Patriarch of California wine dies at age 94

Robert Mondavi died Friday at his Napa Valley home. He was 94.

Pulling a couple of praragraphs from the obituary that's running on forbes.com, Mondavi was the son of Italian immigrants had worked in the wine industry since graduating from Stanford University with a degree in economics the 1930s. He started at the Charles Krug Winery, in which his parents had invested after leaving Minnesota for California. A tempestuous relationship with his brother, Peter, led to a split from the family business and he opened his eponymous Napa Valley winery in Northenr California in 1966 at age 52.

Called in a bold innovator, Mondavi put his wines up against French vintages in blind tastings and championed the use of cold fermentation, stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels, which have become commonplace in California's $20 billion wine industry today. After beating some well-known French vintages in a 1976 blind tasting, Mondavi set up the first French-American wince venture, joining forces with Baron Philippe de Rothschild. The pair developed the ultra-premium Opus One at Oakville, producing their first vintage in 1979.

Mondavi turned over day-to-day control of the winery to his sons in the mid--1990s, but a second generation of sibling disagreements, intense competition from other New World wines and a glut of California production in the early 2000s took its toll on the business, which was bought out for $1.3 billion by Constellation Brands in 2004.

I've done a couple of things to add some depth to Mondavi. I've asked a select group of winery owners in this region for their reaction, good and bad, and included a link to today's New York Times story on the death and life of Mondavi and a link to the Mondavi Web site, which includes his biography, his lifetime achievements and quotes.

Taste of Pennsylvania set for inaugural

The debut of what organizers hope will be an annual event will be held May 31 and June 1 at the York Fairgrounds. The Taste of Pennsylvania Wine and Music Festival will feature three bands on Saturday, the 31st, and three more on Sunday, the 1st. A total of nine wineries will be represented. Tickets are $15; at the gate the cost is $20 and it's $10 for a designated driver. They are available at Nell's, Saubel's and Wtzel's Shurfine locations. More on the event can be found at yorkwinefest.com.

Spokesman Brian Dudley was kind enough to respond by e-mail to a few questions about the event. Here is the exchange:

Q: Give me a quick overview of what came together to move this from an idea into a reality?
A: I was Commander of the Sons of the American Legion for seven years and over that time we made donations each year to many organizations, however the donations were usually $100 and I wanted to do more. So with my interest in wine, wine making and festivals I determined that a wine festival in York would be a great way for the SAL to make money to allow us to make bigger donations.

Q: What kind of demographic are you expecting? Who's going to these things these days?
A: Well, the typical crowd is the 30-to-55-year-old crowd of middle to upper class wine drinkers, however I think that many people enjoy wine and that is why Sunday's musical entertainment is more classic rock, something for the late 20s and early 30s crowd. I personally am 33 and I began drinking and making wine in my early 20s, so I do not think wine has to be for a certain crowd, you just have to enjoy wine to enjoy our festival.

Q: I know there's wine and I know there's music. Break down some of the things that visitors will get a chance to do?
A: For the admission price you will receive a wine glass that allows you wine tastings from all wineries throughout the day. So bring your chair or blanket and stay for the day of great music and wine. Next year I hope to add food demos from local cheifs, as well as an amatuer wine compitition.

Q: Will there be wine for sale there?
A: Wine is for sale at the event and we will be offering a wine check system, meaning that you can buy wine at a winery, have it marked; it will then be sent to the wine pickup area and when you leave you can go pick up all your wine. This will help those who want to buy several bottles to several cases, as they do not have to carry the wine around and they can take their car right to the pick up station when they are ready to leave.

Q: Tell me about the response, both from the public and the wineries? Looks like you did well in getting a mix of wineries from all over the region.
A: I am hearing from a lot of people that they are coming and hearing our commecials so I hope for a good turn out. I have been told that PA just doesn't have the same number of wine drinkers as Northern Maryland and I just do not think that is true and I hope our event shows that York knows its wine and will turn out for a festival. As for the wineries, I have gotten a great response, especially from the local wineries who want to see an event like this in York County. It can only help to showcase their wine by bringing wine drinkers to York County. As for wineries from out of the area, they have also been great and this will be a good chance for them to showcase their wine. The selection of wineries was very intential. I wanted to showcase the "Taste of Pennsylvania" by bringing together wine from across Pennsylvania. Wine grown in the soil and climate of the Lake Erie area will taste very different from wine grown and made in York Co. and I wanted to show that to everyone. Pennsylvania is a great wine region with a lot of promise and I hope to continue this event for a long time, to help the SAL and the Pennsylvania wineries.