Flanked by Robert & Margrit Mondavi, US Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman, Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef, Dean Neal Van Alfen, and Clare Hasler, Executive Director, the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science began its long road to completion with a special site dedication and ceremony on June 15th, 2004.

The ceremony was held outside the South Entry Parking structure on the UC Davis campus, near the fields where the institute will be located. Slated to be completed by late 2008/early 2009, the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science will be a global innovator in university-based wine and food programs and will house the largest and most prestigious wine and food science academic program in the world. The facility will include classroom space, laboratories, offices and meeting rooms, as well as a teaching winery. Adjacent to the institute will be vineyards, including the chardonnay vine planted during the dedication ceremony.

Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef with US Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman

US Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, Robert Mondavi, Dean Neal Van Alfen, Margrit Mondavi, Clare Hasler, Chancellor Vanderhoef

Robert and Margrit Mondavi plant symbolic chardonnay grapevine as Dean Van Alfen looks on

Robert and Margrit Mondavi

Dean Neal Van Alfen toasts the Mondavis