San Francisco - Vintners in California's renowned Napa Valley have launched an Internet tribute to the late pioneering winemaker Robert Mondavi.
The Napa Valley Vintners Association created an online 'toast' to him last Monday on its website at www.napavintners.com, inviting people to share their memories of the icon in words and pictures.
Mondavi, the man most credited for turning California into a world-class wine producer and millions of Americans into wine lovers, died on May 16 at his Napa Valley home at the age of 94.
He steered California winemakers away from making low-cost wines and toward refined wines, which ultimately would compete in quality with some of the best in Europe. His winery made famed cabernets and chardonnays.
Peter Huwiler, who headed a winery there for more than a decade, wrote: 'In all of the years I have been privileged to talk about Napa Valley wines I always mentioned two prominent members as the 'godfathers' of the Napa Valley wine industry.
'Robert Mondavi was one of them... His stewardship for the valley will be the benchmark for generations to come.'
The son of Italian immigrants, Mondavi first learnt about grape-growing from his father.
He was 52 and a winemaking veteran in 1966 when he opened the Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa Valley that would help turn the valley into a world centre of the industry. Clashes with his younger brother - matters came to a head with a 1965 fistfight - led him to break from the family business to carry out his ambitious plans with borrowed money.
When he opened his winery, California was still primarily known for cheap jug wines. But he set out to change that, championing the use of cold fermentation, stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels, all commonplace in the industry today. He introduced blind tastings in Napa Valley, putting his wines up against French vintages.
His confidence was rewarded in 1976 when California wines beat some well-known French vintages in the tasting known as the Judgment of Paris.
Always convinced that California wines could compete with the European greats, he engaged in the first French-American wine venture when he formed a limited partnership with the legendary French vintner Baron Philippe de Rothschild to grow and make the ultra-premium Opus One at Oakville. The venture's first vintage was in 1979.
The Mondavi board of directors eventually lost faith in his family's management and sold the publicly traded company bearing Mondavi's name in 2004 to the giant drinks group, Constellation Brands.
Mondavi was an enthusiastic ambassador for wine - especially California wine - and travelled the world into his 90s, promoting the health, cultural and social benefits of its moderate consumption.
The website memorial came as the vintners association readied for the start of an online 'e-auction' of prestigious wines as part of an annual event to raise money for Napa Valley charities.
