Robert Mondavi Winery

Robert Mondavi opened Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville in 1966, which the winery describes as the first major winery in Napa since Prohibition. His ambition, in the winery's words, was to make world class wines in Napa Valley that could rival the best European wines. Before founding the winery, Robert worked at Charles Krug Winery, which his parents purchased in 1943, until 1965, according to The Napa Wine Project. Los Angeles based architect Cliff May designed the winery and hospitality center, blending a California adobe mission look with a California Ranch House style, per The Napa Wine Project. Constellation Brands acquired the company in 2004, as reported by both The Napa Wine Project and Wine Spectator, and the winery's website carries a Constellation Brands, Inc. copyright. Wine Spectator reported in November 2004 that Robert Mondavi would serve as a brand ambassador under Constellation. Robert Mondavi died in 2008.

• Founded: 1966, Oakville, Napa Valley
• Architect: Cliff May
• Owner: Constellation Brands, since 2004
• Address: 7801 St. Helena Highway, Oakville

As of September 2026, the winery's team page lists Kurtis Ogasawara as Director of Winemaking, Blake Wood as Director Vineyard Operations, and Lauren Oliver as Winemaker. Ogasawara studied viticulture and enology at U.C. Davis and joined the winery in 2015; Oliver joined in 2018. Wood was part of the team responsible for To Kalon Vineyard becoming certified organic by the CCOF. The Napa Wine Project identifies Geneviève Janssens as the winery's longtime Director of Winemaking, and reports that Warren Winiarski, Mike Grgich, and Zelma Long spent part of their early careers at Robert Mondavi.

• Director of Winemaking: Kurtis Ogasawara (joined 2015)
• Director Vineyard Operations: Blake Wood
• Winemaker: Lauren Oliver (joined 2018)

To Kalon, in Oakville, was originally planted in 1868; the winery farms 450 acres of it and shares the site with a few select others. The winery describes the terroir as an alluvial fan at the base of the Mayacamas mountains. The Napa Wine Project reports that To Kalon founder H.W. Crabb purchased 240 acres in 1868, and that the winery's I-Block holds 1945 plantings of Sauvignon Blanc still head-pruned and dry-farmed. In Stags Leap, the winery has 300 acres of vines planted below the Stags Leap palisades on gravelly, clay loam soil; Robert Mondavi purchased the Stags Leap District estate vineyard in 1969. The winery's vineyard on Wappo Hill in Stags Leap District was planted by Robert at his hilltop home. The vineyard in which the estate stands has been certified organic by the CCOF since 2023, and the winery is Napa Green certified.

• To Kalon Vineyard, Oakville: 450 acres farmed; originally planted in 1868
• Stags Leap: 300 acres of vines below the Stags Leap palisades
• Wappo Hill, Stags Leap District: planted by Robert Mondavi at his hilltop home
• Heritage Clone: a rare clone discovered in To Kalon in 1989

The Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the winery's own vineyards in Oakville and Stags Leap as well as from growers with whom it has long-term relationships; for the 2022 vintage, over half the blend came from the Stags Leap and Oakville vineyards and the remainder from longtime growers around Napa Valley. The Napa Wine Project reports that the 2018 The Estates BDX Red Blend, Oakville was sourced from To Kalon and M-Bar Ranch, a privately owned Oakville vineyard from which the winery has purchased fruit for decades.

The winery's wines come in three tiers: Napa Valley, The Estates, and The Reserve. The Reserve wines on the winery's current list include a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Fumé Blanc, a Red Blend, a Cabernet Franc, and a Merlot, each from To Kalon Vineyard; the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon carries the Oakville, Napa Valley appellation. The 2021 Reserve Heritage Clone Cabernet Sauvignon was the first vintage of a limited-edition wine from a rare clone discovered in To Kalon in 1989. The Estates wines carry vineyard or district names such as Oakville, Stags' Leap District, Oak Knoll, and Carneros. The Napa Valley tier includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Rosé. Ode to Soul, a collaboration with VII(N) The Seventh Estate, founded by Carmelo Anthony and Asani Swann, blends Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and a touch of Petit Verdot from To Kalon Vineyard. A 60th Anniversary Commemorative Cabernet Sauvignon marks the winery's 60th anniversary and reopening, sourced nearly equally from Wappo Hill and To Kalon. Wine Spectator credits Robert Mondavi with starting a trend with Sauvignon Blanc, which he called Fumé Blanc.

