COPIA

When I was planning our trip to California I had great expectations of touring through Napa and Sonoma valleys, visiting wineries and tasting at least some of the wines.  Well, after I got sick and spent almost a week in bed our available time was severely shortened, I couldn't drive, which meant that Frank couldn't drink, the idea of drinking wine made me feel queasy and we had already bought more wine than we could consume at a winery we toured in Lodi.  So our grand tour was not to be, but on the other hand we were so close to Napa it would be a shame not to visit and I had heard very good things about COPIA, The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts, which opened almost five years ago.  This museum was conceived and funded in large part by Robert Mondavi, whose name is almost synonymous with fine wine in America.  Actually, it is called a discovery center and not a museum, which I think is appropriate.  There's nothing dusty about this place.

It took us about an hour to drive from Lodi to Napa and when we were just inside the city limits something very strange appeared on our windshield.  It was wet and falling from the sky.  It was raining!  In late June!  This is a little like snow in Frankfurt in June.  It almost never rains in California after the beginning of May, sometimes the beginning of April.  This year May was a real washout though.  Still, it was completely dry for the three weeks we were there except for this day. 

The first thing we did when we arrived was to take a half-hour tour of the place.  This was a great orientation and we learned about its history and most importantly what there was to see and do there.   

Among other things there was wine tasting, but sadly that was out for us.  There was also some food tasting though and that was fun.  It was lunch time anyway and COPIA is famous for its food so we had a look at Julia's Kitchen, named after Julia Child, and it was only about half full.  We asked to be seated and the rather snooty hostess told us it would be 15 minutes before we could have a table.  Frank was rather put off by her attitude so we went to the American Market Café next door which has a much more relaxed atmosphere and the food comes from the very same kitchen!  Frank had salmon, which he adored, and I had a chicken dish which was very good but could have used a little more seasoning.  While we were eating, it really started pouring and I despaired of taking the two o'clock tour of the gardens.

By two o'clock though it had stopped raining and for a while it looked like I would be the only person on the tour.  However, a few more people showed up even though we  were less than ten.  The guide's name was Sharon and she gave us a really interesting hour-long tour of the extensive gardens.  Part of COPIA's purpose is to incorporate traditional art wherever possible alongside the arts of food, wine and gardening.  They have changing art exhibits upstairs which have a food theme.  I only got a short look at them because time ran out, but Frank went to look at them instead of taking the garden tour.  There was one on the American Diner that I would have liked to see.

Anyway, there are a number of objects of art in the gardens, those red balls, for instance, or that white rose, which is made of glass! As are the leaves!

The gardens are really beautiful and interesting too.  The plot on the left is devoted to different kinds of basil.  And here I thought basil was basil!  Doesn't that bench on the right look inviting?  A good book, a glass of ice tea, maybe a pillow or two?  Heaven!

There were all kinds of (to me) exotic fruit and vegetables growing here.  They do a lot of experimenting with different varieties and the neat thing is they use their produce in the two restaurants.

There are also a lot of lovely flowers.  This is some special kind of lavender, but I can't remember the details.  It's beautiful anyway, isn't it?

After the garden tour I hurried back to the building to enjoy the cooking demonstration.  The topic was the use of herbs and the cook had a lot of different ones for us to hand around and smell.  She made a bean, corn and rice salad using soybeans and it was fun to watch her prepare things.  She gave us a good lesson on chopping - we could watch closely on the video display above her.  The end result, which we all got to taste, was okay, but if I ever made it I would add something to make it spicier.  It tasted a little bland to me, in spite of all the herbs.  Still, I enjoyed the demonstration very much because she was knowledgeable, friendly and witty. 

The institute closes at five so we didn't have any more time to do any other things there.  If you ever get the chance to go, plan to spend the day there, at least if you are at all interested in food and cooking.  It's a unique place.