Charles Krug Winery Remains Rooted in California History
Enjoy delicious wine and food at this iconic winery.
Charles Krug Winery is one of the most historic wineries in all of California, founded in the Napa Valley town of St. Helena in 1861 by Prussian immigrant Charles Krug. Krug had been making wine already for about 4 years throughout the region before settling on this 540-acre site, planting his first 23 acres of vines and, through the process, becoming Napa Valley’s oldest winery. He is remembered as a man of great integrity, who always pushed for Napa Valley wines to be the best they could be.
This he had in common with the family that came to carry on Charles Krug’s legacy post-Prohibition, the Mondavis, who bought Charles Krug Winery in 1943. Cesare and Rosa Mondavi took it over with their sons, Peter and Robert. Peter Mondavi Sr. served as winemaker and caretaker of the family business until his death in 2016 at the age of 101. His sons Peter Mondavi Jr. and Marc Mondavi have continued the business as co-proprietors, restoring the property to new heights as a fourth-generation of Mondavi heirs make their own history.
“To be a part of the fourth generation of Mondavis at Charles Krug Winery comes with a lot of family pride, but also some pressure,” Angelina Mondavi said. “We live, breathe, sleep, dream and deeply believe in continuing our family legacy.”
Tastings
Angelina Mondavi adds that there is a lot going on at Charles Krug Winery right now.
“We have expanded our experiences at the winery, and we now offer wood-fired pizza and wine Fridays through Sundays, to enjoy with friends with a bottle or a tasting of our wine on our lawns in the cabanas,” she added. “We offer a caviar pairing, where one can explore our wines with caviar and understand the beautiful nuances of the caviar that marry beautifully with our wines. We continue to build upon being a cultural hub for our community by partnering with nonprofits, such as Festival Napa Valley, Nimbus, and many more.”
Most of Charles Krug Winery’s tastings occur in the property’s historic Redwood Cellar. It also operates Cucina di Rosa on site, open daily from 10:30 am to 5 pm, a walk-in place to enjoy wines by the glass with cheese and charcuterie with no reservations needed.
The Estate Tasting ($50) is a good place to start, a 60-minute sit-down tasting of four wines, a mix of red and white. Stories about the family, property and winemaking process are included.
The Cabernet Connoisseur Tasting ($75) is a 60-minute sit-down tasting that focuses on the concept of terroir and how a vineyard’s location and climate impacts flavor and aroma as shown in four single-vineyard Cabernets.
The Tour and Tasting ($90) includes a tasting of five wines with cheese and charcuterie board combined with a tour through the historic estate.
Blind Taste Like A Somm ($125) invites guests to taste with a Certified Sommelier and identify the aromas, flavors and nuances of different wines.
Culinary experiences start with the Food & Wine Pairing ($125) where small bites are paired with small-lot wines; the Caviar and Wine Pairing ($150) pairs exclusive wines with Italian Calvisius Caviar, exclusively hand-selected for Charles Krug.
It’s also possible to reserve Charles Krug’s Outdoor Private Cabana for two-hour blocks. Groups of two to 12 guests may choose tasting flights, full bottles of wines or by the glass with a selection of food options. Prices vary depending on the number of guests, with a minimum spend required.
Setting
The expansive Charles Krug is set at the corner of St. Helena’s Main Street/Highway 29 and Deer Park Road, across from the Culinary Institute of America Greystone. A long driveway leads to the historic Carriage House and Redwood Cellar. A beautiful green lawn anchors the property, the setting for summer concerts and other events. The winery has many quiet, intimate outdoor spaces as well as luxurious indoor hospitality venues.
It is also committed to sustainability, having expanded its solar panel project, to allow Charles Krug Winery to use 80% of its power from the sun.
“We are continuing to finesse our winemaking processes to enable us to be minimally wasteful, continue our sustainability, and reduce our carbon footprint,” Angelina Mondavi said.
