Mondavi Lifts Glass to Poe : ‘Price, Pinot and Poe’ to Salute the Actor, the Author, the Wine

“Why don’t they just let him be crazy?”

Actor Vincent Price is sitting in the sun-filled living room of his Beverly Hills bungalow, sipping pinot and talking about Edgar Allan Poe. Art crowds the walls of the room and treasures from all over the world jam every available table surface.

“They’re trying to prove he wasn’t crazy ,” Price continues, shaking his head. “He was the greatest American writer. He invented the romantic lyric song poem, the Gothic tale, the detective story. Why don’t they just leave him alone?”

The moment becomes a preview of sorts. On Oct. 25, Price will visit the Robert Mondavi Wine and Food Center in Costa Mesa to appear at a dinner dubbed “Price, Pinot and Poe.”

The actor is delighted about the chance to visit Orange County to sample pinot noir, dine (on “pumpkin, pigeon and pears,” says an organizer) and entertain more than 100 guests with poetry by Poe.

“I played a lot of movie roles based on Poe,” Price says. “ ‘The Tell-Tale Heart,’ ‘The Masque of the Red Death,’ ‘The Pit and the Pendulum,’ ‘The Cask of Amontillado.’

“I think the thing then that intrigued me most about Poe was that he is the kind of author--there’s one for every country--that kids think they have to read. They forget he is the greatest writer of his kind in the world, that his influence on art is incredible. Everybody thinks of Poe as the bogeyman.”

But don’t look for Price to recite the macabre at the Mondavi. “I hope to bring some of Poe’s romantic works to the dinner,” Price says. “About 65 percent of his pieces are very sophisticated and romantic, very unlike the others.”

Price’s love affair with wine began “years ago in St. Louis, Mo.--where I was brought up,” he says. “Where we just had grapes. You know, wine started with grapes; there weren’t always these fancy names and things. It was wonderful wine.

“I’ve always been interested in wine. I worked with the Wine Institute before it was called the Wine Institute. I was always trying to get people to learn about wine. It could be pretty terrible in those days unless you knew which wine to drink.”

Price’s knowledge of the grape is what led Eric Hansen, director of the Mondavi Center, to ask the legendary actor to come to Costa Mesa. Last year, Hansen invited Price to speak about food and wine at the Kapalua Bay Club on Maui, Hawaii, at an annual wine symposium.

“Mr. Price was wonderful,” Hansen says. (Included in the witty actor’s speech was a recipe for dishwasher trout that he’d whipped up for Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show”: “Tightly wrap trout in foil with lemon, wine, parsley, salt and pepper. Put it through the whole cycle. No soap!”) Also appearing at the symposium was “Jeopardy” game show host Alex Trebek. (“I hope to have Trebek--a great cook--appear at the Mondavi one of these days soon,” Hansen says.)

“At the Mondavi Center we like to associate wine with the arts,” Hansen explains. “And when I came to the idea that it would be great to have poetry, I thought of Mr. Price. Let’s just say we’re elevating Poe and pinot to very good company.”

When it came time for Price to have his picture taken for this story, he donned a straw hat and strolled slowly into his garden--as packed with flowering plants and statuary as his house is with art and souvenir treasures.

“I love hats,” says the suave veteran of such film classics as “Laura” with Gene Tierney and “Victoria Regina” with Helen Hayes. “Do you think I should have dressed up more? When you look at the French magazines you always see people drinking wine casually. It doesn’t always have to be a dress-up kind of thing.”

Cooking up gourmet fare for the event will be Gary Jenanyan, head chef of the “Great Chefs Program” for the Robert Mondavi winery in Napa Valley, and Rosanne Ruiz, formerly of the Sorrento Grill in Laguna Beach and now in-house chef for the local Mondavi Center.

Among those on the guest list for “Price, Pinot and Poe” is film producer Tony Bill, owner with Liza Minelli and Dudley Moore of the 72nd Market Street restaurant in Los Angeles.