Vintners in California’s Napa Valley have launched an Internet tribute to pioneering winemaker Robert Mondavi, who died recently, a month before his 95th birthday.
The Napa Valley Vintners Association created an online “toast” to Mondavi on its website at napavintners.com, inviting people to share their memories of the icon in words and pictures.
“In all of the years I have been privileged to talk about Napa Valley wines, I always mentioned two prominent members as the ‘godfathers’ of the Napa Valley wine industry,” wrote Peter Huwiler. “Robert Mondavi was one of them… His stewardship for the valley will be the benchmark for generations to come.”
The son of Italian immigrants, Mondavi founded a winery bearing his name in Napa Valley in 1966, and went on to become one of the most prominent figures of the U.S. wine industry, making famed bottlings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, and virtually creating a market for Sauvignon Blanc by bottling it as “Fume Blanc.”
The Web site memorial comes as the vintners’ association was readying for the Friday start of an online “E-Auction” of prestigious wines as part of an annual event to raise money for Napa Valley charities. (We’ll have more on that later in the week here on VinesseTODAY.com.)
“One of the many important lessons Mr. Mondavi taught us was to always be there to help a neighbor, a friend, our community or beyond,” the vintners’ association noted in an introductory message for the Internet tribute.
“He was one of the most kind and generous people we’ve ever known.”
