47
Mondavi:
We have
Teiser:
You buy additional
Mondavi:
This last year close grapes. And then the growers that we have what we consider the
a little over fifteen hundred acres of land in Napa of which eleven hundred acres are in vineyards. We have Valley, some seven hundred acres of vineyard which is contiguous to the winery, which is the largest single piece of vineyard contiguous to a winery in Napa Valley. Then we have about 525 acres on the Oak Knoll, on the Silverado Trail, of which four hundred acres of that is in vineyard.
to forty percent of our crush was our own balance of the sixty percent we bought from We've picked up picked up over the years.
finest growers.
Little by little, we've been weeding out those growers which do not have quite the quality that we want, and little by little we've been really very fortunate. We are getting the prime growers in the area for the different varieties' of grapes, whether it's Cabernet, Chardonnay, Pinot noir, or Sauvignon blanc. We go to those locations that we, over the years, know are the best. We've actually crushed more grapes from all around Napa Ever since I've been in the Valley than any other winery*. in the Calistoga region, we've since we've crushed business, 1937, We've crushed down in crushed in the Pope Valley, Conn Valley. And So we know the merits of these various areas. the Carneros. we've been fortunate to be able to select either land that we bought or growers that were in that location to give us what we consider the kind of grapes and the finest grapes that we can have So we have been very to produce the style of wine that we want. fortunate. We've been working a lifetime at this, wanting to excel. There's no one in the world a lot of dedicated work. fine wines than we ourselves. We work for more research that does time full who work three have just research work, plus people another equivalent of two people in the cellar. So we have a combination of at least five to six people working constantly on just research work to improve the quality of our wines.
We do
know your son Tim has conducted barrel studies.
Teiser:
I
Mondavi:
Many. here.
In' fact, we started that We've been doing that for years. Now France. Demptos, the barrel They weren't doing it in to the University went barrels our from, producer that we bought and several but said, "You once not finally times, of Bordeaux, work. research this all are Mondavis Why don't the doing know, on even are Now this?" working like do they something you
*i.e., any other winery selling exclusively Napa Valley wine.