Mondavi brothers make wine together again

updated 7:04 p.m. ET May 30, 2005

ST. HELENA, Calif. - Forty years after a feud that rocked California wine country, brothers Robert and Peter Mondavi are making wine together again.

"It's the right time, right now," says Tim Mondavi, Robert's son, who is working with his uncle and cousins on the multigenerational venture.

The new wine, a single barrel of a cabernet blend, will be offered at this year's Auction Napa Valley, the 25th anniversary of the famous wine charity event.

The lot, "Ancora Una Volta," or "Once Again," has bittersweet overtones. The auction — largely the brainchild of Robert Mondavi — is taking place without a Mondavi at the helm of the Robert Mondavi Corp., which was sold to Constellation Brands last year for $1.3 billion.

Still, it was the sale that opened the door to the family winemaking venture.

In an interview at his family's Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena, the elder Peter Mondavi said the families had discussed making wine together for years but he had been reluctant to do that as long as his brother was the head of a public corporation.

"We've been always family oriented. We grew up that way," he said. "When you go public, your stockholders are not inclined to be in the wine business except for the almighty dollar. So, it's a question of money vs. love of the product. That's the way we feel about it."

With the sale, the idea for the brothers to make one last barrel together was on and "it's amazing how well they've got on together," he said.

The new wine is made half from grapes from Peter Mondavi's Yountville vineyards and half from the Robert Mondavi Oakville ToKalon vineyards. The buyer gets lunch and a sample of the wine with the Mondavis the day after the June 4 auction, as well as a spring lunch to see how things are shaping up and a release dinner in August 2006. There'll be enough wine to make 60 magnums — 1.5-liter bottles.

The younger generation has done day-to-day work on the wine, but Peter and Robert Mondavi, who are both in their 90s, have been involved in tasting and approving blends.

"It's a powerful wine. Dark in color. Rich in character," says Peter Mondavi, Jr.

The Mondavi wine will be sold at a redesigned auction which has been trimmed from a six-hour afternoon marathon to a shorter evening affair. Ticket prices were tripled, to $7,500 per couple for the full four-day event, and talk show star Jay Leno has been hired as host.

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