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May 18, 2008
Robert Mondavi Visionary Vintner for California Wine
Robert Mondavi, a visionary winemaker and brilliant marketer who helped lead California wine into international prominence, died at 9 a.m. Friday, May 16, 2008, at his home in Yountville, Calif. He was 94 years of age.
Outspoken, energetic and charismatic, Mondavi was one of the most influential and admired winemakers in California history. He was the driving force behind his namesake winery in Napa Valley, which he established in 1966 and which for years was the most famous winery in California, until it was sold in 2004.
"Robert Mondavi left an indelible legacy on the California wine industry," said Marvin R. Shanken, editor and publisher of Wine Spectator. "He touted California wines as world class--as good as the best of Europe--and tirelessly traveled the world spreading that message, making believers out of millions of wine lovers."
“Wine is life,” he wrote on the dedication page of Harvests of Joy, quoting the Roman poet, Petronius. Certainly, Robert Mondavi enriched the lives of countless wine lovers over the course of his long and remarkable career.
In a career that spanned eight decades, Mondavi often led by example, setting lofty goals for his winery and inspiring California winemakers to make wines that would compete with the best in the world. His name, influence and passion for wine and life spread well beyond Napa and California. Winemakers around the world credited Mondavi with encouraging them to set higher standards and make better wines.
Inspired by Europe:
A tireless global traveler with an inquisitive mind, Mondavi began visiting the great vineyards and cellars of Europe in the 1960s, when California wine was on the verge of a renaissance. Those sojourns helped Mondavi realize that California needed to improve its wines to gain acceptance in the nation's top restaurants and became the foundation of his vision for how California wines could gain greater respect.
His son Tim said his father's first trips to Europe were vital to his success and that of California wine. "He was one of the first [people] to go to see the best, the worst and everything in between in all the different areas," Tim said. "His desire was to ask the questions about why some of the wines were so great and why they got to be that way."
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He also built strong personal ties with many winemakers, Tim said. "He developed friendships with other [winemakers] and exchanged ideas with many people. Not only did he learn from them but we shared what we had learned."
Through his outgoing personality and business acumen, Mondavi forged a number of important joint ventures with prominent European vintners. The first and most significant came in 1979, when he teamed up with Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Bordeaux's famous Château Mouton-Rothschild to create Opus One in Napa Valley. That union brought together two of the wine world's great minds, creating a wine that relied on a fusion of French and California winemaking traditions rooted in Oakville soil.
Opus One caught the attention of vintners and businessmen worldwide. Baron Rothschild's desire to partner with Mondavi validated the quality of California wine and ushered in a new era of foreign investment in California. By the end the 1980s, dozens of international firms had bought land and built or bought wineries in the state.
A Champion of Good Living:
Mondavi's love of wine spilled over into what he termed a gracious way of living. He showed a deep appreciation for music and the arts, and he embraced fine cuisines of the world and elegant dining, in which food and wine enhanced each other.
As Mondavi's reputation grew, the stylish Mondavi winery became a mecca for visitors to Napa. Its educational tours and tastings, art shows and summer concert series became a focal point for many tourists.
To promote the marriage of food and wine, Mondavi and his wife, Margrit Biever Mondavi, created the "Great Chefs" programs at their Oakville winery in the 1970s. Each year, they hosted influential culinary masters, such as Julia Child and Paul Bocuse, to cook and experiment with different food and wine pairings.
But rather than limit wine to fine dining, Mondavi championed making it a part of everyday life and of a healthy lifestyle. When wine came under attack in the 1980s, Mondavi was a vocal critic of anti-alcohol campaigns and advocated research into the benefits of moderate consumption of wine.
Mondavi "understood the need for education about wine, Napa Valley wine and California wine," said Harvey Posert, his long time confidant and public relations advisor. He added, "The programs--comparative tastings, harvest seminars, great chefs, summer concerts, the mission program--all had the sole purpose of explaining wine's positive values to the public and to the industry he served. Many of these ideas originated with others, but he had the will and the financial strength to make them happen."
The Path to Success:
A native of Hibbing, Minn., Robert Gerald Mondavi was born June 18, 1913, to parents who had emigrated from Italy. Mondavi's parents, Cesare and Rosa, moved to Virginia, Minn., where his father worked in a mine and, with his wife, ran a boarding house and later a saloon. Robert recalled that his mother was an especially talented cook, and wine was part of daily meals.
In 1921, Robert's father decided to get into the grape business, and two years later the family moved to Lodi, which at the time was the grape capital of California. After working for his father and starring on the Lodi football team, Mondavi attended and graduated from Stanford.
