A Vineyard in Napa
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Narrated by:
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Kevin Young
About this listen
At the age of 47, when he was a successful publishing executive and living with his wife and four children in an affluent Chicago suburb, John Shafer made the surprise announcement that he had purchased a vineyard in the Napa Valley. In 1973, he moved his family to California and, with no knowledge of winemaking, began the journey that would lead him, 30 years later, to own and operate what distinguished wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr. called "one of the world’s greatest wineries". This book, narrated by Shafer’s son Doug, is a personal account of how his father turned his midlife dream into a remarkable success story.
Set against the backdrop of Napa Valley’s transformation from a rural backwater in the 1970s through its emergence today as one of the top wine regions in the world, the book begins with the winery’s shaky start and takes the reader through the father and son’s ongoing battles against killer bugs, cellar disasters, local politics, changing consumer tastes, and the volatility of nature itself. Doug Shafer tells the story of his own education, as well as Shafer Vineyards’ innovative efforts to be environmentally sustainable, its role in spearheading the designation of a Stags Leap American Viticultural Area, and how the wine industry has changed in the contemporary era of custom-crushing and hobbyist winery investors.
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Fingers on the pulse of sustainable ag
- By shakinfist on 06-30-20
By: Liz Carlisle
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Shadows in the Vineyard
- The True Story of the Plot to Poison the World's Greatest Wine
- By: Maximillian Potter
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Journalist Maximillian Potter uncovers a fascinating plot to destroy the vines of La Romance-Conti, Burgundy's finest and most expensive wine. In January 2010, Aubert de Villaine, the famed proprietor of the Domaine de la Romance-Conti, the tiny, storied vineyard that produces the most expensive, exquisite wines in the world, received an anonymous note threatening the destruction of his priceless vines by poison - a crime that in the world of high-end wine is akin to murder - unless he paid a one million euro ransom.
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Eet waz eenteresteeng
- By J. Cadow on 04-25-16
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High-Hanging Fruit
- Build Something Great by Going Where No One Else WIll
- By: Mark Rampolla
- Narrated by: Mark Rampolla
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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When Mark Rampolla filled a notebook with potential start-up ideas, his wife asked him some tough questions. What about this idea is exciting, beyond the possibility of a profit? How will it fit into a life that makes you and your family happy? How will it change the world? Eventually Mark found his great idea: coconut water. He had seen the developing world use coconut water, but this valuable resource was being discarded in the US. While taking on the beverage industry was a big goal - high-hanging fruit - it was worth the risk.
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10 Chapter Infomercial
- By KIM WILLIAMSON on 02-16-20
By: Mark Rampolla
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Uncultivated
- Wild Apples, Real Cider, and the Complicated Art of Making a Living
- By: Andy Brennan
- Narrated by: Brett Barry
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Long before the advent of conventional farming methods - which have focused on constant growth, human intervention, and genetic homogeneity - the apple had already grown to become the ubiquitous all-American symbol it is today. Known for their hardiness, ability to adapt to new environments, natural diversity, and plentiful bounty, wildly grown apples were once known as “America’s fruit” throughout the trading world.
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Really good narrator
- By Landon & Sarah on 03-28-24
By: Andy Brennan
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Gallo Be Thy Name
- The Inside Story of How One Family Rose to Dominate the U.S. Wine Market
- By: Jerome Tuccille
- Narrated by: Grainger Hines
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Gallo Be Thy Name is the portrait of an American dynasty that rose from hardscrabble poverty in the early 1900s to become the most successful wine company in the world through toil, cunning, and crime. From selling Dago Red to Al Capone during Prohibition to conquering America's wine market with such plonk as Thunderbird and Ripple, and from the Great Depression to the roiling farm labor movements of the 60s and 70s, the Gallos rode the turbulent currents of history to triumph, with iconic brothers Ernest and Julio steering the ship.
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An informative read. Big bite of US history.
- By Robbie on 06-27-18
By: Jerome Tuccille
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The Road to Burgundy
- The Unlikely Story of an American Making Wine and a New Life in France
- By: Ray Walker
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Ray Walker had a secure career in finance until a wine-tasting vacation ignited a passion that he couldn't stifle. Ray neglected his work, spending hours poring over ancient French winemaking texts, learning the techniques and the language, and daydreaming about vineyards. After Ray experienced his first taste of wine from Burgundy, he could wait no longer. He quit his job and went to France to start a winery - with little money, a limited command of French, and virtually no winemaking experience.
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Inspiring story: I wish he'd learn some humility!
- By Desmond on 12-15-14
By: Ray Walker
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The Good Food Revolution
- Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities
- By: Will Allen, Charles Wilson - with, Eric Schlosser - foreword
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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A pioneering urban farmer and MacArthur "Genius Award" winner points the way to building a new food system that can feed - and heal - broken communities. An eco-classic in the making, The Good Food Revolution is the story of Will's personal journey, the lives he has touched, and a grassroots movement that is changing the way our nation eats.
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This story teaches how to take back the soil
- By Shawn Borup on 11-09-19
By: Will Allen, and others
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The Nature of the Game
- Links Golf at Bandon Dunes and Far Beyond
- By: Mike Keiser, Stephen Goodwin
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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An avid golfer with a demanding career in the greeting card business, Mike Keiser found a new calling on the authentic links courses of Scotland and Ireland. Seized by the beauty of the landscape and the holes running through it, he determined this was how golf was meant to be: inclusive, not private; played on foot, not riding a cart; the courses natural, neither lavish nor contrived. Vowing to transplant this experience to the States, Keiser entered the golf business and, ignoring the advice of experts, built a true links course in Oregon.
