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| My pix of Peter Mondavi at the Charles Krug Winery |
Peter Mondavi passed away
this week at the age of 101. You might think you know him, but you’re probably
thinking of Robert Mondavi - the champion of California wine and founder of
Mondavi Winery. Peter, his brother, helmed Charles Krug Winery, also in Napa,
and was and the quieter half of the Mondavi boys. I met with Peter Mondavi when
he was 96 for an article for Decanter Magazine on the 150th anniversary of the
Charles Krug Winery. (read that article HERE)
Robert Mondavi always
received most of the attention – he’s the flamboyant, energetic and
electrifying one. But Peter, the salt of the earth kind of guy, had his accomplishments
too, and for those who are not blatant extroverts, Peter’s successes, while
under the radar, forever changed the wine industry. At Charles Krug Peter
focused on innovation - was the first to bring French Oak barrels to Napa
Valley as well as cold fermentation techniques, and he constantly blind tasted
his competitors’ wines. “It keeps your production staff on the ball,” he told
me.
Robert and Peter started
their wine careers together in 1944 when they persuaded their father to buy the
Charles Krug Winery, but their working relationship soured and there were
frequent clashes over wine and marketing. Peter stayed on at Krug, while Robert
started the Robert Mondavi Winery. In his autobiography Robert records how he
left the family business in 1965 after a fist fight with Peter over a fur coat
he bought for a visit to the Kennedy White House. The two were not reconciled
until 2005, 40 years later. I asked Peter about it; he fumbled, diverted
attention to my question then quietly said: “We were at his (Robert’s) home a
few weeks before he passed, and of course he’d had his stroke, so he couldn’t
speak. He looked good, he looked relaxed and he managed to eat, so that was
satisfying to me.” The brothers were having yearly Christmas gatherings for
several years prior to Robert’s death. “It was tough to see him in poor health
but at our age you learn to accept some of those things. With all the people in
the world, well, we’re all different. We’d put aside our differences years
ago.” But I saw in Peter’s eye that in spite of everything, this was still a
very sensitive issue. I have no idea why and I will not speculate here. What I
understood from Peter is that they made up – in whatever manner and form that took
shape. Wine is about land, marketing and farming but it is also about people and
these people were some of the founders of the American wine industry – two divergent
men who shared the same name but it seems little else.
“This idea of being popular,
it didn’t phase me,” Peter told me. “Robert was entirely different from me, he
was the promoter and he got carried away with his ego. He was a spender, but he
made money too. I’m the quiet one, but that’s my nature,” he said in the
sterile confines of the Charles Krug Winery on the second floor. Perhaps that
low-key approach helped Peter reach 101. But it was partly the fact that an
outside staircase behind the building he walked up and down several times each
day to reach his office provided exercise. When I visited I was ushered into an
elevator. I would have much preferred the stairs, too. “I keep busy, have
reasonable stamina, and I learned that if you don’t keep up a little exercise
on a daily basis, you wear yourself out. I do 10 minutes daily and I still
drink wine every night, mostly Cabernet.” No surprise there.
“Fundamentally, the Charles
Krug style is rooted in Dad’s decades of winemaking wisdom,” Peter Mondavi Jr.
told me about his father. “We have gotten considerably more sophisticated and
refined over the years, especially when it comes to planting our vineyards. We
are very sensitive to the soil, rootstock requirements and the proper
representation of the various clones available. Our wines remain balanced and
destined for the dining table.”
Such cool history.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we lost a legend.
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