Three of Lodi’s modern day winemaking pioneers: (from left) the late Steve Borra, Michael Phillips and David Lucas.
Continued from Story of an appellation—Part 7, Lodi’s iconic Mission Arch
Dawn of a “Golden Age”
Robert Mondavi was a Lodi Union High School graduate who will always be remembered for significant accomplishments in the wine industry. First, he convinced his father, Cesare Mondavi, a Lodi businessman who entered the grape industry during the early 1920s as a grape packer, to buy Napa Valley‘s Charles Krug Winery in 1943. Robert and his brother Peter Mondavi operated Charles Krug until their famous falling out, which led to the founding of the groundbreaking Robert Mondavi Winery in 1966.
In 1979, Robert Mondavi purchased an Acampo facility operated by a Lodi grower-cooperative by the name of Cherokee Wine Association. Prior to that, Cherokee had produced wines for Charles Krug Winery, and inventory at Cherokee was part of Mondavi’s eventual settlement with his family for his share of Charles Krug.
1936 at the Mondavi family home on Pine Street in Lodi: Cesare and Rosa Mondavi with their oldest son Robert, in his Stanford University graduation gown.
Mr. Mondavi established his Lodi outpost as Woodbridge Winery (now called Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi). While the Woodbridge brand is associated with value-priced wines, in terms of incentivized vineyard contracting and winemaking techniques, the Mondavi team was the first to introduce state-of-the-art wine production to the Lodi region. More importantly, it was Woodbridge that contributed enormously to the mindset among Lodi growers, pushing them to
