Chris Noth to Host the Beaulieu Vineyard® Give & Give Back Chef Challenge Competition on World Food Day

NAPA, Calif., Oct. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, October 16, top New York City chefs will convene for the first-ever Beaulieu Vineyard® (BV) Give & Give Back Chef Challenge. The event, which takes place on World Food Day, will strip these first-class chefs of their typical ingredients and will challenge them to create nutritious, delicious and affordable meals using only ingredients that are typically found in area food pantries at this time of year. BV, the great American winery in the heart of Napa Valley, is serving up the challenge to create healthy and nutritious recipes that can be easily replicated at food pantries (and homes) across the country, feeding those in need.

As part of its continued commitment to hunger relief, BV is expanding its Give & Give Back program to work with fresh food donation organizations like AmpleHarvest.org and City Harvest.  For the second year, BV has partnered with hunger relief advocate and actor Chris Noth.  Last year, Noth and BV teamed up to find the National Hunger Hero and this year, the winery is focused on sustainable and scalable options that will allow more hungry Americans to have access to healthy food.

"By making the hunger challenge into a friendly competition, we are aiming to raise awareness of the need for food donations that are fresh and healthy options," said Sandra Galvin, BV Brand Manager at Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines. "Our hope is that, through this event, the participating chefs will concoct some creative and varied meals that food banks and food pantries will be able to replicate for their customers to make at home."

The New York City chefs will be held to a 30 minute time limit and an ingredient list that contains only commonly donated food pantry ingredients such as rice, pasta, tomatoes, zucchini, beans and peanut butter.

"BV is taking a stance on hunger relief and is working with creative partners like AmpleHarvest.org and City Harvest to create larger solves for this problem," said Chris Noth. "BV sets a good example for individuals and companies. It's important to realize we all can do something to help those in need within our own neighborhoods and that it is the responsibility for us all to do our parts."

The BV Give & Give Back Chef Challenge will take place on October 16, 2013 from 6-8 PM at the Institute of Culinary Education.

Judges at the competition include:

• Chris Noth: Actor and hunger relief advocate
• Gary Oppenheimer: Executive Director and Founder of AmpleHarvest.org
• Rick Smilow: ICE President and CEO, City Harvest Board Member

The chefs' creations will be judged on the following criteria: taste, affordability, scalability, creativity, nutritional value and use of fresh ingredients.  The winning chef will receive a $10K donation to the hunger charity of their choice.  Tickets will be available for purchase through City Harvest at
http://www.cityharvest.org/donate-funds/special-events#BV .

About Beaulieu Vineyard
Beaulieu Vineyard wines are produced by Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines (DC&E) is part of Diageo (Dee-AH-Gee-O); the world's leading premium drinks business. DC&E brands also include: BV Coastal Estates, Sterling Vineyards, Sterling Vintner's Collection, Chalone Vineyard, Acacia Vineyard, Provenance Vineyards and Rosenblum Cellars. DC&E is also a leading importer of estate-bottled wines from Burgundy. For more information about BV, visit www.bvwines.com.

About Ample Harvest
AmpleHarvest.org, Inc. is a not-for-profit 501c3 organization which diminishes malnutrition, hunger and food waste in America by educating, encouraging and empowering growers to easily find a nearby food pantry eager to receive the excess garden bounty.  For more information on the campaign, visit www.AmpleHarvest.org/press or call AMPLE-6-9880 (267-536-9880).

Follow AmpleHarvest.org at twitter.com/AmpleHarvest, at Facebook.com/AmpleHarvest.org and our blog AmpleHarvest.org/blog.php

About City Harvest
Now serving New York City for more than 30 years, City Harvest is the world's first food rescue organization, dedicated to feeding the city's hungry men, women, and children. This year, City Harvest will collect 46 million pounds of excess food from all segments of the food industry, including restaurants, grocers, corporate cafeterias, manufacturers, and farms. This food is then delivered free of charge to some 400 community food programs throughout New York City using a fleet of trucks and bikes. City Harvest helps feed the more than one million New Yorkers that face hunger each year.

City Harvest also addresses hunger's underlying causes by supporting affordable access to nutritious food in low-income communities, educating individuals, families, and communities in the prevention of diet-related diseases, channeling a greater amount of local farm food into high-need areas, and enhancing the ability of our agency partners to feed hungry men, women, and children.

About Diageo
Diageo is the world's leading premium drinks business with an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, wines, and beer categories. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff, J&B, Baileys, Cuervo, Tanqueray, Captain Morgan, Crown Royal, Beaulieu Vineyard and Sterling Vineyards wines. Diageo is a global company, trading in more than 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its people, brands, and performance, visit us at Diageo.com. For our global resource that promotes responsible drinking through the sharing of best practice tools, information and initiatives, visit DRINKiQ.com.

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SOURCE Beaulieu Vineyard