Each month the CIA at Copia in Napa will host weekend-long Conversations on timing topics of that impact our lives. The next event will be on April 7-8, Sustainable Seafood and Bay Area Watersheds. We as individuals can contribute to sustaining the wondrous world of water and marine activities. For more information on this event, please see Conversations.
Fork by Gordon Huether – made of recycled forks
Gordon Huether’s Fork is a striking sculpture that sits in front of the new branch of Culinary Institute of America. It is where Copia had operated until it closed in 2008. The building has been hardly used since the closure, but in 2016 the CIA decided it would be a good venue for wine and food classes, a kitchen store and a restaurant. The CIA at Copia is open to the public with events and activities scheduled daily. Next door to the CIA is the very popular Oxbow Public Market. Gordon Huether’s Fork is made from recycled forks and is definitely a conversation piece. Huether’s stunning works of art are scattered around the Napa Valley. Huether makes his home in Napa. Gordon Huether Website
The Culinary Institute of America is branching out in the Napa Valley. For many years the historic Greystone in St. Helena has been the West Coast branch of the CIA. The long-vacant Copia building now houses many CIA events and glasses. There is also an innovative restaurant on the premises, The Restaurant at CIA. Cooking classes, wine tasting events, and other wine and food related activities are in full swing at the Napa location. This branch of the CIA is next door to the popular Oxbow Public Market at 500 First Street. Make a half day or so to visit two fabulous food and wine venues. Check these links to the CIA and to the Oxbow Public Market.
On York Lane in St. Helena, harvesting Cabernet Sauvignon
The harvest of the king of grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon, is well underway in the Napa Valley, with most of the wineries expecting a fantastic harvest. In the Napa Valley Register we find this information. Andy Beckstoffer of Beckstoffer Vineyards, who is one of the largest wine growers in the valley, said this season’s batch should have enhanced flavors and less alcohol content. “Harvest started at a normal time, but the cooler days at the beginning allowed for greater flavor development without much sugar accumulation,” he said. That is terrific news after a disappointing 2015 harvest where the yields were short of average.
The complete lineup for the Napa Film Festival, November 9th to the 13th, is set. Time to plan now for one of Napa Valley’s great events. 120 films, 300 filmmakers, 150 wineries and 50 chefs will be entertaining visitors throughout the festival. For complete information on tickets and events, please see this link. http://napavalleyfilmfest.org.
This is very good news for the city of Napa. It should bring in more tourists to the city. Copia opened in 2001 as the Napa Valley’s Center for Wine, Food and the Arts. Copia never attracted enough visitors to make a go of it, and it closed in 2008. The Culinary Institute of America announced that the downtown Napa building will become a sister campus to its CIA at Greystone in St. Helena. It will include a vegetable garden, a restaurant, kitchens, cooking classes, and much more. The CIA plans to open the new campus in October of this year. Please see: https://www.ciachef.edu/cia-at-copia-release/ for additional information.
Mumm Gallery
News from Mumm Napa: The work of Wayne Levin, known for his otherworldly black-and-white photographs captured in the depths of the ocean, will be on display this Fall at Mumm Napa winery in Rutherford. An opening reception will take place on October 15 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the winery’s Fine Art Photography Gallery.
The exhibit, titled “Through a Liquid Mirror,” features a collection of 38 underwater photographs by Levin, who has been capturing images of land and ocean since the early 1970s. “When I descend beneath the surface, I feel like I am Alice passing through the looking glass into a totally different world,” says Levin. “I am in a world with different rules, different truths.” Many of Levin’s photographs capture the waters surrounding his adopted home of Hawaii. Beneath the surface he finds a world that is both astonishingly graceful and strangely disorienting—a “liminal zone” where human and aquatic life collide.
A reception, featuring a selection of Mumm Napa’s sparkling wines, will be held Saturday, October 15 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Wayne Levin will be in attendance. The event is open to the public and there is no charge to view “Through a Liquid Mirror,” though guests are required to RSVP. In order to confirm attendance please call 1-800-686-6272 or email [email protected] Visitor center and fine art photography gallery hours are 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily. Mumm Napa is located at 8445 Silverado Trail, Rutherford, CA 94573. All photography in the exhibit is represented by Smith Andersen North.