Wine Enthusiast Magazine / May 2010 / Mr. Big’s Wine of Choice

Mr. Big’s Wine of Choice

Chimney Rock from Napa’s Stags Leap District makes second Sex and the City cameo.

The alcoholic beverage most closely associated with the former hit HBO series "Sex and the City," is probably the Cosmo, Carrie Bradshaw’s cocktail of choice. (Carrie orders one about as frequently as she purchases a pair of Manolo Blahniks, her footwear of choice.) But in the 2008 movie Sex and the City, a wine from Napa Valley makes a pretty significant cameo appearance. When John Preston, i.e. the infamous Mr. Big, first proposes to Carrie, he uncorks a celebratory bottle from Chimney Rock, a Stags Leap District winery that primarily produces Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux-style blends. In Sex and the City II, the brand returns to the silver screen in a scene, once again, involving the now-married Carrie (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) and Big (Chris Noth). For further details, see the movie, which hits theaters tonight (May 26) at midnight.

 While Big never discusses his predilection for Chimney Rock—perhaps he discovered the wines during his brief stint, on the TV show, starting a Napa vineyard—we do know the backstory behind the wine’s appearance in the movie. Chimney Rock winemaker Elizabeth Vianna, herself a former New Yorker, is good friends with producer John Melfi, who claims the winery, is his all-time favorite. Says Vianna, “It is such an honor to again have our wines present in my dear friend’s fabulous movie.” Naturally, the wines were also present last Monday night at Lincoln Center during star-studded (and probably very fabulous) celebrations for the movie’s red-carpet premiere.

  Chimney Rock, founded in 1980 and now fully owned by the Terlato family, produces three signature reds: a Bordeaux-style blend called Elevage, a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. In 2004, they also launched Elevage Blanc, a proprietary blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Gris.