Quote Originally Posted by emaidel
Indeed, the famous Robert Mondavi winery was recently sold due to serious financial issues due to the younger Mondavi brothers' insistence on concentrating on rotgut and not the fine wines that established the winery's original fine reputation.
Actually, Mondavi's downfall was when took the company public in '93. This was followed by installing a BOD who placed shareholder benefits over quality and brand equity. If you are a wine aficionado, you'll find this article enlightening as well as heartbreaking.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/busin...6045/index.htm

It's sad because without Mondavi, there would be no Napa Valley as we know it. Most of the great winemakers were at some time involved with Mondavi Wineries in some shape or form.

One of my favorite memories is of a week long vacation whereas my girlfriend (now wife) and I drove my Saab convertible up through Napa following the Russian River to Mendocino. We must have stopped at a coupla' dozen wineries and microbreweries as we made our way north. However, at Mondavi we were lucky enough to be given a tour my Peter, Robert's newphew, who promptly took us off the beaten path and showed us the inner workings of the facility. We ended the tour in a private building where they held special events. Peter quickly got on the phone and had the staff bring in a few magnums of Cabs, Zins, and assorted others...all Reserve! If that weren't enough, he proclaimed that you can really enjoy wine without something to complement it so he had the kitchen bring in some duck pate, fine cheeses, and other assorted hors d'eurves. We ended up eating and drinking for the next hour or so, all the while overlooking the beautiful vinyards. It was amazing! Needless to say, we left with a few cases in tow .