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w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m N o v - D e c 2 016 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 8 7 PASSAGES Margrit Mondavi Passes at Age 91 Margrit Biever Mondavi of Napa Valley, widow to Robert G. Mondavi and pioneer of bringing art and culture to the modern-day California wine industry, passed in September at age 91. Mondavi was vice president of cultural affairs at Robert Mondavi Winery. She joined the winery in 1967, pursuing a life-long interest in uniting wine with fine arts, music and culinary artistry. Under her direction, the winery developed original cultural and culinary arts programs that are now benchmarks for the wine world. She founded the winery's popular Summer Music Festival in 1969 as a benefit for the Napa Valley Symphony. In 1984, the Festival of Winter Classical Concert Series was created, with the proceeds benefiting local musical organizations like the Napa Valley Opera. Together with Veronica di Rosa, Mondavi and a small group of other dedicated Napa Valley art lovers formed a board of directors to rebuild the original 19th-century opera house in the city of Napa; the renovated opera house opened in October 2002. In 2001, she and Robert made a substantial personal gift to UC Davis to establish the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, and to launch the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, which opened in October 2002. Well known for her positive demeanor and gracious hospitality, Margrit remained an active ambassador for the winery and Napa Valley culture until her death. She is survived by three children, six grand- children and three great grandchildren. Mary Weber Novak Passes at Age 84 Mary Weber Novak, the founder of Napa Valley's renowned Spottswoode Estate Vineyard & Winery, passed away in September. To many, Mary was the kind, energetic woman who zipped around St. Helena in her little electric red car, smiling at passersby. For those more familiar with the modern history of the valley and its wine industry, Mary also represented the spirit, graciousness and vision that helped build Napa Valley. As the founder of Spottswoode Estate Vineyard & Winery and one of the first women to run a major Napa Valley winegrowing estate, Mary was a vital part of the fabric of the valley and its wine community since 1972. She also helped to pioneer organic viticulture when she began farming the vineyard organically in 1985. Mary was joined at Spottswoode by her daughters, Beth, in 1987, and Lindy, in 1992. Mary and her daughters made a commitment to stewardship at Spottswoode, adopting solar energy, spearheading the restoration of Spring Creek and contributing 1% of the winery's gross profits annually to environmental causes, with notable contributions to the Land Trust of Napa County, Garden Conservancy, Yosemite Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land. She's survived by five children, nine grandchildren and two siblings. Her intelligence, sense of humor, humility and vivacious personality will be missed. Kenneth C. Schuchter of Ohio's Valley Vineyards Passes Kenneth C. Schuchter's work at Valley Vineyards truly foreshadowed what was to become the modern Ohio grape and wine community. His positive view of the world, endless energy, bounding enthusiasm, kind heart and gener- ous spirit inspired many to take a leap of faith and launch their own wine careers. As the first commercial grower to commit to a new generation of hybrids and vinifera in the Ohio River Valley, he was largely responsible for the resur- gence of winegrowing in southwest Ohio. His contributions as a founding visionary of the Ohio Wine Producers and as a member of the first Ohio Grape Industries Committee helped guide the expansion of the industry from a mere 13 wineries in 1975 to more than 250 today. He is survived by his wife, Beth, children and grandchildren. Wine Journalist Greg Walter Passes at Age 58 Greg Walter, former president of Wine Spectator and publisher of PinotReport, passed in September after a bat- tle with cancer. Walter was one of the first employees at Wine Spectator, and watched it grow from a small news- paper in San Diego to the consumer magazine it is today. He worked there from 1980 to 1994. He then worked as a freelance wine and food writer and as a publishing and content consultant through his firm, the Carneros Group. He co-authored, edited and published Chalone: A Journey on the Wine Frontier, as well as several other books under his own imprint, Carneros Press, and was also involved in publishing several books by Wine Spectator Press. For the past 15 years, he published the newsletter PinotReport, which won the James Beard Award for Newsletter Writing on Food, Beverage, Restaurants and Nutrition in 2005. He's survived by his mother, Arloa Walter, two broth- ers, former wife, Lisa Adams Walter, and daughter, Grace Walter.