All the new equipment in Robert Mondavi Winery would be just bells and whistles without the key element: the talent. Arriving with stellar educational backgrounds and years of perfecting their skills at other Napa standouts, each member of the winemaking team was carefully chosen for their experience, excellence, and commitment to the innovation that is Robert Mondavi’s legacy. With the support of a new cutting-edge cellar, wine director Kurtis Ogasawara and his team are stewarding production to next-level excellence.

It starts with a consistent question: What can we do better? “It’s so important for our team to do research and development, because if you think you know everything, you definitely don’t,” says Ogasawara. “That’s in the DNA of this winery.

Winemaker Lauren Oliver, for example, has been executing advanced wine quality analysis, studying color and tannin composition of our grapes and wines alongside sensory assessments. “We use the data as a complementary tool,” says Oliver. “But our decisions are ultimately made based on what the vintage gives us and our perceptions of how a wine is developing in tank and in barrel.

So, while R&D can be technology-intensive, once the winemakers learn what they need to know, they build the best lots and get out of the wines’ way. “Our winemaking is minimalist,” she says. “We craft the wines to showcase the terroir. Our emphasis is on restraint and authenticity in the cellar.

That philosophy has led to a subtler, more sensitive touch on the Cabernets. “We’ve adjusted our cap management, the frequency of our pump-overs, and the time the grapes stay on their skins. We’re thoughtful, and tasting every day to see if the grapes are benefiting.” The result? Striking color and texture, but with silkier, more supple tannins.

It’s an evolution, not a departure, from the style that made Robert Mondavi wines iconic. “That historic style is fresh, but also with very rich tannic structure. We are maintaining that profile, but elevating it right away,” explains winemaker Laura Diaz Muñoz, “because those library wines are amazing for cellaring. But they normally need time, and we want to make wines that are more approachable at an earlier age. Now that we have these new tools in the cellar, we can work with our vineyard blocks to get better tannins, color, and structure.

That’s just how the innovative Robert Mondavi would have encouraged his team to do things. “He would want us to always be learning,” Ogasawara says, “to grow, push our winemaking, and evolve.