TEQUILA WARS: An Evening of Conversation with Ted Genoways & Eliza Barclay

Join Bold Fork Books, author Ted Genoways, and reporter Eliza Barclay for an evening exploring TEQUILA WARS : José Cuervo and the Bloody Struggle for the Spirit of Mexico, a revelatory history of the vast tequila empire born from the fires of the Mexican Revolution.

ABOUT THE BOOK

At the dawn of the twentieth century, José Cuervo inherited his family’s humble distillery, La Rojeña, in the Tequila Valley. Within a decade, he had transformed it into a complex national enterprise that would become Mexico’s leading producer of tequila. Cuervo grew his kingdom of agave by acquiring thousands of acres of estates throughout the valley; he brought electricity and a railroad line to Tequila, so he could reach drinkers across the country. But when the Mexican Revolution erupted, a charge of treason and a death threat against him by Pancho Villa forced Cuervo to flee. His disappearance turned him into an obscure, shadowy historical figure—despite having one of the most famous names in Mexican history.

In TEQUILA WARS, award-winning author Ted Genoways restores Cuervo to his place as a key player in Mexico’s formative period. Before the revolution, Cuervo’s acclaim spread worldwide, and once war broke out, Cuervo remained an impresario, kingmaker, and cultural force. In the face of his own government’s corruption and the nationalism of his northern neighbors, Cuervo reached American drinkers by establishing Mexico’s covert form of cross-border commerce with the United States. As the largest and most important distilleries in the Tequila Valley recognized the threat posed by Mexico’s unraveling, Cuervo also lobbied for suspending normal competition in favor of “a union of tequila makers”—what would become the first Mexican cartel.

With extensive original research, including access to the secret archives of the Cuervo and Sauza families, Genoways follows the violent, unpredictable, and hugely profitable world of tequila through the story of its most successful maker. The first biography of Cuervo, TEQUILA WARS uncovers the history of the man who would forever change not only the business of tequila, but international relations between Mexico and the United States.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ted Genoways is a two-time James Beard Award winner and the author of six books, including Tequila Wars and This Blessed Earth. He is a senior editor at the Food & Environment Reporting Network and a President’s Professor at the University of Tulsa, where he edits Switchyard.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Eliza Barclay is the climate editor for New York Times Opinion where she commissions and edits guest essays on climate, environment and food issues. In 2024, she curated and edited the series “What to Eat on a Burning Planet” about how lawmakers, scientists, farmers and consumers can confront and solve the growing strain on our global food supply and the natural systems it depends on. Previously she was the science, health and climate editor at Vox, where she co-wrote and co-edited the award-winning “supertrees” project. She has also been a reporter and editor at NPR, and got her start in journalism as a freelance writer based in Mexico City.