Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/646914
12 / the tasting panel / march 2016 INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT P eter Mondavi Sr., a Napa Valley innovator who steered his family's Charles Krug Winery through more than a half-century of revolutionary change in the industry, died on February 20th at his home in St. Helena, California, on the Charles Krug estate sur- rounded by his family. He was 101. Mondavi began his career in wine when Napa Valley was chiefly known for inexpensive jug wine, or "vin ordinaire," as he would refer to it. In 1943, his parents purchased Charles Krug Winery, which even then enjoyed a long pedigree. Prussian emigrant Charles Krug founded his eponymous winery in 1861, making it the oldest operating winery in the Napa Valley today. Mondavi worked the property with his family and eventually assumed the role of president and CEO upon his mother's death in 1976. Mondavi invested a lifetime in building, growing and protecting his family's business. Asked late in life to note his proudest accomplishment, he replied, "Never losing control of our family winery. If I could, I would tell my father: I did the best I could during the difficult years. I was determined and we held on." In 2011, still spry at age 96, he hosted a Tasting on the Lawn to commemorate the winery's 150th anniversary, telling the gathered crowd with a twinkle in his blue eyes, "I tell my sons this gives us a good job." Mondavi officially retired in 2015 but he was a fixture at the winery years after he turned over the day-to-day operations to his sons, regularly climbing two flights of stairs to his office to settle in to work. When asked by a group of visiting Nike executives, he credited his stamina to "living a good life and drinking great wine." The family business, C. Mondavi & Family, founded by and named after patriarch Cesare Mondavi, contin- ues to thrive and includes third and fourth generations of the family. Today, Mondavi's sons, Marc and Peter Jr., lead the vision of the family winery with his grandchil- dren in the wings. Charles Krug Winery's Peter Mondavi Sr. Passes Away at 101 Retirements W ill Conniff— Executive Vice President, General Manager of Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc.'s Illinois, Kentucky and Minnesota divisions— retired at the begin- ning of this month. The industry veteran has devoted 38 years to Southern after joining the Southern Wine & Spirits of Florida division in 1978. A New Partnership V 2 Wine Group of Sonoma, California and the Merryvale Family of Wines (MFW) announced a sales and marketing partnership between the two companies, which started at the beginning of February. Under the terms of the agreement, V2 Wine Group will provide sales and marketing services and manage the distribution network of MFW throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. MFW portfolio is owned by the Schlatter family and operated by René Schlatter and includes Merryvale Vineyards, Profile Collection, Starmont Vineayrds and Winery and Forward Kidd, all produced in Napa Valley, CA.