n June 18, 1913, Robert Mondavi was born to immigrant parents in Virginia, Minnesota. His parents had immigrated from Italy to the United States where his father became a miner. For may years his father would travel back and forth from California buying grapes and eventually decided to move out there. Robert attended Lodi High School in Lodi, California after the move.
Eventually Robert’s father acquired Charles Krug winery and made it a family venture. Initially Robert helped with the family winery. His brother and he had a falling out and in 1965, so Robert set out to establish his own winery. In 1966 the Robert Mondavi winery was founded. His first wine was a Sauvignon Blanc, extremely unpopular in that day. The quality was excellent enough and the name, “Fume Blanc”, catchy enough that it was a huge success.
Robert excelled at producing fine wine and his marketing was phenomenal. His wines have earned several awards and he himself was selected as the Decanter Man of the Year in 1989. His sons began helping with the winery and thought that if they marketed the cheaper wines, the business would skyrocket. In 2003 Robert regretted his son’s decision to promote the cheaper Mondavi wines and began working towards returning the Mondavi name back to the fine wine image and association.
In 2004, he sold his winery to Constellation Brands and set about to explore the Earth, becoming a world wine ambassador. Robert Mondavi never forgot his Minnesota roots and always found a way to include Minnesota in his life. Once in the 60’s he asked Lynn Johnson to distribute his wines in Minnesota. Although wine wasn’t popular in the region, Johnson agreed. Amazingly, they sold extremely well and was the beginning of a successful venture.
Robert Mondavi, world ambassador for American wines, died last week, Friday, May 16th, 2008 at the age of 94. He left a legacy of high quality wine making and exceptional business ethics. He never lost the “Minnesota Nice” demeanor. Robert Mondavi, an American wine icon and a gentleman always, will be greatly missed by many people. Raise a glass in his honor.