Napa: The Story of an American Eden

by James Conaway

James Conaway's remarkable bestseller delves into the heart of California's lush and verdant Napa Valley, also known as America's Eden. Long the source of succulent grapes and singular wines, this region is also the setting for the remarkable true saga of the personalities behind the winemaking empires. This is the story of Gallos and Mondavis, of fortunes made and lost, of dynasties and destinies. In this delightful, full-bodied social history, James Conaway charts the rise of a new aristocracy and, in so doing, chronicles the collective ripening of the American dream. More than a wine book, Napa is a must-read for anyone interested in our country's obsession with money, land, power, and prestige.

Genres: Wine, Nonfiction, History, Food, Travel, Food and Wine, Culinary

560 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

James Conaway is a former Wallace Stegner fellow at Stanford University, and the author of thirteen books, including Napa at Last Light and the New York Times bestseller, Napa: The Story of an American Eden. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Harper's, The New Republic, Gourmet, Smithsonian, and National Geographic Traveler. He divides his time between Washington, DC, and California.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging account of the players who've made Napa what it is today. Detailed, yet emminently readable. It ends in the late 80's though - I'd like to see a sequel or update.

[Jeanne]

Historical Napa, but reads like a novel. I didn't want it to end.

[Al Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. It's the story of the wine families of Napa. It reads like a soap opera ... these characters are larger than life.

[Marivic · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those interested in wine and history of families which gave 'life' to the beautiful Napa Valley; very intriguing and a bit surreal.

[Noah]

Boring but figured id brush up on the lore before coming here

[Ivory · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be merely OK. The idea behind "Napa" is a noble one: to set out the history of the Napa Valley's transformation into the wine mecca it is today. However, the author tried to cram too much into one volume (vintners, wineries, politics, tourism, etc.) and the book reads as vignette after vignette, with little tying them together. Very disjointed.

[karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I miss Napa and want to learn more about the area...reading it makes me feel like I am there rather than on the NYC subway. Barbara L., if you are reading this...I WANT TO GO BACK!

OK, read most of the book and then just got stuck! I am done with this one and back to reading books that are faster!

[Jlleigon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool book on the history of Napa and all the ins-n-outs of the family feuds.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

For someone that fell in love with Napa Valley after the first visit this book was very educational. Without having been to Napa it wouldn't have been as enjoyable.

[D.B. Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

# Napa: Where Grapes Go to Party and Egos Go to Die

James Conaway's "Napa: The Story of an American Eden" is like that bottle of wine you open expecting a simple Tuesday night sipper but end up still contemplating at 2 AM—complex, occasionally bitter, and leaving you with a headache you somehow don't regret.

Conaway takes us on a journey through California's most famous wine region with all the subtlety of a Cabernet Sauvignon that's been aged in 500% new oak. The book, much like Napa itself, starts with humble agricultural roots before spiraling into a fever dream of wealth, excess, and people who use "summer" as a verb.

What makes this chronicle particularly delicious is Conaway's unflinching portrait of the valley's transformation from a sleepy agricultural community to a playground where tech billionaires and Hollywood celebrities come to pretend they understand terroir. The author captures the peculiar paradox of Napa: a place that sells itself as rustic authenticity while charging $500 for a bottle of fermented grape juice and a chance to hear someone explain "minerality" with a straight face.

The cast of characters populating this viticultural soap opera would be unbelievable if they weren't real—old Italian families clinging to tradition, nouveau riche interlopers building wineries that look like Mediterranean castles on steroids, and environmentalists fighting to preserve land that's worth more per acre than Manhattan real estate. Conaway navigates these personalities with the precision of a sommelier describing the difference between "earthy" and "dirt-like."

What elevates this book beyond mere chronicle is Conaway's ability to capture the fundamental irony of Napa: a place that markets itself as timeless while changing at whiplash speed. He documents the environmental concerns, labor issues, and cultural clashes with the same attention to detail that winemakers reserve for discussing the weather patterns of 1997.

The prose itself flows like a well-structured Pinot Noir—accessible enough for casual readers but with enough complexity to satisfy those looking for something more profound than a tour bus anecdote. Conaway's wit cuts through pretension like a waiter's corkscrew through foil, revealing the often absurd reality beneath Napa's carefully cultivated image.

By the end, "Napa: The Story of an American Eden" leaves you with the same pleasant disorientation as a wine tasting that started at 10 AM—you've consumed something that's simultaneously enlightening and intoxicating. Conaway has crafted a book that, like the best wines, reveals different notes with each revisit, though unlike those wines, you won't need to take out a second mortgage to enjoy it.

For anyone who's ever sipped wine and wondered why people are speaking about it with religious reverence, or for those who genuinely believe that "blackberry with hints of leather and pencil shavings" is a compliment, this book is your perfect companion—best enjoyed with a glass of something that costs less than your monthly car payment.

