Kicked out of the family business after an actual fistfight with his brother, Robert Mondovi was 53 when he created his eponymous winery. Five decades later and he is hailed as the man who revolutionised Napa Valley wineries, if not America’s wine industry altogether. Greatness, it seems, can come at any age.

Born in 1913 in Minnesota to Italian immigrant parents, Robert’s father travelled regularly to the west coast to buy grapes for the Italian community on the east coast. One family relocation, a Stanford University degree and a persuasive chat with his dad to buy the defunct 1861 St. Helena winery later, and the Mondovi winery was created. However, fast forward 23 years and family differences got the better of them, with the now-famous fistfight resulting in a division of the family and Robert going his own way (interestingly Robert’s own sons Michael and Tim suffer the same creative differences as their father and uncle). Headstrong and unwilling to compromise, Robert created Robert Mondovi wineries in 1966 in Oakville, Napa Valley, changing the face of Napa Valley wineries forever.

The first vintage of Mondovi’s 1967 Chenin Blanc was released to the eager market at $2 a bottle - the same bottle today (if you can find it) would cost you something in the region of €350. Enlisting the help of the up and coming talent of the region (Warren Winiarski, founder Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Mike Grgich and Zelma Long who are all in the Winemaker’s Hall of Fame), Mondovi strove to produce premium wines and focused on the quality rather than quantity. His first vineyard, To Kolon (623-acres, planted in 1861) was subject to a bitter lawsuit with his family with the judge ruling that Robert should keep two-thirds. Today, wine from this vineyard is some of the most expensive an scarcely available of his 19 cuvees.

Robert Mondavi Wineries were sold to Constellation Drinks in 2004, with the drinks giant gaining control of everything bar 50% of the Opus One vineyard, a joint venture between Mondavi and Baron de Rothschild. This wine sees good market performance (in the USA) and accounts for the majority of wine investments and trading for wines of the region. However, the wine divides critics and its popularity on the secondary market is not always mirrored among the experts.