Charles Krug
Charles Krug was born in Prussia in 1825. He was a political radical in his youth and eventually moved to Alto California where he was a neighbor of Agoston Haraszthy.
Agoston Haraszthy taught Krug much about grape growing and winemaking. Krug soon began making wine for other people, including George Yount.
In 1861, Krug established the first commercial winery in the Napa Valley at the age of 27. He was noted for using a cider press to extract juice from his red grapes. He also made important innovations in white winemaking. This included new fermentation and aging techniques. He also selected rootstocks and varietals very carefully for his time.
Charles Krug continued developing his vineyards and winery for 31 years, passing away in 1892. Unfortunately, he was forced to declare bankruptcy late in life due the ravages of phylloxera. James Moffitt bought the winery the next year. He sold the winery to Cesare Mondavi in 1943.
The Mondavi Family immediately began to renovate the production facilities and vineyards. Peter and Robert Mondavi helped their father to run the winery. Marc and Peter Jr. now run the winery’s day-to-day operations. Peter has operated the winery since 1966. His role is now relatively limited. Peter oversees marketing and sales and Mark is the winemaker/vineyard manager.
