Robert Mondavi
Robert Gerald Mondavi (born June 18, 1913 in Virginia, Minnesota, United States) is a leading vineyard operator whose technical improvements and marketing strategies brought worldwide recognition for the wines of the Napa Valley in California.
Robert Mondavi's parents emigrated from the Marche region of Italy and established a wine making business in the United States. Mondavi grew up in the Minnesota city of Virginia, where he attended Hibbing High School. Mondavi graduated from Stanford University in 1937 with a degree in economics and business administration. He worked with his father after the latter had acquired the Charles Krug Winery, established in 1861 in the Napa Valley.
After a family feud, Mondavi left Krug in 1965 to open his own winery. He bought the To Kalon vineyard in Oakville in the Napa Valley. The winery bearing his name produced high quality wine in the California mission style.
In 1968 he made a dry oak-aged Sauvignon Blanc, an unpopular variety in the California at the time, and labelled it "Fumé Blanc." The wine was a success and, in time, Fumé Blanc became accepted as a synonym for Sauvignon Blanc.
Mondavi successfully developed a number of premium wines that earned the respect of connoisseurs and vinters alike. In 1979, he acquired Woodbridge Winery in Lodi, California developing it into a leader of popular-premium wines. He also entered into a joint venture the Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Château Mouton Rothschild to create Opus One Winery.
Robert Mondavi's autobiography Harvests of Joy was published in 1998.
On December 22, 2004, Constellation Brands acquired the Mondavi vinery for nearly US$1.36 billion.
