2011 Honored Guests
The Peter Mondavi Family is forging ahead with another great renaissance of Napa Valley's first winery by guiding qualitative improvements that will serve future generations of the Family and its supporters.
They are accomplishing this by ushering in a new era at Charles Krug Winery without losing sight of the winery's history.
Founded in 1861 by Charles Krug, the 27-year old Prussian immigrant came to America with little besides willpower and a willingness to work hard to build the cornerstone of the first winery in the Napa Valley. He became the major local winery figure of his era, greatly influencing Napa Valley's development as a world-renown wine producing region.
His leadership was said to be inspirational, and his ideas innovative. Charles Krug introduced the cider press for winemaking, the first of which is still on display at the winery. He carefully selected rootstocks, varietals and vineyard sites - a novel concept in late 19th Century America. The knowledge he gained and shared benefited the young California wine industry.
In 2009, we celebrated Frederick Wildman’s 75th birthday. Now we embark on a new decade and we look forward to our next 75 years! Although 2009 was a challenging year, the strength of our portfolio, the efforts of our associates and the support of our supplier and distributor partners not only allowed us to grow our company but, perhaps more important to the future, to renew our company. In 2009, within one company we created two divisions: a “national brands” division hosting the larger brands in our portfolio and a new “fine wine division” welcoming the estates and domaines from each of our suppliers. We felt this division was necessary to bring more focus to each of our brands and work more closely with each of our suppliers and distributors. And to our delight, with this change, it felt as if we had started a new company: new faces in our office and in the field, new generations among some of our suppliers, new appointments in our management team, new relationships with our distributors, new products, new vintages and many new customers. It was a wonderful feeling and made 2009 a special and very successful year.
Now we look forward to even greater success. We plan to strengthen the relationships we created last year within our company and with our distributors and customers. We will introduce new projects from splendid wine producers around the world. And, most important, we will introduce many new wines and from our partner suppliers and grow their exceptional brands. We are excited to start this new decade with you, associates, partners, suppliers, distributors and customers and, most important, friends all.
May the way forward be marked by good fortune and good health and bring us together often.
Pernod Ricard’s history began in France in 1975 when the independent Pernod and Ricard companies decided to join forces in order to expand internationally. To bolster its development outside of France, Pernod Ricard first set about creating a dense European distribution network. The company was able to further expand this network into Eastern Europe. During the years 1985-1990, Pernod Ricard entered the Asian market.
After pursuing a strategy of product diversification, in 2001 Pernod Ricard undertook a strategic refocusing of its core business: wine and spirits. The decade that followed was marked by the purchase of a part of Seagram’s assets, the acquisitions of Allied Domecq and Vin & Spirit, and the expansion of its portfolio of international and local brands. With a presence in more than 70 countries, Pernod Ricard thus became the world co-leader of the wine and spirits industry.
Pernod Ricard has based its development on both organic growth and acquisitions. For several decades, the company has been committed to a policy of social responsibility, which today includes: responsible drinking, environmental ethics and the development of cultural initiatives or social entrepreneurial projects.