Father of California Wine Passes

All of us involved in California's wine industry owe a huge debt of gratitude to the man with the vision that lead to our state supplying over 80% of the wine consumed in the U.S.
My favorite Mondavi quote is, "It's easy to make a small fortune in the wine industry ... just start with a large one."

The NY Times Bestseller pictured here, "The House of Mondavi – The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty," by Julia Flynn Siler (Gotham Books) is a dramatic telling of the family's story based on 525 hours of interviews the author conducted with over 250 people, including family member.

Excerpted from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Mr. Mondavi, who died Friday, May 16th at the age of 94, built the facility in 1966. Then 52, Mr. Mondavi (whose parents had emigrated from the Marche region of Italy) realized that Americans were becoming more interested in food and wine. California jug wines were already on the market. Yet he wanted to help raise the country to a new level. So began his lifelong mission — to establish and support the foundation of a world-class wine region in Napa Valley.

Mr. Mondavi's passion and vision led to important contributions in winemaking techniques. Cold fermentation, stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels paved the way for finer wines. He collaborated with NASA to further study vine growth and vine health using aerial images. Then he focused on natural farming and vineyard practices that were more environmentally friendly.

Most important, Robert Mondavi wished to better educate the consumer by presenting wine in the context of a "broader lifestyle" and including it with the other fine studies such as music, food and art. He started a summer music festival in 1969 that served as a fundraiser for the Napa Valley Symphony. This was followed by the Winter Classical Series that kicked in by 1973. He also knew that by attaching wine to great food, it would uplift the reputation of the wine to the same level at the table.

He started a culinary program in 1976. (With Julia Child he later founded COPIA, The American Center for Wine, Food and Arts in Napa.) In 1971, his program of art exhibitions began in the Vineyard Room. In 1981, he helped to launch the Napa Valley Wine Auction (whose proceeds go to local charities), followed in 1988 by the Mission Program, a forum to address public opinion about wine consumption.

I learned a lot about Robert Mondavi on that tour. This guy was so much more than just a good winemaker. He is, as they say, the Father of California Wine. After a viewing of the expansive Mondavi cellar and gravity-flow reserve wine program, we headed off to lunch. This made Mom real happy because she said she had "seen enough oak barrels for now."

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