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Krug Champagne
The Peter Mondavi Family is ushering in a new era at Charles Krug Winery. But
the Family never loses sight of the winery's history:
Charles Krug Winery was the first winery founded in the Napa Valley, in 1861.
Prussian immigrant Charles Krug came to America at age 22 with little besides
willpower and a willingness to work hard. He proceeded to become the major local
winery figure of his era, greatly influencing Napa Valley's development.
His leadership was said to be inspirational, and his ideas innovative. Charles
Krug introduced the cider press for winemaking, the first of which is still on
display at the winery. He carefully selected rootstocks, varietals and vineyard
sites; this was a novel concept in late 19th Century America. The knowledge he
gained and shared benefited the young California wine industry. (For a list of
key milestones, click here)
At Charles Krug's funeral in 1892, hundreds of mourners listened to Frederick
Beringer deliver the eulogy in German. James Moffitt, a business associate of
Charles Krug's and a San Francisco banker, took possession of the winery.
Remarkably, Moffitt held onto the property through Prohibition, and began
looking for a winemaking family to carry on in the spirit of Charles Krug. He
found that pioneering spirit in Cesare and Rosa Mondavi, to whom he sold the
winery in 1943 for $75,000.
Cesare Mondavi was 60, and spearheaded a dramatic renaissance in the decade that
followed. Wine historian Charles Sullivan writes in his book, Napa Wine, "By the
early 1950's it was irrefutable that the Valley's Big Four had been augmented by
one... the Charles Krug Winery."
Above all else, Charles Krug Winery is a family winery. Peter, Sr. and his sons
Marc and Peter, Jr. are embarking on another renaissance at Charles Krug Winery.
A nine-year, $13 million investment program kicked-off in 1999. Over 200 of the
winery's 800 prime acres in Napa Valley have been re-planted and
state-of-the-art winemaking equipment has been purchased.
The Peter Mondavi Family is spearheading the next great renaissance of Napa
Valley's first winery, guiding qualitative improvements that will serve future
generations of the Family and its supporters.
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