Copia

The most ambitious attempt in Wine Country to capture the spirit of California’s wine industry is at The American Center for Wine, Food, and the Arts, also known as Copia, the first museum in the country devoted entirely to the culture of food and wine (500 1st St., Napa, 707/259-1600 or 888/512-6742, www.copia.org, open 10 a.m.–5 p.m. daily except Tues., adults $12.50, kids $10, half price on Wed.).

The impressive contemporary building on the bank of the Napa River was the brainchild of Robert Mondavi, who bought the land and donated it to the nonprofit organization that today runs the museum. The museum was slow to generate respectable visitor numbers when it first opened but finally seems to have found a winning combination of exhibits and events.

Some of the exhibits upstairs try their hardest to teach visitors about the science, history, and art behind food and wine, but the scope of some is so broad they tend to fall a little flat. The main reasons to come here (other than the free copy of Wine Spectator magazine) are for the regular special exhibits and films, the formal fruit and herb gardens around the building, and the hundreds of events, from themed wine tastings to a mouthwatering array of hundreds of food and wine courses and demonstrations, some free with the entrance price, others costing extra. A couple of Napa’s best eateries, Julia’s Kitchen and the American Market Café, are located here.