05-16-2008, 07:03 PM
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Purveyor, Fine Asian Porn
Industry Role:
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Posts: 38,323
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Quote:
The Public Years
In 1993, seeking the capital for even greater growth, Mondavi became a public company, and Robert gradually turned over more of the business decisions to his sons. Michael concentrated on sales and marketing and Tim focused on winemaking, while Mondavi's daughter, Marcia, also sat on the board. Eventually Mondavi became chairman emeritus and traveled on behalf of the winery to promote its wines.
During this period, Robert Mondavi Corp. formed partnerships in Italy with the Frescobaldi family, in Chile with the Chadwick family of Viņa Errazuriz and in Australia with Rosemount, which later became part of Southcorp. The company also acquired some prominent California wineries, including Arrowood, and purchased renowned Tuscan winery Ornellaia with Frescobaldi.
Meanwhile, Mondavi turned much of his energy to philanthropic endeavors. He spearheaded a drive to build Copia: The American Institute for Food, Wine and the Arts in downtown Napa and donated $20 million to get the cultural center, which he had conceived of in 1988, off the ground.
He also donated $35 million to the University of California at Davis: $25 million to establish the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science and another $10 million to finish the campus' performing arts center, which was named after him and his wife. The gift was the largest private contribution to UC Davis and represents one of the most generous single gifts from an individual donor in the history of the University of California.
But by 2000, Robert Mondavi Corp. had begun to experience financial strains that were worsened by the subsequent recession, the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack and a slump in wine sales. In 2004, after a series of internal disputes with board members over a planned restructuring of the company, Michael resigned. Although the board had originally decided to sell off Mondavi's luxury brands, it then agreed to sell the entire corporation when Constellation Brands made a takeover bid of more than $1 billion.
"This ambitious striving led [Mondavi] down some unfortunate paths,? said Posert. Going public was a decision Robert later regretted, Posert said.
The sale temporarily left Mondavi out of the wine business for the first time since the 1930s, although Constellation kept him on as an ambassador for the winery. Then in 2005, at the age of 92, he joined his son Tim and daughter Marcia in a new venture to make Napa Valley Cabernet.
"Of all the things he learned, the most important was that wine was meant to enhance a meal, and that's something he never forgot," said Tim.
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If you ever travel to Napa Valley, do yourself a favor and visit the Robert Mondavi Winery and also Opus One...
RIP Robert Mondavi... 
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