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Overview

This museum and educational center operated for a little over seven years in Napa, CA's Oxbow neighborhood on the shores of the Napa River. It later became a branch of the Culinary Institute of America in 2015.

Building History

Vintner, Robert Mondavi (1913-2008) and his wife, Magrit Biever Mondavi (1925-2016), led a group of Napa Valley wine makers, as well as the University of California, Davis, the Cornell University School of Restaurant and Hotel Administration, and the American Institute of Food and Wine to create Copia, a center created to serve as a forum for food and wine exhibitions and discussions and a museum. It opened on 11/18/2001, an inopportune time two months after the World Trade Center attack of 09/11/2001. James Stuart Polshek (1930-2022) and Richard M. Olcott led the design team, serving as design partners. Peter Walker and Partners designed 3.5 acres of edible organic gardens to provide fresh ingredients for demonstrations.

After seven years of operation, COPIA closed on 11/21/2008, about six months after the death of its benefactor, Robert Mondavi, on 05/16/2008.

By 2015, the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) purchased a portion of the 12-acre property for use as its Food Business Center.

Building Notes

Copia contained 13,000 square feet of gallery space, a 280-seat theatre, and library, classrooms, demonstration kitchen, dining room, wine tasting room, cafe, gift shop and outdoor ampitheatre.

PCAD id: 10620