[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 106 (Thursday, September 9, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1576]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING MARGRIT BIEVER MONDAVI

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                               california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 9, 2004

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker I rise today to honor my good 
friend Margrit Biever Mondavi, a woman whose name is synonymous with 
good food, fine wine and great art the world over.
  Mr. Speaker, we in the Napa Valley know that wine and food, like 
music and art, are sensory experiences meant to be savored. When these 
elements are combined, the result can be a masterpiece. We owe much of 
our appreciation to Ms. Mondavi's pioneering efforts in uniting these 
elements and in sharing her vision with us.
  She joined the Robert Mondavi Winery in 1967 and created a showplace 
for artists, musicians, great chefs and winemakers. She also paired 
cooking classes with fine wine in the Great Chefs of France and the 
Great Chefs of American series at the winery. This internationally 
respected culinary series is now simply known as Great Chefs at Robert 
Mondavi Winery.
  In 2003 she and her daughter Annie Roberts, the Executive Chef at 
Robert Mondavi Winery, earned the ``Best in the World'' distinction at 
the Gourmand World Cookbook awards for their collection of recipes and 
stories, ``Annie & Margrit: Recipes and Stories from the Robert Mondavi 
Kitchen.''
  With her husband Robert Mondavi, whom she married in 1980, Margrit 
realized another dream with the opening in 2001 of COPIA, the American 
Center for Wine, Food and the Arts in downtown Napa. This was followed 
the same year with a gift to the University of California at Davis to 
seed the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science and the 
Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.
  Ms. Mondavi was also instrumental in rebuilding the original 18th 
Century Opera House in Napa and helped raise funds to restore this 
community treasure.
  As a working artist herself, Margrit Biever Mondavi has created a 
line of home accessories for the Mondavi Winery. She is also an 
accomplished linguist and often translates her husband's speeches when 
they travel the world together promoting wine, food and the arts.
  Mr. Speaker, Margrit Biever Mondavi is one of a kind, a pioneer and a 
visionary who has taught us all to love life a little bit more and to 
embrace the richness of our culture. Napa County is honoring our First 
Lady of wine, food and the arts for her many accomplishments and it is 
appropriate that we also recognize her here today.




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