Sad news out of Napa Valley today:

BERKELEY, Calif. — Robert Mondavi, the pioneering vintner who helped put California wine country on the map, died at his Napa Valley home Friday. He was 94. Mondavi died peacefully at his home in Yountville, Robert Mondavi Winery spokeswoman Mia Malm said.

He was 52 and a winemaking veteran in 1966, when he opened the winery that would help turn the Napa Valley into a world center of the industry. Clashes with a brother that included a fistfight led him to break from the family business to carry out his ambitious plans with borrowed money.

At the time, California was still primarily known for cheap jug wines. But he set out to change that, championing use of cold fermentation, stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels, all commonplace in the industry today. He introduced blind tastings in Napa Valley, putting his wines up against French vintages, a bold move.

Always convinced that California wines could compete with the European greats, Mondavi engaged in the first French-American wine venture when he formed a limited partnership with the legendary French vintner Baron Philippe de Rothschild to grow and make the ultra-premium Opus One at Oakville. The venture’s first vintage was in 1979.

The success of the Mondavi winery allowed him to donate tens of millions of dollars to charity, but a wine glut and intense competition gradually cost his family control of the business. In 2004, the company accepted a buyout worth $1.3 billion from Fairport, N.Y.-based Constellation Brands.

Mondavi was an enthusiastic ambassador for wine — especially California wine — and traveled the world into his 90s promoting the health, cultural and social benefits of its moderate consumption.

A hush came over the crowd this afternoon after his death was announced at the Tampa Bay Wine & Food Festival. That’s how great the respect for his legacy is.

Tampa Tribune wine writer Kurt Loft did a great profile in 2006 that included an interview with Mondavi’s wife, Margrit:

Few challenge Mondavi’s status as the elder statesman or ignore what he did for a once-humble California grape, says his wife, Margrit. Mondavi is too frail to offer interviews.

“My husband is a very focused person that had a dream,” she says by telephone from their home in Oakville, in Napa Valley. “His dream was to make wines from his soil. And with his knowledge and his travels, he wanted to make wines that equal the best wines in the world. His dream came true.”

What isn’t always appreciated about his success is what got him there: a grass-roots effort to demystify wine and bring quality to the common table. Mondavi combined shrewd marketing with technical achievements and was among the first to insist that good California wines abandon generic labeling for specific grape varieties.

“He worked 18 hours a day, and his success had a lot to do with being generous and to have no secrets,” his wife says. “He believed in wine, and he exuded it with his enormous enthusiasm.”

When Mondavi founded his winery in 1966, he chose a 12-acre site in a vineyard known as To Kalon, Greek for “the beautiful.” His aim was to create wines particularly cabernet sauvignon with pedigrees on par with the revered vintages of France. Margit believes he succeeded.

“But I’m his wife,” she says, “and I’m prejudiced.”

It’s incredible to think how far American wines have come in less than 50 years. Here’s a history of Mondavi winery, which was established in 1966.