The Culinary Institute Of America Announces Inductees Into Vintners Hall Of Fame

The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) announced six Founders and two Icons to be inducted into the Vintners Hall of Fame, alongside wine Pioneer Robert Mondavi. The honorees, determined by ballots sent to 70 top American wine journalists, will be officially inducted into the Vintners Hall of Fame during a gala fund-raising reception and dinner ceremony on March 9, 2007 at the CIA at Greystone.

Founders, vintners whose early ventures planted the roots of the present-day California wine industry, are Andre Tchelistcheff, Georges de Latour, Charles Krug, Agoston Haraszthy, Gustave Niebaum, and Brother Timothy.

Icons, individuals whose achievements have contributed to the establishment and growth of the Californian wine industry, are Maynard Amerine and Harold Olmo.

"We feel privileged to honor these inspirational men who have helped to create the California wine industry as we know it today," states Charles Henning, Managing Director of the CIA at Greystone.

The reception and dinner ceremony will gather the elite of the California and International Wine Industry to honor Mr. Mondavi and the other inductees. A sculpture in Mr. Mondavi's likeness created by artist Larry Nowlan, 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 at Greystone.

The Vintners Hall of Fame annual induction dinner will endow new scholarship programs for the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies at the CIA at Greystone.

Tickets for the gala are $500. For reservations and more information, contact events@balzac.com or call 707-255-7667.

Founded in 1946, The Culinary Institute of America is an independent, not-for-profit college offering bachelor's and associate degrees in the culinary arts and baking and pastry arts. For more information, visit the CIA's Web site at www.ciachef.edu.