A winery spokeswoman says California winemaking patriarch Robert Mondavi has died. He was 94.

Robert Mondavi Winery spokeswoman Mia Malm says Mondavi died peacefully at his home in Yountville on Friday.

After being ousted from a family-run venture with his younger brother, Mondavi started his own winery in 1966 at the age of 52.

He built the winery into a thriving business using innovations such as cold fermentation and stainless steel tanks. But the winery struggled from rising competition among other things in the mid-1990s and the company was bought out for $1.3 billion in 2004.

Mondavi traveled the world into his 90s promoting the cultural, social and health benefits of wine _ of California wine in particular.