This narrative account is based on 525 hours of interviews with more than 250 people and an examination of tens of thousands of legal and corporate documents. The landmark case of Robert Mondavi v. C. Mondavi & Sons, which was tried in 1976, alone runs to 10,059 pages. Likewise, the depositions and filings in the lawsuits involving former Mondavi executive Gary Ramona well exceed that page count. Dialogue and direct quotations come from those documents as well as oral histories, letters, memoirs, and the recollections of participants. On March 29, 2005, the author interviewed Robert G. Mondavi. Because Mr. Mondavi, who was then ninety-one years old, was unable to clearly recall events, the author decided not to use the material from this session. It was the last formal interview that Mr. Mondavi granted to a writer, according to his spokesman Harvey Posert.
Over a period of two and a half years, the author interviewed all of the principal family members involved in the events leading to the sale of the Robert Mondavi Corporation, seeking to understand how and why a seemingly “takeover proof” family-controlled company was sold over the objections of several key family members. The author conducted extensive in-person interviews with Mr. Mondavi’s two sons, Michael and Timothy, and his wife, Margrit Biever Mondavi, returning to them repeatedly for clarification and fact-checking. Marcia Mondavi Borger, Mr. Mondavi’s daughter, participated in only two short telephone interviews. The author also conducted lengthy interviews with current and former Mondavi executives and board members, including nonexecutive chairman Ted Hall, chief executive officer Greg Evans, and directors Sir Anthony Greener and Philip Greer. Memories and interpretations of events sometimes conflicted in this complex family and corporate saga. In such cases, the author has attempted to note differences in perspectives so that readers can weigh the evidence themselves. The result is the inside story of America’s leading wine dynasty, in all its brilliance and destructiveness.