By TOM MARQUARDT
When I caught up with Angelina Mondavi, she was in the middle of crushing chardonnay grapes from the 2026 vintage, apologizing for interruptions that were, frankly, far more important than talking to a wine writer. It’s hard to reconcile that person with the mischievous child who, three decades earlier, drove her elders to distraction by climbing aboard a forklift and turning the key.
Angelina said she thought at the time it was “totally normal” for kids like her to grow up in a vineyard and have parents who made alcoholic wines. Didn’t every girl in Napa Valley have wine growers as parents? Not until she went to college in New York did she realize her generation had a different perspective on alcoholic beverages.
“It was an eye-opener,” she said. “People grew up not realizing the concept of moderation.”
But the time she spent with her grandfather Peter Jr. and father Marc seeing winemaking through a youngster’s eyes was the seed that eventually would lead her to the head winemaking role at Charles Krug, the oldest commercial winery in Napa Valley. She’s leading a team that produces about 60,000 cases a year, smaller than what we would have guessed.
Charles Krug hasn’t been without controversy. Angelina wasn’t even born yet when in 1965 her grandfather literally fought with his brother, Robert, over the direction of the winery. Robert left the family fold to launch his own winery and become one of the leading forces to bring international acclaim to Napa cabernet sauvignon. Charles Krug’s direction, on the other hand, was less stellar as it focused on making commercial, traditional wine for mainstream imbibers. I felt the brand faded from favor, although rising briefly with some of its reserve cabernet sauvignons. But after a conversation with Angelina, I got the feeling the fourth generation–including her sisters and cousins who work at the winery—want to forge a new direction for Charles Krug that includes vegan and gluten-free offerings.
The dilemma of making changes while preserving a legacy is not unlike that which faced other winemakers who inherited the mantle from parents and grandparents. Michel Chapoutier even ousted his father when he introduced biodynamic farming, eliminated fining and filtration and launched single-vineyard winemaking. Angelo Gaja was more kind to his family but nonetheless revolutionized the family business when he planted French grape varieties against his father’s wishes. It’s one thing to respect a legacy, but quite another to introduce new ideas to improve the product to appeal to new generations.
“I’m a minimalist,” she said. “I want to make a clean wine, bone dry, that is luscious yet can be opened 10 years from now. No additives other than French oak.”
Ironically, it was French oak that was one of the issues that split the brothers. Robert was one of the first to introduce oak aging 60 years ago.
History is not forgotten, but Angelina said she is more focused on making good wine than preserving a legacy. She worked hard to earn her title, graduating with a degree in chemistry from Villanova University and earning her master’s degree in winemaking from the University of Adelaide in South Australia. She worked alongside winemakers, including many years with Stacy Clark, who retired last year after being Charles Krug’s winemaker for 14 years.
Angelina has enough harvests under her belt to shed the dependency on previous generations, yet she respects their work. She remembers asking her grandfather questions about why things were done, only to hear “because that’s the way we do it,” she said. After her education, she now has thoroughly answered those questions herself. Based on this experience, she is focused on educating her entire staff so that they can explain the process intelligently to anyone who asks. She’s investing in staff as well as winemaking.
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