Robert Mondavi

1910–2008
Robert Mondavi Winery, Oakville

When Robert and his family moved from Minnesota to Lodi, his father Cesare established a successful grape shipping business and acquired the Acompo Winery. After high school in Lodi, Robert studied economics and business administration at Stanford, took a summer course in enology at UC Berkeley, and went to work at Sunny St. Helena Winery, in which his father had invested in 1937. After Cesare sold Acompo, he bought Charles Krug Winery, and then all of Sunny St. Helena. Robert then developed a successful program of popular and premium wine production between the two. When his younger brother Peter returned from WWII, the family organized a new company with Robert in charge of management and sales and Peter, production.

Although Robert traveled for Krug, he promoted all the Napa Valley wineries as he sought to persuade every American that table wine was an integral part of daily life, not an occasional extra. In 1965, Robert left Krug to open Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville a year later. Mondavi was soon host to numerous cooking classes, art exhibits and summer concerts. As Mondavi wines grew in popularity, Robert expanded vineyard acreage and production. He and Philippe de Rothschild established a joint venture, Opus One in Oakville, while Robert developed Woodbridge Winery in Lodi. Many worldwide ventures followed, as Robert generously supported local venues for the arts and wine education in Napa Valley and at UC Davis, and his children joined Mondavi. The winery was sold to Constellation brands in 2004 and Robert’s children and their families are in wine ventures of their own.

Although Dick was not well acquainted with Robert, his wife and a wonderful secretary helped Dick persuade him take a seat on a bench in front of the winery. Dick says he was lucky to get Robert to just sit down for a moment.