Robert Mondavi

Changing the wine world from Oakville

Robert Mondavi, born in 1913 as the son of Italian immigrants in Minnesota, grew up in a family that had fallen for wine early on. His father Cesare bought the renowned Charles Krug Winery in the Napa Valley in the early 1940s – for Robert, the entry into a craft that would become his life's work. After a falling out with his family, he founded his own winery in Oakville in 1966: Robert Mondavi Winery, the first significant new winery in the Napa Valley after Prohibition. Not a modest beginning – but a clear statement. Mondavi traveled to Bordeaux and Burgundy, brought back French barriques and cellar techniques, and spoke publicly about wine when no one else in the USA was doing so. He pushed for Napa wines to be marketed under varietal names like Cabernet Sauvignon – analogous to the great estates of Europe. His most famous statement of these early years: the Fumé Blanc, a barrel-aged Sauvignon Blanc that helped a previously unloved grape variety in California gain a new identity. Towards the end of the 1970s, he sealed the joint project Opus One with Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Château Mouton Rothschild – the first transatlantic fine wine venture of its kind and a symbol that Napa had arrived on an equal footing with Bordeaux.

To Kalon as the heart – skill and consistency in the vineyard

At the center of the work is the To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville – Greek for "highest beauty," planted in 1868 by Napa pioneer Hamilton Crabb, on an alluvial fan at the foot of the Mayacamas Mountains. Robert Mondavi recognized the potential of this site early on and made To Kalon the agricultural and spiritual core of the winery. Today, the winery cultivates about 450 acres of the area and has had the vineyard certified organic by the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) – without synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. As early as 1995, the winery was one of the co-founders of the Napa Sustainable Winegrowing Group, and in 1998 it was the first winery to receive the Innovator Award from the California Environmental Protection Agency. In the cellar, the team works consistently parcel by parcel: individual blocks of To Kalon are fermented separately to preserve the specific characteristics of each section. Aging takes place in French oak barrels; the approach remains – as long-time observers describe the style – Old World-influenced: earlier harvest date, slow fermentation, gentle extraction for polished tannins.

Cabernet Sauvignon as a guideline – a range with a clear stance

Robert Mondavi Winery is primarily a Cabernet house. The wines from To Kalon – above all the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve To Kalon Vineyard – stand for structure, aging potential, and the characteristic profile of the Oakville soils: dark fruit, cedar wood, fine mineral depth, long finish. In addition, the Carneros Pinot Noir shows what a cool Napa climate can produce in terms of finesse: lighter body weight, cherry, earthy spice. The picture is rounded off by more accessible lines like the California Chardonnay or the California Cabernet, which open up the spectrum of the house downwards without giving up the claim to quality. The entire winery was recently subjected to a multi-year renovation, which was completed in 2026 – smaller fermentation tanks, modernized cellar technology, solar energy, water circulation systems. The historic mission tower building by architect Cliff May was preserved. What remains is the fundamental conviction with which Robert Mondavi began in 1966: that a vineyard like To Kalon, properly managed, does not have to shy away from any comparison.