Just one conversation

As we do on many of our Friday evenings, we watched a movie this past Friday. It was a story of a modern-day author who was given an opportunity to talk with two literary giants: F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. The movie was quite a treat for me, as these are two of my favorite classical American authors. The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway to this day is my favorite book; I reread it every several years.

As we talked about last week, we have had the chance over our career in wine to meet and talk to some of the giants of our industry. It is an honor to have that opportunity and an even bigger treat to consider many of them friends. Our Friday night movie got me to thinking though. If I could have the chance for just one conversation with one of the giants of the wine industry who I was never able to meet, who would it be?

There have been so many influential people involved in our industry, both here in the ‘New World’ and the appellations of the ‘Old World,’ that the decision could be quite challenging. While the consumption of wine here in the United States dates to the founding of our country (like Thomas Jefferson’s keen interest in wine), large scale production is a much more recent thing. In Europe, large-scale production of wine across the continent goes back centuries. Between the two, and all of the other grape growing and winemaking regions, it would be a broad array of candidates.

If I had the chance, I would love to sit down over a glass of wine with Robert Mondavi. The sheer span of his career would make the details fascinating, but the time and timing of his experience would provide a wealth of knowledge on the modern wine industry in the U.S. Over the arc of his career, he experienced great success but also endured business failures and family strife as he worked to start and build a modern-day winery at the infancy of the industry. The challenges were many and at times daunting.

Just thinking of the brands, wineries, vineyards and culinary projects Mr. Mondavi was involved in is amazing to think about. Before the Mondavi Winery was sold, it was known for making wine accessible to consumers at the entry level. But was (and to some degree still is) known for some of the best, hardest to come by and most expensive bottlings from the Napa Valley.

The To-kalon Vineyard in the heart of the Napa Valley right on Highway 29 was planted and developed by the Mondavi Winery and to this day produces some of the most sought-after Cabernet grapes in all of Napa. Run now by Andy Beckstoffer, it remains one of the most iconic and picturesque vineyards in all of wine country.

The joint venture between the Rothschild family from France and Robert Mondavi, Opus One, has been producing one of the most sought-after Napa Valley red wines ever made for decades. The winery has since been sold but the association with the Mondavi name remains strong, as they continue to crank out one of the premiere productions from Napa.

In partnership with Julia Child and others, Mr. Mondavi funded and opened Copia, a culinary arts center in Napa. While the center never achieved the success that all had hoped for it, at the time of its opening it was one of the most prominent properties for the culinary arts in the country.

Copia was one of the few failures that Robert Mondavi experienced. But through all the struggles of creating a modern wine industry where none existed, he persevered. He kept going and building and innovating throughout his life — a life that became inseparable from his career. For all of the ups and downs and vast experiences and challenges, it would be one fascinating conversation, with much to learn from a man that could easily be called the Hemingway of the California wine industry.

That would be the one conversation I would like to have…

- • •.

George Balling is co-owner with his wife, Mary Lancaster, of the dinner party, a wine and gift shop in Coeur d’Alene by Costco. The dinner party has won the award for best wine shop in North Idaho twice, including for 2018. George is also published in several other publications around the country. After working in wineries in California and judging many wine competitions, he moved to Coeur d’Alene with Mary more than 10 years ago to open the shop. You can also follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.