The other Mondavi: Charles Krug Winery’s Peter Mondavi turns 96
Peter Mondavi discusses wine, age, the ‘crazy’ prices of premium Napa – and what it was like to be the ‘quiet one’ in the shadow of his big-spending older brother
While Robert Mondavi was celebrated as the Father of Napa, his younger brother Peter was ‘the quiet one’. The two 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. In his autobiography Robert records how he left the family business in 1965 after a fist fight with Peter over a fur coat bought for a visit to the Kennedy White House. The two were not reconciled until 2005.
Peter Mondavi stayed on at Krug, while Robert started the Robert Mondavi Winery and became one of the world’s most renowned winemakers.
At Krug Peter, ever the innovator, was the first to bring French Oak barrels to Napa Valley as well as cold fermentation techniques. He constantly blind tasted his competitors’ wines. ‘It keeps your production staff on the ball,’ he says. Over the last 10 years has replanted most of his 850 acres and spent over $9m retrofitting two of the original Krug structures including the redwood cellar, still used for their reserve wines.