TOKALON WINERY PAVES THE WAY FOR ROBERT MONDAVI SUCCESS!
ToKalon Vineyard Embossed Sign, Oakville, CA 1884
This 1884 ToKalon Winery embossed sign is a great example of history unfolding before your eyes. After acquiring this embossed 24 inch sign, I noticed it was made by the Tuscarora Advertising Company in Coshocton, OH, the largest advertising specialty house in the world. I also discovered the ToKalon Winery in Oakville, CA is now known as The Robert Mondavi Winery. The name simply changed over the years after Mr. Mondavi purchased the property. I have walked the Mondavi Winery before without ever realizing it was actually the historic To-Kalon Winery grounds!
The name ToKalon in Greek means “the place of highest beauty”. This stunning sign is embossed on the bottles, the winery name, and the grapes which surround the outside borders of the sign. The colors are still spectacular 130 years later. The bottle brands are Sauterne, ToKalon Port, and Pure Grape Brand. The Pure Grape brand label indicates this wine won awards in 1884. The wine bottles also indicate the winery was established in 1869. On the corners of the sign at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock are various scenes of the winery in the mid 1880’s. One of the scenes shows a railroad car which would have been used to ship the product outside of the Napa Valley area. The railroad lines came to California shortly before this time period in history.
THE ROBERT MONDAVI WINERY HISTORY:
ToKalon Vineyard Bottles Close Up Danville, CA 1884
The Tokalon was originally planted in 1868. Today, ToKalon provides the Mondavi Winery with the grapes which are used in the production of Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve and is the exclusive source of our Fumé Blanc Reserve.
Hamilton Walker Crabb initially started the ToKalon Winery and shortly thereafter his wines were winning awards across the U.S and throughout the world. He displayed in expositions in Paris, San Francisco, including Worlds Fair events. He was making wines at the time including Zinfindel, Cabernet, Sauterne, Burgundy, Claret, Riesling, Port, and other styles. H.W. Crab was also selling his product heavily along the eastern seaboard competing against Cooks Imperial Champagne from St. Louis and other well known brands of the time.
Robert Mondavi bought the winery in 1966 and renamed it after himself at that time. Today, it is one of the worlds most recognizable names in the wine industry. Mr. Mondavi picked a beautiful area for his winery as Oakville covers a flat expanse of well drained soil between the Mayacamas Mountains and the Vaca in the Napa Region.