"If wine were just a beverage, we wouldn't be spending three days talking about it. Would you spend that much time on Coca-Cola?"

The remarks of vintner Agustin Huneeus fell on agreeable ears last week as principals from Constellation Brands brought together speakers from all walks of life to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Robert Mondavi Winery. (Constellation Brands purchased the Mondavi wine empire in 2004.)

For his part at the seminar, called Taste 3, Huneeus engaged in a dialogue with Constellation's co-founder, Richard Sands.

Huneeus was one of many speakers paying tribute to industry visionary Robert Mondavi, addressing the future of the industry from diverse perspectives -- from the consumer's point of view to that of a grapegrower, from wine retailer and restaurateur to the legacy of the man credited with making California a player in the world of wine.

"Bob was the leader we needed at a time when the wine world didn't pass through California," Huneeus said of Mondavi and his ongoing quest to bring recognition to New World wines. "He saw the need and changed the course of wine history. ... Nobody's going to succeed Bob Mondavi. No one succeeds people like Bob.

"Our leaders will come in areas of marketing and distribution of wine. Our distribution system is about to change dramatically ... and leaders will emerge as the needs become more evident."

Huneeus also predicted the numerical rating system for wine, as used by several consumer publications, will disappear before too long.

"Numerical rating is an aberration whose time has come and gone," Huneeus declared. "It misrepresents what the creators intended."

He pointed out that Wine Spectator senior editor James Laube may evaluate a wine and award it a rating of 92. "The consumer has been led to believe that if Laube thinks the wine is worth a 92 then the consumer should think so, too. Laube didn't intend that ... that's his opinion, not so of the consumer. Because of this (confusion), I feel the numerical rating will go away."

Leo McCloskey, president and co-founder of Enologix, a system of metrics for measuring the qualities of wine, agreed in part by suggesting the industry itself establish ratings for wine. One way, he indicated, would be setting up a system like France's Appellation d'Origine Contrle, which ranks all wines in three categories.

"Today, you have (Robert) Parker and Wine Spectator trying to be our peers and rate our products." He wondered if that's how industry executives see the future of wine ratings.

"The consumer wants to have a unique experience (when opening a bottle of wine)," Sands said. "He's beginning to understand how to have that. Not everyone needs to be an expert to enjoy wine. It's what you like."

Mondavi, Julia Child and Chuck Williams -- all born nearly a century ago -- "started a revolution quite by accident that changed our industry and changed American culture," noted Thomas Keller, chef and owner of the acclaimed French Laundry and Per Se restaurants.

"Not all that long ago, we were offered only iceberg lettuce and rock hard tomatoes (at the markets)," he declared.

"Then Julia Child came along. She demystified the kitchen for us ... she gave us the courage to go into the kitchen and work without intimidation."

Florida native Chuck Williams fell in love with California and settled in Sonoma, opening a hardware store. "He converted that to a kitchen store and founded Williams-Sonoma -- giving us everything we needed to work in the kitchen," Keller added.

The award-winning chef said he decided to open a restaurant in the Napa Valley because "it was the only place where people came to experience food and wine. And it was Mondavi, a natural leader for the wine industry, who brought international recognition to the Napa Valley.

"Bob gave us the wine, Julia taught us how to cook and Chuck gave us the instruments to do it.

"Today, their vision continues. On our farms, we have great protocols for raising livestock and other crops. In our restaurants, our chefs are much different than the last generation. We have 1,200 culinary programs in the United States today. When I began a little more than 30 years ago, there were two.

"There are 600 cookbooks published every year. For me, it's the journey writing the book, not how many I sell. Our industry impacts not only dining habits but our lifestyle.

"This is all because of three people had a simple vision. I'm blessed to be a product of these three.

"From their hearts began a cultural revolution that spawned awareness to one of the greatest pleasures of life -- enjoying one another's company in our kitchens and dining rooms."

Vintner Mondavi's wife, Margrit -- in a tribute to renowned chefs from all over the world who've taken part in the Mondavi winery's Great Chefs program -- had her own recollections of Julia Child.

"We all remember her as the never-to-be-missed hour on early television bringing us French cuisine, teaching us how to make succulent cassoulet instead of a boring stew with a canned mushroom soup sauce.

"In our winery kitchen she would greet the students, stemming her chef's arms onto the demonstration table, and in her high-pitched voice say: 'I hear some of you don't like butter' ... and then came the all-too-familiar laugh.

"On occasion, some of us older ones would complain about arthritis, a pain here, a pain there, and all kinds of remedies were discussed -- including wormwood tea, glucosamine and acupuncture. Suddenly Julia would say: 'Why don't you just take two aspirin. They work!'"

Mrs. Mondavi said one student asked Child what she would have done if cooking had not become her passion. "Julia replied: 'I would have married a Republican banker and become an alcoholic.'"