{"product_id":"tangled-vines-greed-murder-obsession-and-an-arsonist-in-the-vineyards-of-california","title":"Tangled Vines: Greed, Murder, Obsession, and an Arsonist in the Vineyards of California","description":"\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFRANCES DINKELSPIEL is an award-winning journalist and the author of \n\u003ci\u003eTowers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California\u003c\/i\u003e. \n\u003ci\u003eTowers of Gold\u003c\/i\u003e was a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller and named a Best Book of the Year by the Chronicle and the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association. She is the co-founder of the news site Berkeleyside and her articles have appeared in the \n\u003ci\u003e New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, People, San Francisco Magazine, \u003c\/i\u003eand other venues. She lives in Berkeley, California.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBrief Description\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTracing the history of California's viticulture and how passion for the \"the elixir of the gods\" has driven people to extremes, a narrative exposes the violent and obsessive world of the California wine trade.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePrologue: A Fire Is Set\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003ePART ONE: DESTRUCTION\u003cbr\u003e1. The Mystery of Wine\u003cbr\u003e2. All Is Lost\u003cbr\u003e3. The Wrecked Remains\u003cbr\u003e4. A Soggy, Charred Mess\u003cbr\u003e5. Joe Sausalito\u003cbr\u003ePART TWO: INVENTION\u003cbr\u003e6. The Beginning of Rancho Cucamonga\u003cbr\u003e7. Wine Fever\u003cbr\u003e8. Blood on the Land\u003cbr\u003ePART THREE: FABRICATION\u003cbr\u003e9. Sausalito Cellars\u003cbr\u003e10. For the Love of Wine\u003cbr\u003e11. Wine Fraud\u003cbr\u003ePART FOUR: EXPANSION\u003cbr\u003e12. The Struggle for Recognition\u003cbr\u003e13. The Era of the Great San Francisco Wine Houses\u003cbr\u003e14. The Wine War\u003cbr\u003e15. Earthquake and Fire\u003cbr\u003ePART FIVE: DECEPTION\u003cbr\u003e16. Theft and Deception\u003cbr\u003e17. Dismay\u003cbr\u003e18. The Trap is Set\u003cbr\u003e19. Delay\u003cbr\u003ePART SIX: REDEMPTION\u003cbr\u003e20. Legacy\u003cbr\u003eEpilogue\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Bestseller\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e Bestseller\u003cbr\u003eA Best Book for Wine Lovers - \u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of the Best Wine Books of 2015 - \u003ci\u003eFood \u0026amp; Wine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFinalist for Best Nonfiction Book - Northern California Independent Booksellers\u003cbr\u003eFinalist for a Northern California Book Award\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Clear and absorbing, a reminder that no matter how much beauty and poetry we may find in the glass, for many it's ultimately all about the money.\" - Eric Asimov, \n\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"From its explosive prologue to the very last sentence, Frances Dinkelspiel has written an utterly riveting true crime book... Unlike... the wine collectors in \n\u003ci\u003eTangled Vines, \u003c\/i\u003e I cannot taste 'the earth, the sun, the sky, and the steady hand of the winemaker in that glass.' But I know a spectacular book when I read one.\" - \n\u003ci\u003e The Los Angeles Book Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"The most engrossing and engaging book about Napa Valley since James Conaway's two-volume saga, \"Napa\" and \"The Far Side of Eden.\" - \n\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Dinkelspiel is at her best... page-turning.\" - \n\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"An engaging read\" - \n\u003ci\u003eSan Jose Mercury News\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Dinkelspiel's stunning new look at the dark side of California wine, you won't want to get up until you've devoured the entire book... [An] uncommon page-turner. Dinkelspiel has woven skillfully three distinct yet inextricable narratives into a book that will inform and fascinate readers for years to come. While the stories she tells are engrossing on their own, it is her steady journalistic tone, backed by prodigious and painstaking research, that gives this book its power and allure.\" - \n\u003ci\u003eBerkeleyside's \"Nosh Weekly\"\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"More than just a crime story, this is a book about the wealth, passion, and murky reality shaped by life inside the twisted vines of California's most revered crop... An enjoyable read for wine connoisseurs and neophytes alike.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"The author's gripping descriptions of the fire and its aftermath, her unflinching narrative, and her vast knowledge of the subject matter make this a page-turner for both wine aficionados and casual tasters.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"I gulped down this page-turning chronicle of big egos, bold Cabernets, and brazen wine wars. Frances Dinkelspiel vividly captures the wild early years of California's wine industry as well as the modern crime revealing the dark obsession some people have for wine. I'll never look at a bottle of Napa Valley Cabernet in quite the same way again.