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:

Paris, May 20th, 2008

“The first time I tasted cabernet sauvignon with Robert Mondavi — it was sometime in the late ’60s or early ’70s — he opened alongside his own wine a half dozen or more classed growths of Bordeaux and a selection of his neighbors’ wines. The Bordeaux wines were there, he told me, only because he wanted me to understand what he intended to achieve. For better or worse, I was to judge his wine by the highest recognized standard. His neighbors’ wines were there to convince me that, whatever I might think of his, it was neither more nor less than representative of what Napa Valley as a whole was then producing. He knew he could not establish a credible reputation for himself without playing his part in establishing the reputation of Napa Valley — of California — as a whole.   It was a simple premise, and he never strayed from it. He never ceased to expect his wines to be judged against the highest standards. They were so judged, and they were rarely found lacking. And in drawing the world’s attention to his wines, he continued to work ceaselessly to promote all the wines of Napa Valley and, indeed, all the wines of California, too.  Today, the state’s enviable image — an amalgam of wine, food, and a generous style of living — owes much to him, a man of vision and  passion with a warm, open spirit.”