The Count founded a town in Wisconsin; In 1850 he made his mark in Southern California as the first sheriff of San Diego; he was one of the managers of the gold smelter and mint in San Francisco, and then he was sued – and came out of the suit victoriously, glorified – until he arrived in Sonoma, probably the most wonderful wine-growing valley on earth.

If today he is apostrophized as the father of California’s grape and wine culture, it is not by chance – this documentary novel, supplemented with rich images, commemorates this incomparably adventurous and fruitful life journey that ended in a Nicaraguan river, most likely in the stomach of a crocodile.