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003eJulia Flynn Siler, New York Times bestselling author of \u003c\/i\u003eHouse of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"The author is deeply rooted in the Golden State's financial history, as anyone knows who read her excellent \n\u003ci\u003eTowers of Gold\u003c\/i\u003e. Now we find that \n\u003ci\u003eterroir's \u003c\/i\u003epart of that story, too. A family member's bottled heirlooms passed down through generations fall victim to a bizarre crime, and the author's drawn in by a sense of loss, anger, and curiosity. How could even an unhinged perpetrator of the worst case of wine arson in California history destroy vintages bearing some of the biggest names in West Coast viticulture, and apparently get away with it? Dinkelspiel weaves together strands of past and present in an enthralling narrative that binds the reader to the investigation and to her personal triumph.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003eJames Conaway, New York Times bestselling author of \u003c\/i\u003eNapa: The Story of an American Eden \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"History, wine and crime intertwine in this fascinating page-turner. Dinkelspiel travels in time to create a dark and deep portrait of three centuries of California wine culture.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003eDavia Nelson of NPR's \"Kitchen Sisters\"\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\" \n\u003ci\u003eTangled Vines\u003c\/i\u003e is a captivating account of how a wine connoisseur became one of the most notorious wine criminals in history. Dinkelspiel deftly weaves his true tale into the rich, colorful, and at times shady history of California wine. A delicious read.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003eAllison Hoover Bartlett, author of \u003c\/i\u003eThe Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Bestseller\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOn October 12, 2005, a massive fire broke out in the Wines Central wine warehouse in Vallejo, California. Within hours, the flames had destroyed 4.5 million bottles of California's finest wine worth more than $250 million, making it the largest destruction of wine in history. The fire had been deliberately set by a passionate oenophile named Mark Anderson, a skilled con man and thief with storage space at the warehouse who needed to cover his tracks. With a propane torch and a bucket of gasoline-soaked rags, Anderson annihilated entire California vineyard libraries as well as bottles of some of the most sought-after wines in the world. Among the priceless bottles destroyed were 175 bottles of Port and Angelica from one of the oldest vineyards in California made by Frances Dinkelspiel's great-great grandfather, Isaias Hellman, in 1875. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSadly, Mark Anderson was not the first to harm the industry. The history of the California wine trade, dating back to the 19th Century, is a story of vineyards with dark and bloody pasts, tales of rich men, strangling monopolies, the brutal enslavement of vineyard workers and murder. Five of the wine trade murders were associated with Isaias Hellman's vineyard in Rancho Cucamonga beginning with the killing of John Rains who owned the land at the time. He was shot several times, dragged from a wagon and left off the main road for the coyotes to feed on. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn her new book, Frances Dinkelspiel looks beneath the casually elegant veneer of California's wine regions to find the obsession, greed and violence lying in wait. Few people sipping a fine California Cabernet can even guess at the \n\u003ci\u003eTangled Vines\u003c\/i\u003e where its life began. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eContributor Bio:\u003c\/strong\u003eDinkelspiel, Frances\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFRANCES DINKELSPIEL is an award-winning journalist and the author of \n\u003ci\u003eTowers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California\u003c\/i\u003e. \n\u003ci\u003eTowers of Gold\u003c\/i\u003e was a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller and named a Best Book of the Year by the Chronicle and the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association. She is the co-founder of the news site Berkeleyside and her work has appeared in The \n\u003ci\u003e New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, People, San Francisco Magazine, \u003c\/i\u003eand other venues. She lives in Berkeley, California.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Dinkelspiel, Frances\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e St. Martin's Griffin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePub Date:\u003c\/b\u003e 2016-10-18\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC:\u003c\/b\u003e History|United States|State \u0026amp; Local - West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY)|Cooking|Beverages|Alcoholic- General|Cooking|History|History|Social History\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSubjects:\u003c\/b\u003e Wine industry|History|Wine and wine making|Corrupt practices|Crime|California\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.65 lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781250113894\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eASIN:\u003c\/b\u003e -\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSKU:\u003c\/b\u003e SP-9781250113894\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"St. Martin's Griffin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51154411716886,"sku":"SP-9781250113894","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9781250113894_spiral.png?v=1774944048","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/tangled-vines-greed-murder-obsession-and-an-arsonist-in-the-vineyards-of-california","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}