The Robert Mondavi Effect

Robert Mondavi is considered one of the most famous winemakers in American history. His father, Cesare, had a company in California for buying and selling grapes to winemakers all over the world. After falling in love with the gorgeous vineyards and landscapes of Lodi, Robert’s father moved the family to California from Minnesota in 1921 and became such a huge impact for the future of the Mondavi’s. Twelve years later, Robert graduated college and moved to the infamous Napa Valley to learn all he could about wine. His passion was to create and provide knowledge of producing high quality wines.

In 1943, the famous Charles Krug Winery was put up for sale and Robert and Peter took over and ran the winery. However, brotherly tiffs led to Robert leaving and starting The Robert Mondavi Winery in 1966. Robert earned his famous winemaker title from improving the quality of wines produced and spoke highly of the Napa area to improve tourism and show that it too had potential as other terriors around the world. Unfortunately for Robert and the family, the board decided to remove them as heads of the company in the late 1990’s, due to more family disagreements. However, after becoming public and struggling to keep up with demands, Constellation Brands bought the company in 2005.