The film explores the impact of globalization on the various wine-producing regions, and the influence of critics like Robert Parker and consultants like Michel Rolland in defining an international style.

Mondovino was originally intended to be a two-month affair as a break between feature projects upon the completion of Nossiter's film Signs and Wonders (2000).

The film gave Nossiter a chance to utilize his knowledge as a trained sommelier from his time working at Balthazar in New York as well as an opportunity to visit some of the great wine regions of the world.

Mondovino was filmed with a hand held Sony PD-150 digital camcorder over the course of 4 years by Jonathan Nossiter with the assistance of Uruguayan filmmaker Juan Pittaluga and documentary photographer Stephanie Pommez for a budget around $400,000.

Over 500 hours of original film was shot at locations in seven countries on three continents in five languages (French, Italian, Spanish, English and Portuguese).