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Fantastic book, well written and narrated
- By AVJ on 11-24-23
By: Mike Keiser, and others
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Sellout
- How Washington Gave Away America's Technological Soul, and One Man's Fight to Bring It Home
- By: Victoria Bruce
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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American technological prowess used to be unrivaled. But because of globalization, and with the blessing of the US government, once proprietary materials, components, and technologies are increasingly commercialized outside the United States. Nowhere is this more dangerous than in China's monopoly of rare earth elements - materials that are essential for nearly all modern consumer goods, gadgets, and weapons systems.
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Uncovering unsung heroes of modern America
- By Ben DeNardo on 08-24-17
By: Victoria Bruce
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The House of Mondavi
- The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty
- By: Julia Flynn Siler
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in California's lush Napa Valley and spanning four generations of a talented and visionary family, The House of Mondavi is a tale of genius, sibling rivalry, and betrayal. From 1906, when Italian immigrant Cesare Mondavi passed through Ellis Island, to the Robert Mondavi Corporation's 21st-century battle over a billion-dollar fortune, award-winning journalist Julia Flynn Siler brings to life both the place and the people in this riveting family drama.
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LESS EXCITING THAN WATCHING GRAPES GROW
- By The Louligan on 11-27-09
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The Billionaire's Vinegar
- The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine
- By: Benjamin Wallace
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Abridged
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It was the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold. In 1985, at a heated auction by Christie’s of London, a 1787 bottle of Château Lafite Bordeaux - one of a cache of bottles unearthed in a bricked-up Paris cellar and supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson - went for $156,000 to a member of the Forbes family. The discoverer of the bottle was pop-band manager turned wine collector Hardy Rodenstock, who had a knack for finding extremely old and exquisite wines. But rumors about the bottle soon arose.
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Not just for enophiles
- By Julie W. Capell on 06-03-09
By: Benjamin Wallace
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Humboldt
- Life on America's Marijuana Frontier
- By: Emily Brady
- Narrated by: Dan Woren, Sonny Warner, Erin Bennett, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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In the vein of Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief and Deborah Feldman's Unorthodox, journalist Emily Brady journeys into a secretive subculture - one that marijuana built. Say the words "Humboldt County" to a stranger and you might receive a knowing grin. The name is infamous, and yet the place, and its inhabitants, have been nearly impenetrable. Until now. Humboldt is a narrative exploration of an insular community in Northern California, which for nearly 40 years has existed primarily on the cultivation and sale of marijuana.
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Great book!
- By David on 02-26-15
By: Emily Brady
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The King of California
- J.G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret American Empire
- By: Mark Arax, Rick Wartzman
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 19 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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J. G. Boswell was the biggest farmer in America. He built a secret empire while thumbing his nose at nature, politicians, labor unions, and every journalist who ever tried to lift the veil on the ultimate "factory in the fields". The King of California is the previously untold account of how a Georgia slave-owning family migrated to California in the early 1920s, drained one of America 's biggest lakes in an act of incredible hubris and carved out the richest cotton empire in the world.
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Interesting story of California Ag history
- By Jean on 08-11-14
By: Mark Arax, and others
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The Mezcal Rush
- Explorations in Agave Country
- By: Granville Greene
- Narrated by: Kevin Free
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Mezcal. In recent years, the oldest spirit in the Americas has been reinvented as a pricy positional good popular among booze connoisseurs and the mixologists who use it as a cocktail ingredient. Unlike most high-end distillates, most small-batch mezcal is typically produced by and for subsistence farming communities, often under challenging conditions.
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Wow! Just Wow!
- By Si saben cómo me pongo ¿pa' qué me invitan? on 09-25-17
By: Granville Greene
What listeners say about A Vineyard in Napa
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Timothy Keane
- 06-25-15
Great story!
Great insight on the history of Napa Valley from an iconic winery. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to this.
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- Scott
- 08-16-15
Great story of one family's growth with California's Wine culture
This is a really interesting story of a family growing along with California through the 70s to today. It's written for both wine nerds and casual drinkers alike. Only a few chapters get rather detailed on California's AVA history but the rest is simple enough for all to understand and enjoy.
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- ChargingDC
- 05-12-21
Great Story
Any wine lover will enjoy this "coming of age" story about The Shafer Vineyards in Napa Valley. I regularly listen to (and enjoy) Doug Shafer's podcast so I was particularly interested to learn about the early days of the Vineyard, and all that transpired to create the success that they now enjoy. Being familiar with Doug's actual voice made the narrators voice a little less believable and harder to follow at first, but I got used to it as I became engaged in the story. All told, this is a very enjoyable audiobook.
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- the little hill
- 05-24-15
One of the better historical perspectives
I liked this book, starting this on heels of 'Gallo be thy name,' and having listened to most of the other audiobooks on CA wine currently available (Gallo, Mondavi, Kendall Jackson, etc). It seemed authentic and unpretentious and lent interesting historical perspective on both the region as it emerged into a winemaking powerhouse, the personalities, the changing styles relative to an increasingly sophisticated US consumer. Plus, the book delves into many of the issues related to making quality wine, how they made mistakes yet learned from them as they moved forward. It's definitely not a barn burner book or a cliffhanger listen, but it was definitely worthwhile.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Charles Dallas
- 01-28-19
Excellent Storying Telling about Shafer Vineyards
As a sommelier, I have had the pleasure of meeting Doug Shafer and selling his wines for over 25 years. This book is well written and tells the adventure and story of an iconic Napa Valley winery.
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1 person found this helpful