With an iron will and an iron-man constitution, it’s apropos that Robert Mondavi was born on the Iron Range. He made his mark, of course, well west of here, leading the way as the Napa Valley became a world-class wine region.

I talked to several Minnesotans about Mondavi, and not surprisingly got a wealth of material. Below are some quotes that didn’t make it into this week’s Liquid Assets column:

Duane Hoff, longtime Best Buy executive and owner of Fantesca Estate winery in Napa:  ”He had this faith that the wines made here belonged in company of greatest wines in the world. When he started saying that, it was like Long Island making that claim now, and the rest of us going ‘oh, that’s cute.’

“And it’s one thing to say that, another to farm that way. You have to sacriifice a lot of quantity to reach that quality. For him to have that vision and tenacity and quite frankly the chip on his shoulder, everybody in the valley has to be thankful. That’s why he’s so revered here.”

Paul Daggett, longtime local wine teacher and sales rep: “Robert Mondavi was the early benchmark for craftsman winemaking on a scale great enough to shape national attitudes.  He duplicated French winemaking techniques in Napa, then adapted them to Napa, then asserted that Napa wines could be different than France, distinctive and perhaps in some ways better.

“He create the sense of dynamism that gave everyone else permission to think in new ways about an industry that had been dominated by the Gallo brothers, who had succeeded by marketing to the lowest common denominator of American wine taste: cheap, sweet, strong, branded and familiar.”

Bill Belkin, manager of the Byerly’s/Lunds wine portfolio: “It’s ironic that with the advent of the ‘cult-wine madness’ that seems to prevail in Napa and elsewhere, that the Mondavi Reserve Cabernet and Opus One [Mondavi’s collaboration with Baron Phillippe de Rothschild] are often overlooked and considered passe. I cannot disagree more.  These wines have a heritage and track record that cannot be ignored by any serious collectors or afficionados.  The wines are always true to their terroir and their upbringing.”

Jack Farrell, president of Haskell’s: “As a visionary in the wine business, he was unsurpassed. In the 1960s, you couldn’t give sauvignon blanc away. And he thought calling it fume’ blanc it might sell — and it did. Until then sauvignon blanc was an ugly stepchild …

“He had amazing energy, even later in life. When they were remodeling the winery 8, 9 years ago, he was stomping around there like a teenager. He swam every day and was very active until 6 or 7 years ago. I saw him about 4 years ago, and he said he was drinking 2½  bottles a day.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at 9:15 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.