By the 1930s, Robert became more interested in fine wines from Napa Valley, and he eventually worked at Sunny St. Helena Winery (now Merryvale). In 1943, he learned that the famous Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena was for sale and convinced his father to buy it.
"Bob Mondavi was born into the wine business and by genes or training developed an intensity to compete and succeed in that business," said Posert. "In those 1940 to 1960 years it was an old-time, immigrant- and import-based farming business, but his Stanford business [education and] training helped him apply business thinking [to wine marketing]."
The Mondavis moved to Napa, and Cesare, Robert and Robert's younger brother, Peter, ran the winery. But there were disagreements about how the winery should be run, and after Cesare's death, Robert and Peter clashed. While Robert, the more flamboyant of the two brothers, pushed for better wines, Peter favored a more conservative path. One day, they ended up in a fistfight, and Robert was asked to leave the family business.
In 1966, at the age of 52, he started Robert Mondavi Winery, building the first new winery in Napa since the late 1930s. He also sued for his share of Charles Krug and, in 1976, ended up with a settlement that left Peter in charge of Charles Krug, but gave Robert most of the family's key vineyards in the Oakville area.
Once his winery was underway, with the help of his sons Michael and later Tim, Robert accelerated his efforts to fine-tune his wines. Increasingly this led to trips to Europe, where he studied the great wines of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Loire Valley.
During Mondavi's seminal travel experience in 1962, "I tasted wines I'd never find in the United States, and I saw first-hand the European way of making fine wine and aging them in oak barrels," he wrote in his 1998 autobiography Harvests of Joy. "I also came to see the role of the wine maker in a much different light." He began a quest to understand terroir--the French notion of how soil and climate impact grapevines and shape the character of a wine.
In Bordeaux, he honed in on the roles Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc played in Bordeaux reds, and also studied the texture and structure of those wines, which he admired. In Burgundy, he studied the fickle Pinot Noir grape and Chardonnay. At times, Mondavi's Pinots were considered among the best in California.
With Robert setting the goals and Tim overseeing the winemaking, Robert Mondavi Winery built a reputation for classy Napa Valley Cabernets and Chardonnays and started a trend with Sauvignon Blanc, which Robert called Fumé Blanc. The winery's best wine, its Reserve Cabernet, captures the rich earthy currant flavors of Napa Valley. But the wines were also distinctive for their suppleness, elegance and grace.
At the end of the 1970s, the winery launched an inexpensive line of generic table wines; those table wines from the Central Valley evolved into the Woodbridge label, which provided the company with a steady flow of cash.
The Opus One venture coincided with the debut of the Napa Valley Wine Auction in 1981, which Mondavi was instrumental in creating. A single case of the debut vintage of Opus One sold at the inaugural auction for a breathtaking $24,000. The event has since grown into one of the world's largest charity wine auctions, raising millions each year for Napa health care, low-income housing and youth services organizations.
The Public Years:
In 1993, seeking the capital for even greater growth, Mondavi became a public company, and Robert gradually turned over more of the business decisions to his sons. Michael concentrated on sales and marketing and Tim focused on winemaking, while Mondavi's daughter, Marcia, also sat on the board. Eventually Mondavi became chairman emeritus and traveled on behalf of the winery to promote its wines.
During this period, Robert Mondavi Corp. formed partnerships in Italy with the Frescobaldi family, in Chile with the Chadwick family of Viña Errazuriz and in Australia with Rosemount, which later became part of Southcorp. The company also acquired some prominent California wineries, including Arrowood, and purchased renowned Tuscan winery Ornellaia with Frescobaldi.
Meanwhile, Mondavi turned much of his energy to philanthropic endeavors. He spearheaded a drive to build Copia: The American Institute for Food, Wine and the Arts in downtown Napa and donated $20 million to get the cultural center, which he had conceived of in 1988, off the ground.
He also donated $35 million to the University of California at Davis: $25 million to establish the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science and another $10 million to finish the campus' performing arts center, which was named after him and his wife. The gift was the largest private contribution to UC Davis and represents one of the most generous single gifts from an individual donor in the history of the University of California.
But by 2000, Robert Mondavi Corp. had begun to experience financial strains that were worsened by the subsequent recession, the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack and a slump in wine sales. In 2004, after a series of internal disputes with board members over a planned restructuring of the company, Michael resigned. Although the board had originally decided to sell off Mondavi's luxury brands, it then agreed to sell the entire corporation when Constellation Brands made a takeover bid of more than $1 billion.
