Helena, Calif.- Robert Mondavi will be honored as the first Pioneer to be inducted into the new Vintners Hall of Fame at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone on Friday, March 9 at the first annual induction dinner at the St. Helena campus.

The reception and dinner ceremony will gather the elite of the California and International Wine Industry to honor Mr. Mondavi's pioneering contributions to wine in America. A sculpture in his likeness created by artist Larry Nolan, of LJN Sculpture in Windsor, Vermont, will be unveiled as the first of many to be on display to the public in the Vintners Hall of Fame room at Greystone.

Robert Mondavi is being recognized as a Pioneer who led the way to be the first in California to produce premium wines which were intended to compete with the premium European brands through innovation and quality.

The award cites the fundamental changes in the industry that are a result of the risks Mr. Mondavi took throughout his life's mission. From the introduction of cold fermentation in stainless steel tanks, the use of French oak barrels, to the collaboration with NASA using aerial imaging to understand the health and vigor of the vines, Mr. Mondavi has been at the forefront of wine education and innovation. He saw winegrowing and wine making as collaboration with nature and the wine as a natural expression of the soil, climate and vine.

Mr. Mondavi has expressed his vision of the pioneer spirit in his own words: "To do whatever it took to make great wines and to put Napa Valley on the map, right alongside the great winemaking centers of Europe."

The celebration at The Culinary Institute of America, Greystone, will include the collaboration of Annie Roberts, Margrit Mondavi's daughter and former Robert Mondavi Winery chef, with the chefs of the Culinary Institute of America as they create some of Robert Mondavi's favorite dishes for the guests.

As a part of the ceremonies, eight additional members of the Vintners Hall of Fame will be announced as a result of the votes by seventy American wine journalists. Six wine industry Founders will be recognized: vintners whose early ventures planted the roots of the present-day California wine industry, and two Icons: whose achievements have contributed to the establishment, nourishment and future of the Californian wine industry.

The Vintners Hall of Fame was created to honor and recognize California's wine industry Pioneers, Founders and Icons. The annual induction dinner will endow new scholarship programs for the campus's Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies.

Tickets are $500 per person and all proceeds will endow a new scholarship program for the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies at the CIA's Greystone Campus. To reserve tickets and for more information, contact: events@Balzac.com or
call 707-255-7667.