[Arthur George · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author is an engaging writer, although the text rambles a bit and it could have used tighter editing, especially in the last third of the book. The first half or so is mainly concerned with the personalities who developed winemaking in the valley, but after that it devolves into a political history of land use issues in the valley. As a former lawyer, I was able to read through that with enough interest, but I would have preferred a more succinct account of that while still tracing the development of new wineries and stories of new winemakers and their successes. Overall, there was virtually no history of the towns themselves (Napa, St. Helena, Yountville, Calistoga, etc.) I would have given the book only 3 stars except that I have an intense interest in the history of the Napa valley and as a former lawyer had an interest in the legal land use issues covered extensively in the latter part of the book (which is an issue in the wine region where I live). So I will probably read too the sequel book, The Far Side of Eden.

[James H. Jaqua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of grapes.

Very complete look at the early days of the wine industry in the Napa Valley. Quite interesting if you are a wine drinker. More about the people than the wineries, but a fair look at the growing pains, especially the difficulty with local elected officials who knew little or nothing about wine or wine-making. Slow at times and not very exciting, but informative.

[Joseph H. Hudelson]

This is a fantastic narrative of the Napa Valley. It takes on several small stories of people in the wine industry in the once fledgling region and traces the implications of their contributions to the premier location. Stories of the Mondavis, Schramsberg, and other families make this a must read. Also, it provides a look at the environmental debates of the region that involve cult wines like Harlan.

[Brenda Domergue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great start, bad finish

The first half of the book was a terrific history of the Napa wine industry. The second half was a boring, repetitive recounting of squabbles between the vintners and the growers, riddled with hundreds, if not thousands of typos. I’ve never read anything this poorly proofread. In fact, I think it wasn’t proof read at all…and it was truly boring. Read the first 250-300 pages and then set it aside.

[Catherine Schafer · Rating 2 out of 5]

The vast number of typos are not only distracting, they undermine the credibility of the story. The great historical info in the first half of the book kept me reading, but the last half of the book is basically a rehashing of the Vintners and Growers Associations differing views on controversial issues affecting the valley in such minute detail that the result is mundane. Could’ve easily been half the pages.

[Tom Garland · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun read about the early history and development of the Napa Valley and how the region struggled with growth of development., tension between wineries and growers. the book was written in the late 1980s so it seeing Napa now it is a shame they weren't more successful at managing growth. 5 stars for history of individual wineries and characters running them, wine train but only 1 star on too much detail on the politics.

[Simon Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not really a book about wine more a story about the characters who surround it and the greed and trouble that comes with extraordinary success. Conaways’s style of writing is a lot of fun and he brings the characters to life in a wonderful way. Really worth reading if you want to understand the real history behind the wines of napa.

[robert e. rayunas · Rating 4 out of 5]

History

One cannot realize what has gone on in this place of wonderment! Wine, wine and wine. Profits, beauty of the land, all seem to work together, for something they have not figured out yet, maybe soon. What has gone on, is something all can read about!

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lessons to be learned when the delicate balance between ag conservation and 'progress' is tipped in favor of egos, greed and personal power. Result indeed is a 'tragedy of the commons' which is a chapter heading. A good, entertaining read written in a journalistic style.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

He packs a lot of facts into a very well researched and interesting story. Living in Napa and having met most of the players, it was a must-read for me. But I think the book would have universal appeal.. the back story of the players who founded the present-day world-renowned region.

[Dale Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magnificent & engrossing. My only issue is that there are so many stories & people to follow, it can be difficult to keep up the threads. However, it’s a must read for anyone interested in the birth & evolution of California wine country.

[Donna Pachota · Rating 1 out of 5]

Long

Way too long, more of a history book than something that grabbed me. Just to long and drawn out. Many who want history of wine would like it.

[Val Wilkerson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just could not keep my interest in this book.

[William Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

This a good read for anyone who'd visited Napa but my Kindle version suffered from multiple typos that proved distracting

[Virginia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Disjointed, waffling between factionalized and factual history of the Napa Valley. Learned something, but not enough to justify that many pages. Forced myself to finish it.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read for anyone interested in the history of Napa Valley. The book is chock full of insightful stories about how Napa was built and who helped to pave the way.

[Zach Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Origins of Napa’s wine industry, with blow by blow of NIMBY/YIMBY divides that followed in the 80s. Sometimes dry, reads like the minutes of a board meeting.

[thomas kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inside Napa politics

Decent read about the growth of Napa valley. Decent wine history. Overall a good book that gets bogged into politics.

[Rick Barr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off great, but the final 20% about political maneuverings was lest captivating.

[Scribd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could claim that my attraction to this book stems from my New Years Resolution to explore more of my adopted region. Or, that it has to do with my conscious effort to read more nonfiction. But the truth is, James Conaway’s bestselling history of Napa lured me in because I’m a total wino. And it kept me in with its exquisite prose, exemplified by lush descriptions of the region like this one:

Sediments miles deep depressed and broke apart the ocean floor, releasing molten rock that eventually lifted above the brine, a process repeated many times in the collisions of vast plates beneath the earth’s surface that created California quite apart from the rest of the continent. … Napa lay above the water line, a narrow valley drowned in the south and pinched in the north between two converging lines of tortured rock.

So if you’re looking for me this weekend, you’ll find me devouring this book, some cheese and crackers, and a fine bottle of sparkling wine.