"This ambitious striving led [Mondavi] down some unfortunate paths,” said Posert. Going public was a decision Robert later regretted, Posert said.
The sale temporarily left Mondavi out of the wine business for the first time since the 1930s, although Constellation kept him on as an ambassador for the winery. Then in 2005, at the age of 92, he joined his son Tim and daughter Marcia in a new venture to make Napa Valley Cabernet.
"Of all the things he learned, the most important was that wine was meant to enhance a meal, and that's something he never forgot," said Tim.
Funeral services will be private, but remembrance books will be available in the Robert Mondavi Winery visitor center and at the visitor center of Woodbridge winery in Lodi, Calif., for the next four weeks. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Copia; the University of California at Davis; The Oxbow School; and Stanford University
Source: "Robert Mondavi Dies at Age of 94,” James Laube; Photo Credit: Kent Harrison, Wine Spectator, May 18, 2008
Posted by fortna at May 18, 2008 03:29 PM
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Obituary: Robert Mondavi
In Napa Valley, where formality tends to be reserved for gala auctions and visiting dignitaries, Robert G Mondavi was and probably always will be referred to as 'Mister'.
'Call me Bob,' or 'Call me Robert,' he would say when introducing himself. Yet those employed by him over the years at Robert Mondavi Winery, others who worked with him to enhance the quality and reputation of California wines, and even some who didn't always see eye to eye with America's most important and charismatic wine figure, typically showed their respect by calling him 'Mr Mondavi.'
Mr Mondavi died on May 16, one month shy of his 95th birthday. The legendary vintner, who had been frail and in a wheelchair in recent years, died peacefully at his home near Yountville in Napa Valley, the family said.
Described as the father/grandfather/godfather/patriarch/ambassador of California wine, Mondavi, a skilled technician and ultimate marketing and public relations man, waged a half-century-long, four-pronged campaign: Rally California winemakers to produce better wines; show the world that California wine quality could rival that of France, Italy and Germany; encourage Americans, for whom little wine-drinking tradition existed, to include wine as a healthy, food-friendly part of their lives; and demonstrate that wine, food and the arts were equal components in enjoying 'the good life.'
'We lost one of the most important leaders in the world of wine, and for those of us in the Napa Valley, it's as if we've lost our second father or grandfather,' said Linda Reiff, executive director of the Napa Valley Vintners association. 'Robert Mondavi was the head of the Napa Valley wine community's extended family - this large, crazy yet tight-knit and dedicated group of people who would do anything to help each other. And that's one of the many important lessons Mr. Mondavi taught us: To always be there to help a neighbor, a friend, our community or beyond. He was one of the most kind and generous people we've ever known.'
In addition to founding the most famous winery in the US, Mondavi is credited with being one of the creators of the wildly successful Napa Valley Wine Auction, and for sharing viticultural and enological research and information with his competitors, believing, as Richard Arrowood said, 'that it would come back to him ten-fold.'
Decanter's consultant editor Steven Spurrier said, 'There will never be another Robert Mondavi. He was unique, and completely driven, completely consistent. His uniqueness lay in the fact that from the very beginning he wanted success for the whole Napa Valley – he was never just in it for his own operation.'
Mondavi inspired huge loyalty, and counted some of the most eminent wine professionals as personal friends.
'I was there at the opening of the winery in 1966,' Hugh Johnson said. 'He was always a great great friend. What was unique about him? He was an amazing, seamless talker – unstoppable. He was always asking questions, trying out new theories on people – and he always had a bottle of wonderful French wine on the table, Mouton or Latour. He wanted to show everyone the wine he was making was just as good.'
'He is singly responsible for putting respect for California wines on the map. Period. End of story,' said Arrowood, who received advice and inspiration from Mondavi in the early 1970s, when Arrowood was a lab technician at Rodney Strong Vineyards in Sonoma, contemplating becoming a winemaker. 'He brought all the wines from California to the attention of the world, not just Napa.'
Arrowood went on to great success as the winemaker at Chateau St Jean, then founded Arrowood Vineyards & Winery in Sonoma. In an interesting twist, he and his wife, Alys, sold their winery to Mondavi in 2000, with Arrowood staying on as winemaker. The sale of the Robert Mondavi Corp to Constellation Brands in 2004 ended the business relationship, yet Arrowood looks back fondly on the experience.
'The whole family was very kind to us, very sincere,' he said. 'The wine world has lost a champion of graciousness and the enjoyment of wine and food'.
