rst on the scene. And with his friend Sheri&#64256; Cal Healey, he sticks with it to the terrifying &#64257;nish, which is a real cli&#64256;hanger. Literally

Danger: Falling Rocks

Literature & Fiction

Wagner, Paul

Genre Fiction

Thanks to a far-sighted band of creative pioneers, and thanks to a very special community intelligence and spirit, the Napa Valley has transformed itself from a sleepy, inward-looking farm and ranching enclave into one of the most prestigious and exciting wine-growing regions in the world. In Appellation Napa Valley, the renowned wine lawyer and industry authority Richard Mendelson takes us inside the legal and commercial struggles that did so much to make the Napa Valley into what it is today. Along the way, he brings us incisive portraits of the men and women who joined hands in common cause and common spirit, igniting a revolution in American wine and food in the process. Enlivened by exquisite maps and drawings from vineyards and cellars, plus a foreword by the celebrated French Laundry chef Thomas Keller, Appellation Napa Valley is a unique keepsake book to be savored and cherished for many years to come.

Appellation Napa Valley: Building and Protecting an American Treasure

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Mendelson, Richard

Beverages & Wine

Passages

BARBARA

Winiarski

Louis Stanislaw has brought us an extraordinary gift: a collection of deeply moving essays from men and women sharing their personal experiences with epilepsy, one of mankind’s least understood and most daunting of challenges. In these pages, Jonathan Magaziner shares his feelings of pain and powerlessness as he sits on an airplane and watches a man a few rows away suffer a seizure―and then be carried off to an unknown destination. Lord Charles Guthrie, the distinguished British military commander, tells us about the strength and pride of a young soldier who refuses to let his secret battle with epilepsy halt his dreams of a sterling military career. And Bill Maier tells us of his personal angels: the doctors and nurses who were finally able to halt his seizures and put an end to the chaos that was destroying his life. Crowning the collection, a young woman named Amanda Rich tells of her personal heartache and triumph, as she comes to embrace her epilepsy not as an affliction but as a gift, an opportunity to learn and grow and share with others the need for greater understanding and social acceptance for everyone with such challenges.

Voices from the Heart: Lifting the Veil on Epilepsy

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Diseases & Physical Ailments

You've seen them on site in earthquakes, in mud slides, helping firemen, police, even blind people and epileptics. These are service dogs and working canines, or "Good Dogs of Service". And they employ their awesome senses for the benefit of people throughout the world. Now author/photographer Lynn Cobb gives us privileged access to twenty of these remarkable canines and their handlers. Her mission: to inspire others to love these dogs as much as she does and become their advocates.In "Good Dogs of Service" readers will learn about the "superpowers" of these dogs, the range of services they provide, the breeds that seem best suited for such duties, and the variety of organizations that have been established to train these dogs and match them with humans. Most importantly, in over fifty fine portraits by Lynn Cobb, we see these remarkable dogs, their handlers, and their mutual bonds of love and respect. A book every dog lover will want to have and cherish.

Good Dogs of Service: True Stories of Honor, Courage, and Devotion

Cobb, Ms. Lynn

Photography & Video

Monroe Katz cuts right to the heart of it: “The artist must find his own way to say what he has to say in paint, pencil or clay, but he has to be in a proper frame of mind, as a passionate artist, playing, experimenting, agonizing over subject matter, daring, failing, cutting free, trusting his or her inner voice, being in the ring rather than in the grandstand.” Yes, the artist must “dare to create.” From there, Dr. Katz takes us deep inside the high arts of painting and sculpting, showing us how to convey feeling with color, composition, texture, and, above all, the eye and heart of the artist at work. Whether he is depicting a rural landscape, a bridge in the Napa Valley, or the essence of his own daughter, Dr. Katz’s top priority is transmitting through paint or clay what the artist is feeling inside. And when you get that feeling right, he says, it’s like “music to your brush.” As he urges, “Be daring; don’t sacrifice feeling for accuracy, and draw every day.” And through these pages, this gifted artist and storyteller helps guide and inspire you every step of the way. Using sketches and paintings from his beloved Rembrandt and other great masters, plus his own work, the author explains composition, color, the use of light and shadow, plus the joys of painting to music, and the creative anguish that every artist faces on his journey of exploration and growth.

Dare to Create: The Joys and Tortures of Learning to Paint

Study & Teaching

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Books by Val de Grace