Julia Child and Robert Mondavi's dream up for sale

October 5, 11:00 AMInternational Wine ExaminerKevin Lynch

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Napa, CA -- The joint effort of late Robert Mondavi and the late Julia Child has met its finally ignominy. The under-visited center for food, art and wine culture is on the block. The New York based firm of Alvarez & Marshall has been retained to oversee the sale.
 

From the Alvarez & Marshall press release:

"Located on the Napa River in the heart of Napa Valley, the property spans more than 17 acres with three contiguous parcels and will be sold or leased as a whole or as individual pieces. The centerpiece of the site is a two-story, 78,632 square foot building that previously housed the food and wine center, which opened in 2001 as a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and sharing the benefits of wine, its relationship to food and its importance to the American culture."

For those unfamiliar with the property another highlight were the acres of raised planting beds across the street where local horticulturists tended a fully organic, predominately heirloom varietal vegetable and fruit garden. The produce was used in Julia's Kitchen, the restaurant in the Copia building, and sold locally.

The center for wine, food and the arts opened in November of 2001 and abruptly closed for good in late November of 2008. The late vintner Robert Mondavi spent millions out of pocket to get the center launched. In its seven year life span Copia lured few visitors and lost millions of dollars a year. At the time of closing Copia's board of directors acknowledged that the center was over $78 million in debt.

Native Food & Wine -- On the date palm

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