Peter Mondavi

1914–
Charles Krug Winery, St. Helena

Peter Mondavi grew up with his brother Robert in Lodi, where their father Cesare established a successful fruit and grape shipping business and acquired Acompo Winery after moving the family out from Minnesota. Peter graduated in chemistry from Stanford and did postgraduate work at UC Berkeley. He was a winemaker at Acompo when he joined World War II with the U. S. Army Chemical Corps. In 1943, after selling Acompo, Cesare bought Charles Krug Winery, and then all of Sunny St. Helena Winery in 1946, having invested in it in 1937. When Peter came home from the war, a family company was organized. Peter was put in charge of production at Krug with Robert its general manager and sales director. Many successful innovations followed.

Krug’s popular white wines of the 1940’s and 50’s that paved the way for its reds were the result of Peter’s attention to cold fermentation, small French oak barrels for aging, thorough sanitation in the winery, and Robert’s strategic planning. Now in his 90’s, Peter is still up at 2 and 4 a.m. checking tank temperatures. Granddaughter Angelina calls him, “an inspiration for us all.” When Francis Gould, a founder of NVWLA, became head of public relations at Krug, he started the very first winery newsletter, Bottles and Bins, in 1949. The first outdoor winery concert followed in 1951. After Cesare died in 1959, his widow Rosa became president of the family business, with Robert shaping its direction and Peter implementing necessary changes. Eventually Robert went out on his own, and Peter and his family settled down to run Krug. Peter’s two sons, Marc and Peter Jr., are now in charge of its operations.

Since Dick had not yet met Peter, it took several trips up and down the long stairs to his office to finally corral him. Dick then had to persuade Peter to step out into the daylight, but Dick feels he got one of the finest portraits possible.