He put California wine on the map

To say Robert Mondavi was to American wine what Julia Child was to French food would not be an exaggeration. Over his long life, especially after opening his eponymous winery in 1966, he did as much as anyone could do to put American wine on the international stage.

"Everybody in the wine business needs to be grateful to him. He made the California wine industry," said Anthony Terlato, chairman of the Terlato Wine Group and Terlato Wines International, which are based in Lake Bluff. "He was unselfish; he never worried about making money. He was concerned about great wine. He wanted to make great wine."

Terlato met Mondavi in 1955 when he traveled to California on his honeymoon. He spent a week on the Mondavi Ranch, tasting wines with Mondavi and watching, fascinated, as he undertook wine training with the wait staff at restaurants in San Francisco. That wasn't done much then.