Dr. Mark Gudgel is a father, husband, college professor, marathon runner and author. A regular contributor to Edible Marin & Wine Country and Napa Valley Life, his previous book, Think Higher Feel Deeper, focused on his career in Holocaust education. He is the board president of the vinNEBRASKA Foundation and currently working on a book about the Court of Master Sommeliers and a travel guide to the Napa Valley. Gudgel lives in Omaha with his wife, Sonja, and their children, Zooey and Titus.

A wine country odyssey.
In 1976, the picturesque, agrarian Napa Valley was all but unknown to those who didn't live there. That changed dramatically when Steven Spurrier and Patricia Gallagher decided to host a blind tasting of American and French wines in Paris. When wines from California defeated those of France, the world was shocked, an industry reawakened, and Napa Valley exploded in a frenzy of growth and development. Families who had farmed for generations battled to hang onto their land, and many paid a steep price as the area transformed into one of the world's premier wine-growing regions.
Join author Mark Gudgel as he explores the trials and tribulations of Napa's meteoric rise to prominence.