I know we’re still in the grieving stage of COPIA’s recent demise, when you’re supposed to remember all the good things about the late, great dearly departed. But really, can we talk? The truth is, COPIA was a drag from day one.

As a tourist attraction it just didn’t cut it. Think of some of the cultural institutions that have opened around here over the years that have truly been successes: The new DeYoung Museum. The new Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. The new Asian Art Museum and Main Library, in Civic Center. The Contemporary Jewish Museum. San Francisco MOMA. All of these opened to great fanfare, and have done stellar business ever since, because they delivered — no, over-delivered on their promises.

COPIA didn’t deliver.

Granted, COPIA wasn’t in San Francisco, but even if it had been, I don’t think it would have thrived. The problem was that it just wasn’t interesting or exciting. As an art museum, it basically sucked. There’s nothing worse than an art museum that displays bad art. Every time I went to COPIA — maybe 15 times in all — I was amazed at the feeble quality of the exhibits that passed as “art.” Other places in Napa Valley, such as Clos Pegase and the Hess Collection, had great works. COPIA didn’t. I always had the feeling they tried so hard to be avant garde, they forgot that contemporary art actually has to be good.

Then there was the wine education stuff. I never could figure out why tourists would go to COPIA for a wine experience rather than to the actual wineries in Napa Valley. I guess the tourists couldn’t figure it out either, which is why not enough of them went to COPIA to keep it alive.

Julia’s Kitchen was okay, although it never achieved the critical renown of restaurants in Yountville and further upvalley. Nor was COPIA attractively or conveniently sited. It was built on the “wrong” side of the Napa River, in a humdrum area that’s only now beginning to come alive. Moreover, COPIA was notoriously difficult to get to for years, while the roads and bridges were being worked on and that whole part of town was detours and closures. I bet a whole lot of tourists got fed up with that.

In the end, a cultural destination needs to generate word of mouth, and no one I ever knew who went to COPIA was excited enough by the experience to either go back, or to tell their friends to go. COPIA wasn’t a bad place; it was just kind of boring. When you think about it, the only reason it did as well as it did was because we loved and respected Robert Mondavi and Julia Child, and wanted their vision for an American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts to thrive. It didn’t, and I’m glad that neither of them was around to see their baby fold.

COPIA R.I.P.

P.S. Tom Wark, at Fermentation, this morning included this blog among his 5 Most Intriguing New Wine Blogs of 2008. I am humbled and grateful.

This isn’t about wine. It’s an hommage to Tim Russert. He was a reporter’s reporter, a journalist’s journalist, one of the greatest interviewers ever. Interviewing is at the heart of a wine journalist’s job. Yes, tasting and reviewing and all that are important. But to really learn and grow, and to help your readers learn and grow, you have to master the art of interviewing. Tim Russert was a master. He was tough, but fair and friendly and happy and informed. He relaxed his guests. He was an inspiration. Many times, when I interview, I think of Tim Russert consciously. How would he react right now? What would he say, what would his body language convey? Tim Russert was a mentor to many people, not just Washington political journalists. Here’s wishing his family peace and love.

One of the true gentlemen of wine writing has died. David Jones was my friend and colleague for many years. A stalwart of the Bay Area’s wine writing community, David could always be counted on. He seemed to be everywhere, all the time, at every tasting, every opening, every seminar, and always he was filled with cheer and wit. Even in these last few months, when his illness consumed his body, his mind was on fire. David Jones will be missed.