Current Offerings
Angelina Mondavi serves as the consulting winemaker for Charles Krug Winery, with a focus on its red wines, predominantly the Family Reserve wines, which includes Vintage Selection, Generations and Howell Mountain. She works closely with the vineyard management team and winemaker, Stacy Clark, to bring the best possible wines to market, and represent Napa Valley terroir and the family’s vision.
“I am also on the road traveling to sell our wine, doing wine dinners, blending sessions, reintroducing our wines and educating consumers, reminding our distributors that we are still family owned,” she noted.
“And to make things more interesting, I am now closely evaluating and developing a future program for our library wines. This is a long-term project and endeavor I am very excited about, to allow us to get some of our classic wines that my grandfather made back to the marketplace. We will invite people to fall in love with our wines all over again, and then to taste the wines of the ages… I love this work. In a nutshell, I do quite a bit for my family, and would never change a moment of it, ever!”
Charles Krug’s signature whites include a Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc and Carneros – Napa Valley Chardonnay. Some of its more widely distributed reds in its Napa Valley series include Napa Valley Merlot and Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
Limited-release wines include a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Rosé as well as Cabernet Franc, Petite Sirah, Malbec, Merlot, three vineyard-designated Cabernet Sauvignons (Cold Springs, Slinsen and Voltz), and a dessert wine sold in half bottle. The Family Reserve tier includes the flagship Generations Red Blend and Vintage Selection Cabernet Sauvignon.
Charles Krug also produces two sparkling wines – Carolina Bale Blanc de Blancs and Carolina Bale Brut Rosé – named for Charles Krug’s bride, Carolina Bale, whose family provided the sizable acres of land the winery now sits on as part of her dowry.
Also for sale is estate virgin olive oil from olive trees planted by Cesare and Rosa Mondavi and caviar from Italian Calvisius Caviar.
History
Charles Krug is one of the Napa Valley’s most historic wineries, founded originally in 1861 by Prussian immigrant Charles Krug, who turned 540 acres of land, his dowry for marrying Carolina Bale, into the region’s oldest winery. After building the two-story stone Carriage House and stable in 1881, he opened California’s first public tasting room in 1882.
Its modern-day history begins in 1943 when Cesare and Rosa Mondavi purchased 147 acres of the original estate and brought it back to life with their sons, Peter and Robert. They renovated the winery and replanted vineyards. The first vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon was produced by the family in 1944. Charles Krug is also one of the first wineries in California to promote vintage-dated varietal wines.
The winery was declared a California State Historic Landmark in 1956. Among the many winery innovations credited to Peter Mondavi Sr. is the use of cold fermentation techniques for making white wines; the winery also became the first in the Napa Valley in 1963 to import French oak barrels to age its red wines. During Peter Mondavi Sr’s leadership, the family also acquired and established many estate vineyards throughout the Napa Valley, becoming a leader in sustainable farming.
After Robert Mondavi left in 1966 to start Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville, Peter Mondavi Sr. carried on the Charles Krug legacy with his own sons, Peter Mondavi Jr. and Marc Mondavi. In 2000, the winery planted 200 acres of new vines to Bordeaux wine grapes and introduced sustainable and organic farming techniques in 2003.
In 2013, the Redwood Cellar dating back to 1872 was renovated into a top wine hospitality center. Today, Peter Mondavi Jr. and Marc Mondavi’s children represent the fourth generation of leadership, committed to preserving the Charles Krug vineyards and wines.
“I believe it is so much more than our family name, it is continuing to be innovative in honor of our grandfather, Peter Mondavi Sr., and the generation before him with our great grandparents, it is learning and continuing to be nimble in a time of a lot of unknowns,” added Angelina Mondavi. “It is our time to focus on educating the consumers and sommeliers. Although Charles Krug has been around since 1861, we are not a large brand, and we are still family owned, a trend that is disappearing extremely fast in the Napa Valley wine world.”
Charles Krug Winery is a beautiful place with centuries of Napa Valley wine history that makes many estate-driven wines from its sustainably farmed vineyards across the region. Known most for Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as its defining red blend, Generations, it is a must-visit for any enthusiast of fine wine and an enjoyable place to taste for novice and scholar alike.
