Mondavi changed California winemaking
Robert Mondavi was, arguably, the man who made California wine what it is today. So winemakers in that state will be celebrating this year as 2013 marks the centennial of his birth.
His career had its ups and downs, but his move to establish Robert Mondavi Winery in 1966 and his obsession with making wines that could stand with the very best classics of Europe sparked a revolution in California that has never stopped spinning. There already were some famous and very good wines in California, to be sure, but prohibition had pretty much crushed quality winemaking and what had emerged after the ban on booze was lifted could not compare to the Bordeaux and Burgundies that then were considered the best in the world.
Mondavi went to France, studied their methods and immersed himself in the concept of terroir, which was pretty much unheard of back in the states. Then he returned to Napa Valley and put what he had learned into practice, adapted to the realities of his climate and soil. Others saw and tasted the results, and began to copy him.
Robert Mondavi was born in Minnesota to parents who had im- migrated from central Italy. The f amily soon moved to the fertile central valley of California, where his f ather started a successful fruit-packing business. In 1943, Robert convinced his father to buy one of the oldest Napa wineries, Charles Krug. Robert and his brother Peter handled the winemaking together for years, but in 1965 there was a bitter falling out (culminating in an alleged fist fight) over the direction to take Krug wines and Robert was fired from the family business.
He later sued successfully and won ownership of some of the family’s choicest vineyards in Napa, including the vaunted To-Kalon vineyard, which remains one of the jewels of the entire valley. (The feud was finally laid to rest in 2005, when Peter and Robert collaborated in making a single barrel of Cabernet).
Mondavi also embarked on aggressive marketing of his quality wines, doing such things as changing the name of Sauvignon Blanc, which was not a popular wine, to Fume Blanc. Sales took off.
But as the Mondavi brand grew, Robert’s original vision was changing. He started the Woodbridge line, still widely available, to make affordable, pleasant wines for everyday drinking. He later said he regretted the shift away from strictly super-premium wines, and felt it had tarnished the Mondavi name.
At the same time, he teamed up with Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Chateau Mouton Rothschild to create a new winery, Opus One. The move sent shock waves through the wine world. Opus One sits directly across the highway from Mondavi’s winery near St. Helena and makes only one wine, a Cabernet-based, Bordeaux-style red (the current vintage sells in the LCBO for $365 a bottle).
Robert Mondavi was past 90 when he faced one last business battle. In 2004, the giant NewYork-based Constellation Brands took over Mondavi Winery at a cost of more than $1 billion and assumption of debt. The Mondavi family was out, although today his wife, Margrit Biever Mondavi, remains in charge of cultural affairs.
The Mondavis were well known in Napa and across California for their philanthropic work and their support for the arts. Robert Mondavi died in May 2008, just a month before his 95th birthday.
Mondavi wines remain very popular in Ontario. There are the top-level reserves and single-vineyard bottlings in Vintages, but those typically start at around $50 a bottle and skyrocket from there. For most consumers, there are two lines in LCBO general list at affordable prices — the Mondavi Private Selection and the Woodbridge label.
The Private Selections, which are all in the $17 to $18 range, offer well-styled varietals such as Chardonnay, Fume Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir. While all are excellent value, I think the Chardonnay and Cabernet best reflect the balanced Mondavi style and the expansive Central Coast appellation where the grapes are grown. And I still pick up the subtle background whiff of cinnamon that to me has been the hallmark of Mondavi wines.
And anybody who has ever dabbled in wines knows the Woodbridge label. They’ve tinkered with its image over the years, sometimes playing up the Mondavi connection and sometimes downplaying it. Again, you find reliable varietal characteristics and good quality in the $12 to $13 range, including White Zinfandel, sweet Moscato, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Fume Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.