Sarah Kemp, publishing director of Decanter (which honored Mondavi as its Man of the Year in 1989) said, 'Robert Mondavi holds a unique position in the history of wine. This extraordinary man, through his vision, relentless energy and gritty determination, changed the way consumers thought about wine. By putting California wine on the map, he ensured the world knew that some of the world's great wines could be made outside Europe, at the time a revolutionary concept. He was deservedly one of the wine legends of our time.'
One of Mondavi's proudest accomplishments was the 2001 opening of Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, in the city of Napa, to which he was a major contributor. Also in 2001, he and his second wife, Margrit Biever Mondavi, gave US$25 million to help establish the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science at UC Davis, which is scheduled to open in October, and US$10 million to launch the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts in Davis, which opened in 2002.
After being forced out of his family's Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena in 1966, Mondavi founded Robert Mondavi Winery on the west side of Highway 29 in Oakville. In addition to the high-quality wines made there, the winery's iconic California mission architecture, educational opportunities, visitor amenities, concert series and Great Chefs program (participants included Julia Child, Alice Waters, Paul Bocuse and Joel Robuchon) underscored the credo Mondavi outlined in his 1998 book, 'Robert Mondavi: Harvests of Joy.'
'Wine to me is passion,' he wrote. 'It's family and friends. It's warmth of heart and generosity of spirit. Wine is art. It's culture. It's the essence of civilization and the Art of Living … When I pour a glass of truly fine wine, when I hold it up to the light and admire its color, when I raise it to my nose and savor its bouquet and essence, I know that wine is, above all else, a blessing, a gift of nature, a joy as pure and elemental as the soil and vines and sunshine from which it springs.'
Jay Indelicato, chairman of the California Wine Institute, said, 'Over the decades, he encouraged a spirit of cooperation for all wineries in California. He helped advance the whole industry, from technical issues all the way to marketing concepts and culture. He was out there doing it all himself, not just designing programs. What drove him? True passion.'
Mondavi was born in 1913 in Virginia, Minnesota, to parents who left the Marche region of Italy for America. The family moved to Lodi, California, during Prohibition and Robert attended school there.
A 1936 graduate of Stanford University with a degree in economics and business administration, he joined his father, Cesare, at Sunny St. Helena Winery, a bulk wine producer. He later convinced his father to purchase the nearby Charles Krug Winery, where Mondavi and his younger brother, Peter began to improve quality there.
During an argument with Peter in 1965 over Robert's purchase of a mink coat for his first wife, Marjorie, to wear to a White House dinner, Robert punched his younger brother, prompting his expulsion from Krug by his mother, Rosa.
So at age 53, Mondavi built Robert Mondavi Winery in 1966, with his older son, Michael. At a time when California wine was considered cheap plonk, the Mondavis made an immediate impact on quality by introducing the use of cold fermentation, stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels to their winemaking. By the l970s, Robert Mondavi wines were recognized for their superior quality and sold abroad.
Robert Mondavi had a great eye for talent, hiring several winemakers who went on to stardom elsewhere, including Warren Winiarski (Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Zelma Long (Simi Winery and now her own Zelphi Wines), Mike Grgich (Grgich Hills) and Dan Goldfield (Dutton-Goldfield Winery).
Along the way, Mondavi met Baron Philippe de Rothschild at Chateau Mouton Rothschild in Bordeaux, and in 1979, the two launched Opus One Winery in Oakville, a specialist in Bordeaux-style red wines. That same year, Mondavi bought a winemaking cooperative near Lodi that he named Woodbridge, for the production of value-priced wines.
Mondavi further expanded his winemaking empire through partnerships with the Frescobaldi family in Italy, Eduardo Chadwick of Viña Errazuríz in Chile, and Rosemount in Australia.
Seeking more growth, the Robert Mondavi Corp. became a publicly traded company in 1993. Robert semi-retired, though his succession plans were upset when sons Michael and Timothy couldn't agree on how to run the company. Financial problems arose, stock prices fell, and the family was compelled to sell its shares in Robert Mondavi Corp. to Constellation Brands in 2004, a transaction that the family and many Napa Valley neighbors still have difficulty swallowing.
Richard Sands, chairman of Constellation, praised Mondavi's contributions.
'He had a vision about the potential for developing great California wines. Robert was a pioneer who acted on his vision and was both passionate and relentless in his pursuit of ever-better wines, especially from the Napa Valley. He championed the marriage of fine wine, excellent food, arts and culture, and relationships that enrich lives. He was an inspiration and he will be greatly missed.'
