Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson's book The Silverado Squatters provides a snapshot of life and insight into some of the characters that lived around the valley during the later part of the 19th century. The book also brought attention to the various spas and hot springs in the county.
Samuel Brannan
Entrepreneur Samuel Brannan purchased land in the northern end of the valley at the foot of Mount Saint Helena and founded Calistoga, in the mid 1880's. He began developing it as a resort town taking advantage of or the area’s numerous mineral hot springs. He also founded the Napa Valley Railroad Company in 1864 to bring tourists to Calistoga from San Francisco ferry boats that docked in Vallejo.
Chateau Montelena / James Barrett / Mike Grgich
James Barrett purchased and replanted Chateau Montelena in 1972, and hired Mike Grgich to be his winemaker. In 1976 Chateau Montelena won the historic “Judgement of Paris” wine competition. It was from that time that Napa Valley was acknowledged as premiere wine region, ranking alongside with France, Italy, and Spain.
Robert Mondavi
Robert Mondavi’s technical improvements and marketing strategies brought worldwide recognition for the wines of the Napa Valley in California. From an early period, Mondavi aggressively promoted labeling wines varietally rather than generically. This is now the standard for New World wines.
In 1966, he founded the Robert Mondavi Winery in the Napa Valley with the goal of producing wines that would rival the finest wines of Europe. Robert Mondavi is the first major winery built in Napa Valley in the post-Prohibition era.
Mondavi successfully developed a number of premium wines that earned the respect of connoisseurs and vintners alike. In 1979, he built the Mondavi Woodbridge Winery in Lodi, California developing it into a leader of popular-premium wines. He also entered into a joint venture the Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Château Mouton Rothschild to create Opus One Winery, and since the 1990s has set up joint ventures with local partners in Europe, South America and Australia.In 1996 Robert Mondavi purchased the land for Copia: The American Institute for Food, Wine and the Arts, donating a lead gift of $20 million. Modavi’s vision for Copia was to establish a small institution to educate, promote and celebrate American excellence and achievements in the culinary, winemaking and visual arts arenas. Copia offered visitors wine and food tasting programs, exhibitions, organic edible gardens, films, concerts, fine and casual dining, and shopping. Copia closed its doors in 2008 due to financial difficulties.
edited source: wikipedia.org/Napa County/Napa Valley/Robert Mondavi