When the Robert Mondavi Winery decides to do something, they do it big. Taste3, described as a "groundbreaking, interdisciplinary conference," is really big.

Set to take place at Copia tonight through Sunday, July 16, it'll feature innovative groupings of speakers from all over the world - thinkers, really - invited to wax philosophically about wine, food and the arts - the troika of interests that have always been near and dear to Robert and Margrit Mondavi, as well as the three-pronged mission of Copia, which of course, the Mondavis' largely funded and conceived.

Taste3 looks to be the World Cup of all they've cared about, with the schedule of events for Friday and Saturday full of pretty heady stuff - Session 1 begins Friday at 8:30 a.m., for example, with master sommelier and TV star Andrea Robinson hosting a panel vaguely called "Point of View."

That panel includes Dan Barber, the chef/owner of Blue Hill Farm in the Berkshires, one of America's Best Restaurants according to "Gourmet" magazine. Barber is into sustainably grown, local ingredients, so much so that he sits on the board of Harvard Medical School's Center for Health and the Global Environment. He also works with groups as diverse as the Kellogg Foundation and Slow Food USA, to, as his bio states, "minimize the political and intellectual rhetoric around agricultural policies and instead maximize the appreciation of eating good food."

Each panelist will have 20 minutes to speak and then a networking break of 45 minutes will follow that, giving speakers the chance to mingle informally with the audience.

Barber's group also includes Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio, the Napa-based co-authors of "Hungry Planet: What the World Eats," which through revealing photos and inventory-like lists showed what an average family of four eats the globe over and how ugly excess - and its opposite - can be.

Their group rounds out with Ari Weinzweig, founder of Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Leo McCloskey, founder of Sonoma-based Enologix, a consultant to wineries looking to change the chemical make-up of their wines - very controversial. It's hard to imagine how that panel will play out.

Session Five on Saturday morning begs equally intriguing questions. Entitled "Method," and hosted by food science writer Harold McGee, it includes a Chicago chef who has developed edible paper (!) and a Japanese technologist who says he can speed up the way wine ages through the use of electrolysis.

The list goes on. The avant-garde dance group Pilobus will make an appearance during a session called "Time." So will Margrit Mondavi. "Mavericks and Moguls," hosted by wine educator and writer Karen MacNeil, presents visionary wine guys Carl Doumani of Quixote (and founder of Stags Leap Winery) and Paul Draper of Ridge alongside wine auctioneer Ursula Hermacinski and restaurateur extraordinaire Drew Nieporent (Montrachet, Tribeca Grill, Nobu, Rubicon, Crush Wine & Spirits and others).

The intellectual wrangling will of course be complemented in grand style by a series of winemaker dinners Friday night - take your pick from Harlan Estate, Rudd, Quintessa, Grgich Hills, Swanson, Hall, Staglin, Stags Leap Wine Cellars or Rubicon. Even grander is a 30th anniversary gala dinner on Saturday presided over by some of the great chefs who have been involved with Robert Mondavi Winery over the years, including Thomas Keller, Alice Waters and Roy Yamaguchi.

This will be the first event of its kind in the Napa Valley, modeled after the successful TED conferences, a convening of intellectual power from all over the world honing in on mostly food and wine. Cool. Will it work? Tune-in here for some of the highlights and provocations on Friday and Saturday.