Ascent Sotheby's International Realty • Vail, CO • 2014 Catalogue RESIDE® Magazine︱Summer 2014 | Page 12

UNTAPPED TREASURES

cont.

His is a 900-square-foot cellar
built of native redwood, the material
once used in the region for fermenting the wine. Mondavi says, “I wanted
to have that tieback to the heritage
of Napa Valley and its historic wine
making materials.” The cellar also
features a bit of whimsy, a pool table
that can be converted into a dining
table for 10. Mondavi guesses his
collection is somewhere in the 350case range, but says the real answer
is “more than I can drink in my lifetime.
But I’m working on it.”
The cellar houses selections of his
own wines, of course, including special bottlings never made available for
general distribution, well as imports
from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Tuscany,
Piedmont, Rioja, the Rhine and Mosel.
The cellar is organized mostly by varietal with separate aisles strictly for
1971 and 1976 vintages—the years of
his children’s births.
“The pleasure is in sharing wine
with friends, family and associates
and not just drinking it yourself,” says
Mondavi. “Wine is meant to complement the flavor of the food—and comto store your favorite varietals is priceless. A wine cellar is just an absolute

plement the enjoyment of friendship

must,” Martin says.

and conversation.”

No matter how elaborate the cellar, the philosophy for stocking it is simple:
Buy wines you like. Don’t go strictly by reviews. From there, Sotheby’s Ritchie
says, it’s all about variety and balance: reds, whites and champagnes. Everyday
wines, special occasion wines and wines that benefit from aging. And within
each category, consider a variety of regions, styles, price points and maturity dates. “You don’t want all young wines. You don’t want all mature wines.
You want a balance so that over a 10, 15, 20-year period the young wines will
mature, but they won’t mature at the same time,” he says.
You would expect someone whose family is synonymous with legendary
winemaking to have a statement-making wine cellar and Michael Mondavi’s
is just that. Mondavi co-founded the Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa Valley
with his father and now heads up Michael Mondavi Family Estate, a boutique
winery in Napa’s Carneros winemaking region, with his son, Rob.
Top: Justin Winter | Sotheby’s International Realty
$6,495,000 USD • Justin Winter [phone]

Lake Keowee, South Carolina

Bottom: Crawford Group | Sotheby’s International Realty Naperville, Illinois
$1,899,000 USD • Property ID: P7BS6P • Marilyn Mead and Chris Pequet [phone]

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