Pairing films with right wines challenges local experts

This could mean the end of popcorn as a way of American movie life.

For its 18th Wine by Design gala, the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia has chosen “Hollywood and Wine” as its theme, with an assignment that challenges the noggins of both wine and movie experts: What are the top 10 movies to feature wine?

Sure, romantic seduction often features a sip of the grape in hundreds of scenes (such as Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant drifting down the Seine in “Charade” in 1963) – but, come to think of it, not many movies have actually been about wine.

Wine expert Roy Williams has been assigned a task even more daunting than selecting the movies: choosing three wines to go with each film (the choices were, however, limited to

California wines). This means more than 30 varieties of wine will be up for sipping.

The event has become “the premiere wine tasting event at the Beach,” said Tiffany Russell, the museum’s manager of special events. It is attended by some 800 museum supporters and bon vivants. Staged in the atrium, auditorium and galleries, it features red-carpet festivities and two live bands, JuJu and the After Hours and Double Take.

Chefs from about 20 local restaurants are contributing culinary treats, and there will be an exhibit of movie memorabilia. I’ve loaned, from my own collection, a jeweled Siamese prop from the set of “The King and I,” a replica of an Indiana Jones bullwhip and items from actress Ava Gardner’s London apartment – as well as autographed pictures and posters.

As for those 10 movies that provide an excuse for all this sipping (no swigging) and partying? We’re thinking. We’re thinking. It isn’t easy.

Here, after overdue deliberation, are the 10 top wine movies.

“Casablanca” (1942) After all, “Here’s looking at you, kid” is a toast. Fine champagne flows at Rick’s place, and seemingly no one ever pays the tab. Claude Rains, as the jolly French policeman, specifically orders 1926 Veuve Clicquot, “an excellent French wine,” for the Nazi major, but Humphrey Bogart says he’ll water his garden with it; let the Germans drink. He urges his customers to drink three more bottles. “This ought to take the sting out of being occupied,” he points out.

“Gigi” (1958) The Academy Award-winning musical features the anthem of all party tunes: “The Night They Invented Champagne,” performed by Leslie Caron, Louis Jourdan and Hermione Gingold. Gigi’s aunt encourages her “to fully enjoy the aroma. On your first sip, hold it on the roof of your mouth for a moment and breathe through your nose.” The movie won a crate of Oscars, and the song is cued by the pop of a champagne bottle.

James Bond’s “Dr. No” (1962) and “Thunderball” (1965) Bond is licensed to kill but also knows how to kill bottles of champagne. Famous for his vodka martini, “shaken, not stirred,” he grabs a bottle to use as a weapon against the evil Dr. No in 1962. “That’s a Dom Perignon ’55,” the cultured villain points out. “It would be a pity to break it.” Bond counters: “I prefer the ’53 myself,” as he attacks.

“The Secret of Santa Vittoria” (1969) Anthony Quinn and the fiery Anna Magnani play Italian villagers who organize the townspeople to hide a million bottles of wine from the invading Nazis. They pass the bottles from hand to hand to hide them in a cave. Quinn plays the Italian village’s mayor, and Magnani, as usual, is angry. (She actually broke a foot kicking her co-star during filming.) The villagers successfully save their native wine.

“Sideways” (2004) Perhaps the best wine movie ever, this features two washed-up friends who travel through wine country on a final bachelor party as they argue about wine choices. One favors pinot noir, the other wants merlot. Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church were both nominated for Oscars, as was the film, for best picture.

“Notorious” (1946) This Alfred Hitchcock movie starring Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant is the one movie that turns champagne into a center for suspense. The Nazis are hiding radioactive powder in wine bottles in Claude Rains’ wine cellar, but Ingrid and Cary are on the trail. The stars are searching the wine cellar during a party, but the champagne is running out upstairs, and the bad guys may be on the way to the cellar at any moment.

“The Silence of the Lambs” (1991) The most notorious pairing of wine and food in movie history. Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) tries to scare FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) by telling her: “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.” This is accompanied by a clicking sound as if he’s sampling the wine. Sales of Chianti reportedly went down as the film won the Oscar.

“This Earth Is Mine” (1959) This almost-forgotten movie depicting a fight over Napa Valley territory in the 1930s was filmed on what is now the Rubicon Estate. Starring Rock Hudson and Jean Simmons, with Claude Rains, again, it’s a melodrama set at the end of Prohibition with much at stake.

“A Walk in the Clouds” (1995) This is a 1940s-style love story about mistaken identity involving a romance with the daughter of a California vineyard owner. The acting is terrible, but the scenery is gorgeously photographed. Keanu Reeves stars.

“Bottle Shock” (2008) Although it flopped at the box office, the movie made a valiant effort to present wine tasting as an action-filled sport. It centers on the famous 1976 Paris Wine Tasting, in which American wine won over the French, astounding everyone. It features Alan Rickman and Bill Pullman.

Williams, who admits it is difficult to choose wines to fit these movies, taught a class in wine appreciation for 22 years – at Old Dominion University and, more recently, at the Towne Club in Norfolk.

Among the problems is that Chianti can’t be chosen for “Silence of the Lambs” because it is Italian, not Californian. Three sparkling wines were chosen for “Casablanca.” A Gewürztraminer was chosen for “Gigi” and, of course, a pinot noir for “Sideways.”

Have movies ever been this much fun? Let the festivities begin!