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 Parents of the late Mondavi brothers Robert and Peter, Cesare and Rosa bought the Charles Krug Winery in 1943 when California was infamous for the cheap jug wines. They ran it together after 1959 when the father died. But they could not agree on the management style and had a bitter separation with Peter getting the control of Charles Krug. Robert Mondavi set up his own Robert Mondavi winery in 1966 and the rest is history. Peter took over as the President and CEO of Charles Krug in 1976 when their mother died.
Robert had several technological advancements to his credit. He also had very successful collaborations with Mouton Rothschild (Opus One) and Marchesi di Frescobaldi (Ornellaia and Luce della Vite). But he ended up selling the company eventually to Constellations Brands in 2004 whereas Peter continued to successfully run the winery, pioneering many improvements to California winemaking and holding on to the winery even during difficult periods; he introduced the use of cold fermentation for white wines and sterile filtration. ‘Peter Mondavi Sr. was one of the pioneers that helped establish the quality of Napa Valley wines. One of my favorite wine memories when I was younger was enjoying a bottle of 1966 Charles Krug Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon in 1983, a 15 plus years old wine at the time that was perfectly balanced and still youthful,’ says Bruce Cakebread, President of the well-known Napa winery Cakebread Cellars, who has also served as the President of Napa Valley Vintners Association on more than one occasion.
Peter Mondavi worked to preserve the family holdings, investing $US 24 million over a nine-year period from 2001-2010 to replant most of the vineyards and farm them sustainably. He was also able to reconcile with his elder brother Robert in 2005 when they made a special blend of wine together to celebrate the homecoming.
The youngest of four children born in Minnesota to his parents who migrated from region of Marche in Italy , Peter Mondavi has left behind for his family a legacy with 344 hAs of prime vineyard property in the Napa Valley. He had several Lifetime Achievement Awards and recognitions to his name. To name some of them:
Napa Valley Vintners Association named him in 1986 as one of “Twelve Living Legends in the Napa Valley;” he was the last survivor of this group. In 2009, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Napa Valley vintners from the California State Fair. In 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown honoured him, along with the legacy of the Charles Krug Winery. He was inducted into the St. Helena-based Culinary Institute of America Vintners Hall of Fame in for his industry contributions in cold fermentation and sterile filtration in 2012.
“Peter Sr. and his family were able to keep their winery a family business for all these many years, with the next generation of granddaughters coming on strong. He set the family up with a great foundation for the family to move forward with the current generation and up and coming next generation,” adds Bruce.
Interestingly, with Peter's death comes to an end the saga of two most well-known wine fratelli (brothers) of California- both born to Italian immigrants and both of them pioneers promoting wine in a big way and both of them involved in nasty, bitter court battles over their lifetime- Peter with Robert and Ernest (Ernie) with Joseph. For details click HERE
For the obituary on Robert Mondavi, Click HERE
A private service for family is being held at the St. Helena Catholic Church. delWine pays a Tribute to an excellent winemaker, pioneer in many ways and a promoter of the concept of family-owned wineries.
For more details, click HERE or HERE
Subhash Arora |