In May of this year the wine world lost one of its icons as Robert Mondavi passed away at the impressive age of 94.

Mondavi became a fixture of the California wine industry when in 1966 he left his family's winery to establish his own, the first new winery in the Napa Valley since the repeal of Prohibition. He quickly made an impact in 1967 with the release of a Sauvignon Blanc wine that he called "Fume Blanc". The public loved it and the Sauvignon Blanc varietal grew from relative obscurity in California to a position of incredible popularity, which it still enjoys to this day.

Over the course of his career in wine, Mondavi produced many highly respected wines and his exhaustive efforts to promote the region was a major factor in putting the Napa Valley, and California in general, on the international wine map. In 1978, he partnered with Baron Philippe de Rothschild, owner of the world-famous First Growth Chateau Mouton Rothschild of Bordeaux, France. Their joint venture, Opus One, based in California, lent increased respect to the state in the wine world. It remains one of the finest wines produced in California.

In December 2004 the Mondavi winery was purchased by Constellation Brands for over $1.35 billion. Robert Mondavi was inducted into the Culinary Institute of America's Vintners Hall of Fame in March 2007 and the California Hall of Fame in December 2007.