Tough economic times have forced Robert Mondavi to put its wine and food conference, Taste3, on hold.
The Napa winery said it is postponing its Taste3 events until summer 2010 ‘due to the unfortunate nexus of the unprecedented economic downturn and the closing of our venue, Copia’.
‘These are challenging times both for event sponsorship and for ticket sales and Taste3 depends on strength in those key elements,’ it explained on its website.
‘The quality of the event is our number one priority and given these unforeseen circumstances, we believe that postponing the next Taste3 to early summer 2010 will allow us the best opportunity not only to secure the right venue but also to build the critical level of sponsor and sales,’ it added.
The Copia centre went into liquidation on 9 January with liabilities of more than US$78m. The US$55m centre opened in 2001, with extensive funding from the Robert Mondavi family. It did not succeed as anticipated.
Written by Rebecca Gibb
