THE MONDAVI HERITAGE

Robert Mondavi's legacy lives on in Napa's most talented winemakers

- MITCH FRANK, TIM FISH

Every day, for months, the man would sit there among the vines in St. Helena, thinking. Robert Mondavi was trying to see the future. His present was fairly bleak. It was near the end of 1965, he was 52 years old, and his own family was forcing him out of the winery he had spent two decades building into one of the best in Napa Valley. Mondavi was general manager of Charles Krug, a historic cellar in St. Helena. Under the leadership of Robert, who oversaw sales and operations, and his younger brother Peter, who oversaw winemaking, Krug was recapturing its pre-Prohibition glory.

But the two brothers squabbled constantly. One day, Peter accused his older brother of misappropriating funds; Robert punched him. Their mother, the winery's leading shareholder, settled the dispute by putting Robert on a six-month leave of absence. Before that leave was over, she would fire him from the family business.

Robert had no savings. He lived in a house on the winery property owned by the family. He had three kids and college tuition to pay. What's more, he had pride that was nearly impossible to swallow. While he'd ultimately struck his brother over money, the two had been fighting for years over Krug's future. Robert wanted to be bold; Peter wanted to be cautious. Meekly saying he was sorry and working under Peter's leadership was not possible for Robert.

So every day for weeks that winter, as 1965 turned to 1966, Robert walked out of his home on the Krug grounds, past the winery where his brother worked and the house where his mother lived, and stepped into the vineyard. He carried a card table and a chair. Once he was out of sight, surrounded by vines, he set up the table and sat. The leaves turned red and gold and then fell from the vines. Robert considered his future. He considered Napa's future. He considered American wine's future.

He decided to bet big on that future.