Mondavi Retires From Running Winery

Robert Mondavi, the globe-trotting chairman of the Napa Valley winery that bears his name, has retired from daily management operations. He remains chairman.

“I’ve been a manager and I’ll miss it,” said the 77-year-old visionary, who is credited with dragging the sleepy California wine industry of the early 1960s into the arena of world-class winemaking.

“I want to see my sons achieve what I’ve achieved, and I think they will. . . . The future is bright,” Mondavi said of his sons Michael and Timothy, president and winemaker respectively, and equal managing partners.

“The Robert Mondavi family will continue its dedication to and active participation in the production and marketing of the highest quality premium varietal wines,” his sons said in a statement.

Mondavi left his family’s Charles Krug Winery and in 1966 built the first new winery in California since Prohibition. The Spanish mission-style winery draws nearly 500,000 visitors a year. The family also owns other California wineries.