Deals Drama Drive: Michael Mondavi and the Making of Napa Valley

Inside the deals, drama, and drive behind one of America’s greatest wine dynasties.

Michael Mondavi has been at the centre of some of the most famous events in the wine world over the past 60 years. From growing up at Charles Krug and launching Robert Mondavi Winery to creating joint ventures with the Rothschilds of Bordeaux and the Frescobaldis of Tuscany, Michael was in the room where it happened.

While his father was the visionary, Michael was the “get-it-done guy”—the man tasked with turning Robert’s grand ideas into reality. He takes us behind the scenes of that memorable day just before Thanksgiving in 1965, when his father called him at university to say they had both been thrown out of Charles Krug Winery, and into the planning of the winery that would become one of the most famous in the world.

Michael recounts the creation of Opus One, Luce, and Seña; the failures of expansion to Languedoc and of Copia; and the deals that cemented Robert Mondavi’s place alongside the great wine producers of the world. He also speaks candidly about the trauma of being the eldest son of a genius, a man whose drive to conquer the wine world took a huge emotional toll on his three children.

From the emotional turmoil of losing control of Robert Mondavi Winery and its eventual sale to Constellation, to his subsequent career with Folio Fine Wine Partners, Michael looks back with clear eyes at the mistakes he made and the lessons he learned.