Peter Mondavi: The Quiet Lion of Napa Valley

Peter Mondavi Sr., the patriarch of Charles Krug Winery, enjoys the olive oil made from the trees on his Napa Valley property. The production is small. No money is made off the great effort to get the fruit pressed and bottled, but it is an indulgence that is allowed him. “It is a luxury he’s earned,” said his son, Peter Jr.

Earned it? Indeed. The elder Mondavi has been in the wine business since his family moved to California from Minnesota in 1923. He has been at Charles Krug Winery since Cesare and Rosa purchased the property in 1943. He has called the shots at Krug since 1965, when his brother Robert was asked to leave the company. And although his sons, Peter Jr. and Marc, handle much of the day-to-day operations today, in many ways this 95-year-old winemaking legend is still in charge, albeit quietly in the background, where he likes it.

When the other Mondavi brother, the late and more renowned Robert, celebrated his 90th birthday in 2003, the affair was attended by nearly 1,700 guests with celebrities in and out of the wine business flying in from around the world for the festivities. Peter entered his 96th year on November 8. It was a Sunday afternoon and he was joined by family and a couple friends in the winery’s carriage house. The difference in party preferences not only illustrates the stark contrast between two very different brothers, but it also underlines the humility of Peter, who in his own gentle way was just as successful as his flamboyant, famous older sibling.

“My dad is a very quiet man,” said Peter Jr. as he sat with me at Paul’s restaurant in Midtown days prior to his dad’s celebration. “He is not one to make a big deal about things. My mother [Blanche] turned 91 this year and they don’t want to do two separate parties, so she will celebrate her birthday with him.”

For all the attention and accolades Robert Mondavi received, it was as likely as anything that Peter’s experimentations with the cold fermentation of white wines—which led to a fruitier, fresher tasting wines—that gave Krug its competitive advantages early on. Brother Robert (the ever exuberant and competitive salesman who worked with Peter for decades at Krug) sold these fresher wines with great success. It was, nevertheless, the curious, meticulous man in the background who figured out the process that is now common the world over.

“Up to that point [fermentation] was left to Mother Nature,” Peter Jr. explained. Warm weather gave winemakers shorter, hotter fermentations, which diminished a white wine’s fruity and more delicate flavors. The elder Mondavi started addressing this problem as a student at the University of California at Berkeley before there were winemaking programs in the U.S. “I’m not sure how he controlled his experimentations at Berkeley, but at the winery he somehow rigged a water tower. He ran the wine through tubes and sprayed tubes with a mist of water that brought down the wine temperature…very primitive stuff.” These days, tanks are cooled with computerized refrigeration systems, but the underlying theory remains the same.

Mondavi also developed grape press innovations and sterile filtration techniques, ideas that improved a wine’s quality and reduced spoilage. Nothing sexy or chic, but methods that improved the expression of a wine’s aroma and subtleties. When asked what changes he would make in today’s wine industry, it comes as no surprise that he’s not a fan of increasing alcohol levels.

“[I would] back away from excessive, high-alcohol [wines] and the extended maceration of the cabernet sauvignon wines to end with a fruitier aroma and more varietal flavor,” Peter Sr. said in a written response. “These highly rated, high-alcohol wines over 14 percent had best be known as a ‘cocktail’ wine instead of a dinner wine. Even then it would be misplaced.”

Despite being an olive cultivator, Mondavi is not much of hobbyist. The winery has been and remains his life. He still comes into the office daily, including Saturdays, but only for three-hour stretches. He is currently re-cataloging his wine collection in his newly built wine storage cellar. When asked if he’s a music fan, he demurred: “I don’t have any [favorite musical acts] because my life was devoted to our wine business, which I enjoy in spite of its ups and downs.” As a much younger man, he did admit enjoying the operatic singing of Enrique Caruso.

His unwavering focus on his winery and its 850 acres of prime Napa Valley real estate kept the family business afloat during many rough patches—including temptations to grow bigger and faster. “Family takes priority over the business and direction of the business,” said Peter Jr. “We could be more lucrative if we were to have partners. As we saw with dad’s brother, that path has its challenges.” The publically traded Robert Mondavi Winery was sold to Constellation Brands in 2004 after a convulsive series of events that wrenched control of the winery from Robert and his family.

Chided and criticized at times for his caution and pace of change, Peter Sr. has had the internal fortitude to listen to his heart and not the sirens of wealth or fame. “We’re still in the family business,” Peter Jr. said resolutely. “It offers us a wonderful lifestyle. I think it was dad’s philosophy and approach that has kept it going. He built an unbelievable empire and he’s made an indelible mark on the wine industry…. His contributions will take a long time to fully appreciate.”

And while the elder Mondavi has plenty to be proud of, he’d rather not talk of achievements or legacies. He would prefer enjoying his daily glass of cabernet sauvignon while indulging in a piece of crusty bread dipped in his own olive oil, humbly and quietly.

Peter Mondavi Sr. comfortable in his winery.

2006 Charles Krug Cabernet Sauvignon, Yountville, Calif.

• $26

• Two Thumbs Up

• Classic cabernet aromas of anise, smoke and cassis. Rich and elegant, it has medium- to full-body with flavors of tart red cherry, cola, toasted hazelnut. Bring on the roasted meats.

2005 Charles Krug, Generations, Napa Valley, Calif.

• $45

• Two Thumbs Way Up

• A nose full of smoky leather, black cherry, anise and dark chocolate. It is a rich and refined wine with flavors of cassis, toasted brioche and black licorice. It opened up nicely after an hour with great spice notes.

2008 Charles Krug Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley, Calif.

• $19

• Two Thumbs Way Up

• Fun aromas of tangerine, lemon, melon, apricot and fresh lime. A New Zealand-style wine, it has fresh flavors of lemon, lime, melon, pineapple, guava and passion fruit.