TOP DRAWER BOOK REVIEW
by
HL Carpenter

 

True to Our Roots
by Paul Dolan with Thom Elkjer
207 pages; hardcover; $27.95
Bloomberg Press, New Jersey, 2003

From the outside, running a winery appears to be the epitome of leading the good life. But behind those pretty tasting tours and neat rows of plump, juicy grapes, hard work is going on, real money is being made, and fruitful business is being conducted.

True to Our Roots points this out very clearly by providing a beneath-the-vines peek into the way one winery - California’s Fetzer Vineyards – operates. Included, of course, is an oak barrel full of standard management fare, such as making people accountable for their work, planning for the long-term and looking at the big picture.

But the book has a deeper theme, and you don’t have to be an oenophile or even enjoy wine to harvest some benefit.

The heart of True to Our Roots is a call for business to mesh economic goals with less tangible aspirations, fermenting a cooperative effort toward creating a better world for all. And Author Paul Dolan, who wrote True to Our Roots when he was President of Fetzer, is a man on a mission. His passion for turning his company – as well as the entire wine industry - into a responsible corporate citizen is as deep as his love for enology.

The result of this obsession is a detailed look (printed, naturally, on recycled paper) at how business can respect employees, work with the surrounding community, play a role in protecting the environment - and still be profitable.

Like the idea, but think it’s an impossible dream?

Pour a glass of wine, sit down and read about Fetzer’s progress. You’ll come away with a new respect for how one person’s vision can impact an industry. You may even be inspired enough to begin cultivating a new vintage for your own company.

 

Review originally published September 2004.