| Region of production: | Oakville AVA, Napa Valley |
| Winery Location: | Oakville |
| Year Established: | 1966 |
Vineyard Holdings
- To-Kalon (Oakville AVA): approximately 178 ha
- Wappo Hill Vineyard (Stags Leap District)
- Carneros Vineyards
Top Wines Produced & Inaugural Vintages
- Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve: Inaugural vintage 1971.
- Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville
- Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap District
- Cabernet Sauvignon, Vine Hill Ranch
Average Total Production
- N/A
Summary
Robert Mondavi is undeniably the most famous name in American wine, and he was one of the most influential players in Napa Valley’s history. The Mondavi family arrived in Napa Valley after Prohibition, and Cesare Mondavi purchased the historic Charles Krug Winery in 1943. His sons Robert and Peter managed the winery for over two decades together, but in the winter of 1965, the two brothers quarreled – an episode that flared over competing management ideas and a mink coat, the stuff of legend in Napa – and Robert set out on his own, founding his eponymous winery the following year in Oakville. The To-Kalon Vineyard, originally planted by H.W. Crabb in 1868, formed the core of the property. Robert Mondavi’s new project was the first in Napa to employ French oak barrels exclusively for aging wine, and was among the original adopters of temperature-controlled, stainless steel fermentation tanks. In 1968, Mondavi rebranded Sauvignon Blanc as „Fumé Blanc,“ and released the winery’s first Cabernet Sauvignon, a 1966 bottling. In 1971, the winery released its first „Reserve“ Cabernet Sauvignon, a benchmark wine for the valley. Over the next forty years, sons Michael and Tim would manage the business and winemaking, respectively, as Mondavi grew from a single Napa estate into an empire. In 1979 the family launched the value brand Woodbridge in Lodi and harvested their first vintage of the ultra-premium Opus One (in partnership with Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Château Mouton-Rothschild). The winery went public in 1993, and Director of Winemaking Geneviève Janssens assumed her current role in 1997.
In 2004, after some years of disengagement from Parker and other critics, family business disagreements, and poor stock performance, Robert Mondavi Winery was sold to Constellation Brands. Robert Mondavi died in 2008. Janssens, Wine Enthusiast’s 2010 „Winemaker of the Year,“ continues to oversee winemaking, and has brought the wines more in line with modern critical expectations. The winery remains a fixture on Napa Valley’s Highway 29, and retains roughly three-quarters of the nearly 600-acre To-Kalon site, perhaps Napa’s most treasured valley floor vineyard site, and the principal source for Mondavi’s Reserve Cabernet and Reserve Fumé Blanc selections.
Style & Vinification Techniques
While Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon wines from the 1970s and 1980s were more restrained, the current style favors rich, voluptuous fruit and denser textures. The wine today ages in 100% new French oak for less than 2 years, and is not released until the third year after the harvest.
Producer Website: Robert Mondavi Winery