"this project is a culmination of my lifelong dream to create a center that will celebrate and study america's unique contribution to food, wine, their history," says mondavi, the nonprofit center's visionary founder and chairman. "while there is great wine and food throughout the world, i believe that america has experienced a revolution in both these areas in the past decades - and in the arts as well - that has reverberated throughout the world."

copia is surrounded on three sides by the napa river. organic gardens and vineyards, as well as a 500-seat outdoor amphitheater, stretch to the southern edge of the 12-acre property, which mondavi donated to the center. he and his wife, margrit, also donated the first $20 million toward construction of the $55 million, 80,000-square-foot complex.

the center's more than 40 wine classes include "the abcs of starting a wine cellar" and "the
carpenters of wine: all about wine barrels and cooperage." other programs explore the history, cultivation, and uses of specific foods. cultural education is woven into many of the courses, such as "immigrant culture and cuisine," which studies the history, arts, and cuisine of different ethnicities.

the visual and performing arts programs are drawn from a range of disciplines, including music, film, dance, art, literature, archaeology, and fashion. the center will also offer an artist-in-residence program for prominent winemakers, chefs, artists, poets, authors, filmmakers, dancers, nutritionists, and scientists.

"i've learned a great deal about wine from working in the business for 60-plus years," says mondavi. "i was exposed to great food since my childhood because my mother was an excellent cook. but it was not until i met my wife that i began to learn about art. it is so natural to combine these three cultural expressions in one place, and yet nobody had done so, until now."