With his belief that the Napa Valley could be the center of a gracious lifestyle embracing wine, food, and art, Robert Mondavi built the valley’s first major winery since Prohibition in 1966. Since then, Robert Mondavi Winery has welcomed hundreds of thousands of guests.
From the start, the winery has exemplified the warm, hospitable nature of its founder, who said; “Wine to me is passion. It is family and friends. It’s warmth of heart and generosity of spirit.”
Robert Mondavi Winery was one of the first to welcome visitors for tours, events, concerts, and tastings, and today its visitor programs are world-renowned. There is a wide array of interactive ways guests can learn more about Robert Mondavi wines. The Signature Tour and Tasting leads them along the path of the grape, from vineyard to cellar to bottle. The Discovery Tour invites guests to view and discuss the historic To Kalon Vineyard, To Kalon Cellar, and barrel-aging room. The exclusive Cellar Tasting gives guests the chance to taste limited-production, reserve, and older-vintage wines with their own wine educator. The Harvest of Joy Tour and Lunch treats guests to a tour of the winery and a three-course lunch paired with wines. The Twilight Tour takes visitors on a 90-minute sunset tour of To Kalon Cellar and barrel-aging rooms, followed by a tasting of Reserve and Spotlight wines with artisanal cheeses. And the list of opportunities goes on.
No matter how visitors choose to experience the winery and spend time on the picturesque grounds, they’re bound to appreciate the major contribution Robert Mondavi Winery has made as a leader of California’s wine industry— and that of much of the world—with innovations in natural winegrowing, winemaking, and cultural outreach.
The winery has practiced natural farming for decades, applying an approach that considers overall wine quality and environmental impact. A leader in experimentation, the winery received an Innovator Award from California’s Environmental Protection Agency in 1998, and to date remains the only winery to receive this honor. Robert Mondavi married Margrit Biever in 1980. Sharing Robert’s keen interest in uniting wine with fine arts, music, and culinary artistry, she helped turn the winery into a showplace for artists, musicians, and great chefs. “Like visual arts and music, wine and food speak to the heart,” she says. “By honoring the world of the senses, of memory and emotions, fine art and the rites of the table express our humanity.”
Margrit was the visionary who brought cultural affairs to the winery’s renowned Vineyard Room. Today, the Vineyard Room serves as the winery’s exquisite cultural center, featuring rotating visual-arts exhibits, and the winery’s event calendar is filled with intriguing entries like organized concerts, book signings, and design competitions. Social and corporate fine-dining events can be hosted in the Vineyard Room. Menus, created by Robert Mondavi Winery Chef Jeff Mosher, emphasize simple, flavorful recipes made from the Napa Valley’s freshest seasonal ingredients and offer three or more courses expertly paired with legendary Robert Mondavi wines.
Through an uncompromising commitment to natural farming, innovation, quality, and faith in the Napa Valley, Robert Mondavi’s vision of creating a collection of some of the most recognized and loved wines in the world has been realized. And so has his vision to make the Napa Valley an international center for wine, food, and art.