Mondavi was awarded France's Legion of Honor in 2005 and in 2006, was the first inductee into the Culinary Institute of America's Vintners Hall of Fame. In 2007, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger inducted Mondavi into the California Hall of Fame.
At the time of his death, Mondavi was chairman emeritus of the Robert Mondavi Corp. With his wife, Margrit, son Tim and daughter Marcia Mondavi Borger, he also owned the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon-based brand Continuum; the first vintage, 2005, was recently released.
In addition to his wife, sons and daughter, Mondavi is survived by nine grandchildren and his brother, Peter. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Copia, UC Davis, The Oxbow School and Stanford University.
Robert Mondavi Winery spokesperson Mia Malm said services will be private. A remembrance book will be available at the Oakville winery and at the visitor center at Woodbridge winery in Lodi, California, for those wishing to share a message or condolence. The books will be given to the Mondavi family.
Linda Murphy
Posted by: Linda Murphy at May 19, 2008 09:33 AM
Robert Gerald Mondavi helped elevate California’s wine industry to world-class status that drew attention from around the globe for wine in California’s Napa Valley, illustrating that Napa wines could compete with the best in the world.
Mondavi died peacefully at his home in Yountville, Calif. on May 16.
Mondavi’s success was tied to his technical expertise and marketing accomplishments including marketing wines by variety versus generically.
A hard work ethic, sensible view on life, and passion was the backbone of Mondavi’s wine venture. He once said, “To succeed and have a happy life, you need common sense, a commitment to hard work and the courage to go your own way. Interest is not enough – you must be passionate about what you do. Find a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”
Mondavi was born in Virginia, Minn. to parents who emigrated from Sassoferrato in the Marche region of Italy. Old World traditions of the pleasures of wine and food greatly influenced Mondavi. The family moved to Lodi, Calif. during the prohibition era.
With an economics and business administration degree from Stanford University, Mondavi learned that marketing was equivalent to winemaking expertise for success in the wine industry.
Mondavi joined his father at Sunnyhill Winery in St. Helena, Calif. After convincing his father to purchase the Charles Krug Winery there, the younger Mondavi upgraded the technology to improve quality. His three children grew up at Krug.
In 1966, Mondavi founded the Robert Mondavi Winery which today is one of the world’s leading innovators, producers, and marketers of fine wine. Mondavi’s goal was to encompass European craft and tradition with the latest in American technology and use educational efforts to sell his wines.
Mondavi pioneered many fine winemaking techniques in California including cold fermentation, stainless steel tanks, and the use of French oak barrels. The marketing guru initiated blind tastings of Napa Valley wines with other world-class wines, allowing consumers and the wine industry to evaluate wine quality and value.
By the l970s, Robert Mondavi wines were recognized for their quality internationally, and Mondavi pioneered fine California wine exports. He began tours and wine tastings. For four decades, the winery has celebrated the enjoyment of wine, food, and the arts including jazz and classical concerts, art exhibits, and cultural and culinary programs including the Great Chefs program.
“Making good wine is a skill, fine wine an art,” Mondavi said.
Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild created the Opus One Winery in Oakville, Calif. in 1977. Opus One created a world sales record for California with a $24,000 case price at the first Napa Valley Wine Auction. Mondavi and his wife Margrit founded the auction which today is considered the top U.S. wine auction.
In an effort to counteract anti-alcohol campaigns in the late 1980s, Mondavi launched the Mission Program to educate the media, trade, and consumers about the cultural and health benefits of moderate wine consumption.
The Mondavi family made a substantial personal gift in 2001 to the University of California, Davis to establish the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science and to name the campus’ new Center for the Performing Arts which opened in 2002.
Among Mondavi’s lifetime achievements include:
1962 – Chairman, Wine Institute;
1966 – Founded the Robert Mondavi Winery;
1982 – “Winemaker of the Year” – American Wine Society;
1986 – “Man of the Year” – Wines and Vines magazine;
1993 – Honorary Master of Wine – Institute of Masters of Wine;
1996 – Torch Bearer – International Olympic Committee;
1997 – Recipient of the first ever “California State Fair Lifetime Achievement Award,” and the “Business Leader of the Year” award from the Harvard Business School Association of Northern California;
1998 – European Wine Council's “Lifetime Achievement Award”;
2004 – Recipient of the first “Wine Personality of the Year, Innovation” award - Wine International magazine;
2007 – Honored as the first “Pioneer” inductee in the founding year of the Culinary Institute of America’s Vintners Hall of Fame; and
2007 – Inducted into the California Hall of Fame at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts.
WFP
Posted by: Western Farm Press at May 19, 2008 12:59 PM