California wine legend, patriarch Peter Mondavi is dead at 101
In 1986, the Napa Valley Vintners trade group named "12 living legends in the Napa Valley," and the last of those legendary winemakers, Peter Mondavi Sr., died at home on Saturday, a family spokeswoman said Sunday. He was 101. Mondavi ran his family-owned Charles Krug Winery, purchased by his Italian immigrant parents in 1943, from 1976, when his mother died, until his retirement in 2015.
During his long tenure atop one of California's last remaining family-owned wineries, he introduced several innovations that helped transform California's Napa Valley from a jug-wine backwater to a global elite wine region, including aging wine in imported French oak barrels and developing a cold-fermentation process for white wines.
Mondavi was also famous for a fight with his older brother Robert over control of the family winery in 1965, which reportedly included a fistfight and the banishment of Robert from Charles Krug management. Robert Mondavi went on to found his own eponymous winery and become a trailblazing vintner in his own right. Robert Mondavi died in 2008, four years after Robert Mondavi Winery was grabbed up in a corporate takeover. When asked recently about his greatest accomplishment, his family recalled, Peter Mondavi replied: "Never losing control of our family winery. If I could, I would tell my father: 'I did the best I could during the difficult years. I was determined and we held on.'"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Empty-nest boomers aren't selling their big homes
Speed Read Most Americans 60 and older do not intend to move, according to a recent survey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Brazil accuses Musk of 'disinformation campaign'
Speed Read A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has opened an inquiry into Elon Musk and X
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Disney board fends off Peltz infiltration bid
Speed Read Disney CEO Bob Iger has defeated activist investor Nelson Peltz in a contentious proxy battle
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Disney and DeSantis reach detente
Speed Read The Florida governor and Disney settle a yearslong litigation over control of the tourism district
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Visa and Mastercard agree to lower swipe fees
Speed Read The companies will cap the fees they charge businesses when customers use their credit cards
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Reddit IPO values social media site at $6.4 billion
Speed Read The company makes its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Housing costs: the root of US economic malaise?
speed read Many voters are troubled by the housing affordability crisis
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Feds cap credit card late fees at $8
speed read The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule to save households an estimated $10 billion a year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published