Mission Accomplished

Thanks to Robert Mondavi’s drive and vision, his Italian family’s love of good food and wine took root in American soil, says Roger Brownlie

The Future is exciting,” said 92 yearold Robert Mondavi, just before receiving his lifetime achievement award. “It is invigorating.”

Typical of Robert Mondavi, or Bob as he is affectionately known to friends and family, is this exuberance for the future of the wine business tempered by a respect for winemaking traditions. “

But there must be a balance maintained between winemaking and modern marketing practices,” he told the drinks business at the presentation ceremony at Vinexpo in Bordeaux.

Born in Virginia, Minnesota, to parents who emigrated from the Marche region of Italy, Robert was greatly influenced by old world traditions. In a prepared statement he said, “My passion for bringing wine into the American culture was motivated by a desire to plant deep into the soil of our young country the same values, traditions and daily pleasures that my mother and father had brought with them from central Italy; good food, good wine and love of family.” This passion sparked a revolution in the American food and wine experience.

A graduate of Stanford University in 1936 with a degree in economics and business administration, Robert understood that marketing was as critical as winemaking expertise in achieving success in the wine industry. Upon graduation, he joined his father at Sunnyhill Winery in St. Helena and later,after convincing his father to purchase the Charles Krug Winery, he upgraded the technology of the family enterprise, determined to raise quality.

Robert was guided by an inherent spirit of discovery when in 1966, at the age of 53, he established the first major winery built in Napa Valley following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. His goal was to combine European craft and tradition with the latest in American technology, management and marketing expertise.

To celebrate the pleasures of wine, food and the arts, the Robert Mondavi Winery was built as an enduring landmark with a sense of California history reflected in its mission-style architecture. In fostering a wine culture in America, tours and wine tastings were initiated to educate the American palate. Throughout more than three decades, the Robert Mondavi Winery has provided the creative setting for jazz and classical concerts, art exhibits and culinary programmes.

At the Robert Mondavi Winery, in the late 1960s, Robert pioneered many fine winemaking techniques in California, including cold fermentation and the use of stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels. A sales and marketing leader, he was responsible for popularising dry, oakaged Sauvignon Blanc as Fumé Blanc – a move now acknowledged as the catalyst for the recognition of this grape variety in America.

Reforming spirit

Robert also initiated blind tastings in the Napa Valley, allowing consumers and the trade to evaluate wine quality. The comprehensive wine and food programme founded in the late 1960s has greatly evolved over the years.

The Great Chefs programme was established in 1976 as the first winery culinary programme in the US. This programme has featured such luminaries as Julia Child, Paul Bocuse, Alice Waters, Paul Prudhomme, Jean and Pierre Troisgros and Joël Robuchon.

During the latter half of the 1980s, Mondavi launched The Mission Program to counteract the anti-alcohol campaign that was gathering pace.

The Mission Program educated media, trade and consumers about the health benefits of moderate wine consumption. One thousand tapes were produced and distributed to the press and public at large. The Mission statement was put on every bottle of Robert Mondavi wine and was supported by hundreds of wineries nationwide.

Mondavi has long believed that great wines should be recognised internationally, and in the 1970s, the Robert Mondavi Winery was among the first to export premium Californian wine. This international outlook led to partnerships with other prominent wine families; the Frescobaldi family of Italy (Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi), the Chadwick family of Chile (Viña Errázuriz) and the Oatley family of Australia (Southcorp/Rosemount Estate).

The framework for these partnerships was initiated in 1979 with Baron Philippe de Rothschild. The purpose was to take two different cultures and traditions, along with the best materials and knowhow from Bordeaux and California, to create a wine with its own style, character and breeding. Opus One was the result of this partnership. A record sum of US$24,000 was paid for the inaugural case in 1981 at the First Annual Napa Valley Wine Auction, of which Robert and his wife, Margrit, were founders.

Today, Mondavi is immersed in his next great adventures as a major benefactor of cultural and educational institutions. COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, a world-class cultural centre celebrating the bounty of the American table, opened in November 2001.

Enhancing an already extraordinary contribution to California’s wine industry, Robert and Margrit made a substantial personal gift in late 2001 to the University of California, Davis, to establish the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science and to name the campus’s new Center for Performing Arts. The Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts opened in October 2002.

Have faith

Robert Mondavi told the drinks business, “I see great changes taking place in the wine industry – good changes. The wine business is going in the right direction and I am amazed at the amount of progress that has been achieved. But there is still a lot of work to be done. We were unknown 40 years ago. But there has been a lot of change since then and now there is respect for American wine. “

To any new winemaker who is just starting out I say, have faith in yourself and you will find that you can go forward and people will sense that. Always stick to the high principles that you started out with.”

These and other lessons of his life are the subject of his autobiography, Harvests of Joy: My Passion for Excellence (published in 1998 by Harcourt Brace & Company).

ROBERT MONDAVI’S ACHIEVEMENTS

1962 Chairman of Wine Institute

1981 Co-founded the American Institute of Wine and Food with Julia Child and Richard Graff

1982 “Winemaker of the Year” – American Wine Society

1983 “Commandeur de Bordeaux” – Grand Conseil du Vin de Bordeaux

1986 “Man of the Year” – Wines and Vines magazine

1988 “Man of the Year” – Decanter magazine; “Hall of Fame” award – California Restaurant Association Educational Foundation

1990 “Merit Award” – American Society of Enology and Viticulture; “Wine & Spirits Professional of the Year” – James Beard Foundation

1991 Beverage Industry’s “Man of the Year” – Christermon Foundation; “Ambassador” and “Master of Aesthetics of Gastronomy” award – Culinary Institute of America; National Business Hall of Fame – Junior Achievement, Inc.

1992 Honorary Chairperson for Life and “Winemaker of the Year” – American Institute of Wine & Food, California State Polytechnic University at Pomona

1993 Honorary Master of Wine – Institute of Masters of Wine

1995 Bay Area Business Hall of Fame – Bay Area Council; Honorary Degree Associate Member of Cornell Society of Hotelmen – Cornell University

1996 Torch bearer – International Olympic Committee

1997 First ever “California State Fair Lifetime Achievement Award”; Wine Spectator’s “Reader’s Choice Award”; “International Achievement Award” – World Trade Club; “Business Leader of the Year” – Harvard Business School Association of North California 1998 European Wine Council’s “Lifetime Achievement Award”

2000 “The F. Norman Clark Entrepreneur of the Year Award”, California Travel Industry Association; International Food & Beverage Hall of Fame; Doctor of Oenology, Honoris Causa, by Board of Trustees of Johnson & Wales University; Hall of Fame – Di Rona (Distinguished Restaurants of North America)

2002 Lifetime Achievement recognition from: the California State Assembly, the American Food and Entertaining Awards by Bon Appetit magazine and TV Food Network and Wine Enthusiast Magazine Wine Awards; Presidential Citation, University of California at Davis; Degree of Fine Arts, Honoris Causa, California College of Arts & Crafts; Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy, Government of Italy

2003 US House of Representatives, “Distinguished Honorary Member of the Agricultural Leadership Alumni”; Award of Merit – “Winemaker of the Century”; Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs

2004 First ever “Wine Personality of the Year, Innovation” – Wine International magazine: Recipient, UC Davis Medal; “Honored Vintner”,

2004 Naples Winter Wine Festival 2005 Awarded the Institute of Masters of Wine and the drinks business Lifetime Achievement Award