Wine and Stars are a Perfect Pairing At Beringer Vineyards; Kevin Spacey and Denzel Washington Voted Top Cabernet Companions.

Entertainment Writers

ST. HELENA, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--March 24, 2000

Visitors to Beringer Vineyards in California's Napa Valley have voted Kevin Spacey -- "a true American beauty," said one fan -- the Oscar(R)-nominated actor with whom they would most like to share both Beringer's 1998 Napa Valley Chardonnay and 1996 Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The two wines were selected to be served exclusively at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' gala Governors Ball following the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 26. More than 1,600 guests will enjoy the two critically acclaimed Beringer wines with an eclectic menu created by Wolfgang Puck.

Asked to pair the wines with stars rather than with Puck's truffle-studded risotto, voters in an informal poll at the winery showed considerable wine-gender bias. Spacey, who received 25 percent of the votes cast, was favored as a sipping partner significantly more often for the Cabernet than the Chardonnay. The next most popular actor, with 20 percent of the votes, was Denzel Washington. Again, Cabernet Sauvignon was the clear wine of choice--"earthy, with a deep core," said one voter of the wine--to enjoy with the powerful star of "The Hurricane."

The top female actor in the survey, which guests completed after sampling the two selected wines in the winery's historic Rhine House tasting room, was Meryl Streep. She received 19 percent of the votes, with a two-to-one bias toward Chardonnay as the sip to share: "multi-dimensional, layered...butter with a glint of sparkle," wrote one voter. Annette Bening was the second-most-often-named female actor, with 14 percent of the votes, and Chardonnay was again the clear choice of her fans.

The voters were predominantly female--70 percent versus 30 percent male--and the female voters were significantly more likely than their male counterparts to identify the Beringer Cabernet with the male actors (76 percent, versus 26 percent for female actors). However, the overall vote was evenly split between the two classic wines, with 50 percent each of the total of 266 votes cast. Write-in candidates included Brad Pitt, Richard Gere, Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis and Tim Robbins: "I'd like to drink these wines with them all," said one voter.

Beringer Vineyards is the only winery to have had both a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Chardonnay named by Wine Spectator magazine as its top wine of the year (1986 Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon in 1990, and 1994 Private Reserve Chardonnay in 1996). The St. Helena winery, the oldest continuously operating winery in Napa Valley, receives over 250,000 visitors a year. Its California White Zinfandel is the most frequently purchased wine in the United States.