The death of Robert Mondavi May 16 continues to generate reflections from people around the world. This arrived at the Register from Gerald Asher, long-time wine editor of Gourmet magazine:

While past and present county officials should be proud of Napa County’s landmark agricultural preserve, they need to keep their eyes peeled for persistently threatening efforts to whittle away the 37,618-acre greenbelt for urban development.

When I met Robert Mondavi he was sitting in his chair in a corner office overlooking the winery and the olive trees below. He rose to shake my hand, his eyes smiling at me. He was short and tanned, a strong-looking 90. His wife Margrit was in the office too — there to fill in the gaps in his story, according to him. “She’s my memory,” he said.

The Napa Valley Grapegrowers bestowed its top award, Grower of the Year, to longtime Napa Valley grower Lee Hudson at the organization’s 33rd Annual Dinner May 16.

The place was a San Francisco hotel ballroom. The hushed well-dressed assembled had just watched Sandy McNally open a bottle of an 1878 Bouchard Beaune, a red wine from Burgundy.

I’m a relative newcomer to Napa Valley, having arrived here in 1996. But for many years before that I had known about Robert Mondavi, had read about him, consumed his wine and had visited the winery several times during trips to Napa Valley.

Touched by the counsel, generosity and friendship of wine industry icon Robert Mondavi, hundreds of vintners, business leaders, neighbors and folks stirred by his humanity came together at Copia Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the revered vintner’s incredible life.