Free Screening of War Horse, courtesy of Bello Family Vineyards

St. Helena’s newest tasting room---Bello Family Vineyards---is underwriting a free screening of the movie War Horse on Saturday, January 14 at 8:00 p.m. at The Cameo Cinema, 1340 Main Street, St. Helena. War Horse arrived in theaters on December 25; it is rated PG-13 and has already received several Golden Globe nominations.

Free tickets will be available at The Cameo’s box office beginning January 5. The ticket will also treat the bearer to a complimentary tasting at Bello Family Vineyards’ new tasting room, set to open in February, 2012, at 929 Main Street, next to Gott’s Roadside, in St. Helena.

The Bello family, proprietors Christopher Bello and Stephen Bello, will be on hand to greet moviegoers, welcoming them with a taste of Bello’s Marsanne and Cabernet Sauvignon. Before the movie screens, the Bellos will introduce a short video of the Bellos’ racehorse Megahertz---for whom they’ve named a proprietary Cabernet).  The Bello family farms an estate vineyard planted to Cabernet and Bordeaux varietals in Rutherford. “As long-time lovers of horses and their importance in our culture, we’re delighted to offer this movie as a gift to the town of St. Helena,” proprietor Michael Bello explains. “This is an unusual and very generous gesture by the Bellos,” adds Cathy Buck, the proprietor of The Cameo. “We have a tradition of free New Year’s screenings and occasionally a local filmmaker also provides his movies gratis, but this is noteworthy,” she adds.

Stephen Spielberg has produced and directed the 146-minute movie, adapted from a popular children’s book by Michael Murpurgo, which also was recently a stage production in London and New York. The story follows a boy and his horse in England during World War I. Young Albert enlists after his beloved horse, Joey, is sold to the cavalry. The movie follows the horse during the war, along with the British cavalry officer, German soldier and elderly Frenchman and his granddaughter who own the horse. The movie stars newcomer Jeremy Irvine as well as Emily Watson and David Thewlis.

During filming fourteen different horses were used as the main horse character. Up to 280 horses were used in a single scene. Working with horses on this scale was a new experience for Stephen Spielberg, who said recently that "The horses were an extraordinary experience for me, because several members of my family ride. I was really amazed at how expressive horses are and how much they can show what they’re feeling."

Founded in 2001 by Michael Bello, the winery produces a range of Cabernet Sauvignons as well as a Marsanne. Nestled in the heart of Rutherford, the estate vineyard is managed by David Abreu and the winemaker is Aaron Pott. The newest wine is named in honor of Megahertz, the Bello family’s multiple stakes winner. Megahertz is a thoroughbred racehorse who raced in France before being purchased by Michael Bello and brought to the U.S. to train with Bobby Frankel. In her first race at Santa Anita in 2002, she won the Blue Northern Stakes in what came to be her trademark, coming from the back of the field to win in the homestretch. In her racing career, as a multiple G1 winner, she won 14 races, finished second six times and five times finished third; she earned more than two million dollars.

The Bellos are active in numerous philanthropic causes, including The Disabled Jockeys’ Fund.

The Cameo Cinema, at 98 years old, may be the oldest single screen movie house still operating in America. Today it is one of fewer than 25 single-screen single-owned theaters in the entire United States---and the only one with digital and 3-D capability. It was meticulously restored in 1997 with touches including a classic Art Deco lobby, purple-upholstered seats and movie star photo-wallpaper.

The Cameo maintains a lively calendar of community programming including arts movies, family films, film classes and more. The Cameo live-streams historic events ranging from World Cup soccer to this year’s royal wedding and also serves a venue for non-profit fundraisers.