Robert Gerald Mondavi was an American winemaker. His technical and marketing strategies brought worldwide recognition for the wines of the Napa Valley in California. From an early period, Mondavi promoted labeling wines varietally rather than generically, which became the standard for New World wines. The Robert Mondavi Institute (RMI) for Wine and Food Science at the University of California, Davis opened in October 2008 in his honor.
Robert Mondavi and his wife Margrit
The entrance of Robert Mondavi Winery.
A wine from the Robert Mondavi Winery, a Napa Valley Chardonnay.
UC Davis Mondavi Center
California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when
Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted Vitis vinifera vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. In the 1770s, Spanish missionaries continued the practice under the direction of the Father Junípero Serra who planted California's first vineyard at Mission San Juan Capistrano.
Vineyards in the Napa Valley AVA
Spanish mission of St. Carlos founded near Monterey
The Robert Mondavi Winery was designed to reflect the winemaking history of the Spanish missions.
A California Zinfandel