Robert Mondavi – some personal recollections

A long-standing purple pager in Brazil asked whether I'd care to comment on the news that Robert Mondavi, arguably the single most famous living wine producer, is standing down from an executive role in the wine business that bears his name. (I am amazed, by the way, to see that ex McKinsey Ted Hall of the organic Long Meadow Ranch in Napa is taking on an advisory role at Mondavi; I had him down for confirmed retiree from corporate life when I visited him, his frantoio and his meadows there a couple of years ago.)

The start of a new...