The Peter Mondavi Family
Both of Cesare Mondavi's sons, Peter and Robert, attended Stanford University. Peter then pursued graduate studies in enology at University of California, Berkeley, and served in the U.S. Army during World War II before returning home to help run the winery.
When Cesare died in 1959, Rosa was named president. Their sons worked at the helm of the winery operation with Robert as General Manager and Peter as Vice President. In 1966, Peter became President and Robert moved south to Oakville and began construction of his own winery.
Peter Mondavi has effected tremendous enological, viticultural and marketing innovations over six decades, including:
- Vintage dating varietal wines
- Cold fermentation for white wines
- Cold sterile filtration
- Fermentation in small French oak barrels and glass-lined tanks
- The first winery newsletter "Bottles & Bins, first published in 1949
- The annual Tastings on the Lawn concert series, started in 1951
Since the early 1980's, Peter's two sons, Marc and Peter Jr., educated at UC Davis and Stanford respectively, have assumed major roles at Charles Krug Winery. Both Marc and Peter, Jr. are active in all aspects of viticulture, winemaking and marketing. Peter Mondavi, Sr. remains active in the day-to-day winery operation, although he is increasingly relying on the next generation to determine the winery's vision.
