Californian Napa Valley Wines Success - Essay Example

Robert Gerald Mondavi, a renowned vineyard operator in California, is remembered for his marketing strategies and technical improvements that led to the success of Californian Napa Valley wines. He is seen as an international symbol of the American wine and food industry, and the initiator of the modern fine wine industry in the US. His contributions to the modern wine industry can never be overlooked. Ever since he was young, he insisted that wines should be labeled varietally, not generically.

Today, this has become the standard for modern wines worldwide (Mondavi and Chutkow 2). Mondavi successfully brought reforms to the US wine industry, and consequently, the wine industry all over the world. He was passionate about wine from a tender age and started a winery in Napa Valley, in 1966 (Mondavi and Chutkow 12). This was with the aim of outdoing the finest wine producers in Europe. His dream has today come true because many of the winemaking techniques used today were his ideas (Mondavi and Chutkow 17).

He has also contributed to the modern wine industry by introducing winemaking concepts such as using French oak barrels, stainless steel tanks, and cold fermentation, which are all used in the modern wine industry today (Mondavi and Chutkow 23). Mondavi, a market leader in the wine industry, is remembered for initiating blind wine tasting sessions at the Napa Valley, combining these experiences with other world-class wines. This allowed the wine industry and consumers to evaluate the value and quality of the wine (Mondavi and Chutkow 39).

He promoted the exportation of wine, which is a common practice in the modern wine industry today. He also promoted the production of high-quality wines, after his wines became internationally recognized for their top quality. His wine educational tours and wine tastings helped to foster a wine culture, not only in America but throughout the world (Mondavi and Chutkow 30).The modern wine industry has also benefited through educational and cultural institutions that are being opened to promote wines (Mondavi and Chutkow 96).

Examples include the American Centre for Wine, Food and Art (2001), and the University of California’s Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science (2008) among others. Mondavi is considered the founding father of the American fine wine industry.