• The Reserve: Cabernet Sauvignon, Fumé Blanc, Red Blend, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot, all To Kalon Vineyard
• The Estates: Cabernet Sauvignon (Oakville; Stags' Leap District), Merlot (Oak Knoll), Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (Carneros), Sauvignon Blanc (Stags' Leap District), Fumé Blanc (Oakville), Sparkling Wine
• Napa Valley: Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Rosé
• Also: Moscato d'Oro, Ode to Soul Proprietary Red Wine, 60th Anniversary Commemorative Cabernet Sauvignon

The winery says the classic Robert Mondavi Winery style is its guide, aiming for wines with balance, freshness, and vibrant fruit. It practices organic farming, and after harvest adjusts fermentation temperatures and vessels, skin contact duration, and barrel choices for each vineyard and block. The renovated cellar has fermentation vessels in various sizes that allow small vineyard lots to be fermented separately. The Napa Wine Project writes that the wines consistently showcase balance, freshness and the pure expression of the grapes, with oak as a complementary and supporting character. The 2021 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, To Kalon Vineyard, is 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot, aged 20 months in French oak barrels (100% new).

The winery's story page quotes Hugh Johnson, May 2008: "Oakville is where that pebble landed." After a three-year transformation, the winery reopened on April 17, 2026, per The Napa Wine Project; the winery says the project preserved the iconic arch and tower, and the tower now houses its library of wine archive.

• 1966: Robert Mondavi opens the winery in Oakville
• 1969: Robert Mondavi purchases the Stags Leap District estate vineyard
• 1979: Robert Mondavi announces a joint venture with Château Mouton-Rothschild called Opus One (Wine Spectator)
• 1981: Robert and Margrit Mondavi are founding chairpersons of Auction Napa Valley (The Napa Wine Project)
• 2004: Constellation Brands acquires the company
• 2008: The Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science opens at UC Davis, funded in part by a $25 million gift from Robert Mondavi (The Napa Wine Project)
• 2023: first grapes certified organic harvested (The Napa Wine Project)
• April 17, 2026: the winery reopens after a three-year transformation (The Napa Wine Project)

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://robertmondaviwinery.com/, https://robertmondaviwinery.com/pages/our-story, https://robertmondaviwinery.com/pages/our-team, https://robertmondaviwinery.com/collections/our-wines, https://robertmondaviwinery.com/pages/renovation, https://robertmondaviwinery.com/pages/ode-to-soul, https://robertmondaviwinery.com/collections/our-wines?page=2, https://robertmondaviwinery.com/collections/our-wines?page=3, https://robertmondaviwinery.com/collections/our-wines/products/2021-to-kalon-reserve-cabernet-sauvignon, https://robertmondaviwinery.com/collections/our-wines/products/2022-to-kalon-reserve-fume-blanc, https://robertmondaviwinery.com/collections/our-wines/products/2023-the-estates-fume-blanc-oakville, https://robertmondaviwinery.com/collections/our-wines/products/2022-cabernet-sauvignon-napa-valley, https://robertmondaviwinery.com/collections/our-wines/products/2023-napa-valley-cabernet-sauvignon-60th-anniversary, https://robertmondaviwinery.com/collections/our-wines/products/2021-reserve-cabernet-sauvignon-heritage-clone-to-kalon-vineyard, https://robertmondaviwinery.com/collections/our-wines/products/2022-sauvignon-blanc-napa-valley, https://robertmondaviwinery.com/collections/our-wines/products/2021-the-estates-cabernet-sauvignon-oakville. Secondary sources: The Napa Wine Project (Robert Mondavi Winery profile), Wine Spectator (November 3, 2004, Constellation deal report), Wine Spectator (Leaders of Wine, the Mondavi family). Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs. Last verified 2026-09-23