Most of us know wine offers much depth in the way of discovery and results in curiosity, not only independently, but also within its relation to food and the significance it has on cultures around the world. To satiate this curiosity, COPIA, The American Center for Food, Wine, & the Arts, residing in the heart of California's wine country, Napa Valley, was initiated as a means to provide visitors with an exceptional wine and food experience. Since its inception in 2001, COPIA has offered wine and food pairing workshops, art exhibits, organic gardens, films, concerts, dining and more, but has continually struggled to create the optimal experience, . Regardless of the venue's efforts, it has fought a constant battle to stay afloat in order to win over its target audience. Recently, it seems as though someone has had an epiphany, in that it has been realized COPIA should focus more on offering an abundance of wine programs, while lessening, but still carrying on, the supplemental programs related to food and art.
In this effort to stay in touch with and meet the needs of the wine community, an announcement was made last October, marking the beginning of a major restructuring of COPIA by enhancing its wine programs. With that, today there is an abundance of wine seminars offered, aimed at appealing to differing palates, from novice to advanced in knowledge. These events are meant to be fun, as well as to provide guidance in furthering one's professional wine education.
The latest "icing on the cake" is the arrival of wine stations, which allow visitors to experience wine tasting in a self-serve way. These stations operate with the use of something that looks and acts just like a credit card. Visitors pre-pay, with various amounts to choose from, and they go from station to station trying one-ounce servings of wine on display. Peter Marks, Master of Wine and senior director of wine and food at COPIA, has put together numerous educational themes with each of these stations. To read about the specifics of these concepts and learn more about COPIA's ever-increasing wine focus, please check out this article, written by Jack Heeger, in the Napa Valley Register.
For those of you who are familiar with COPIA, do you feel this is an endless effort with no beneficial gain ever to be had, or do you feel this latest feat will be a resounding success?
Comments