Should Oscar get hungry in wine country, there are topnotch chefs aplenty willing to fill his plate.

Fans of Oscar can expect to receive the same treatment come Sunday when the annual Napa Valley Academy Awards fundraiser welcomes hundreds to watch the ceremony and celebrate the winners at Sterling Vineyards in Calistoga.

This is the 20th anniversary of the local charity Oscars party, an event that raises funds for HIV prevention and AIDS services provided by Queen of the Valley Medican Center’s Care Network.

And it is the first time the Oscars party has been held in Calistoga. The sponsoring organization, Napa Valley Unity League, was invited to hold the fundraiser at Sterling Vineyards by the winery’s parent company, Diageo.

For the past five years, Sterling Vineyards has participated in the Academy Awards celebration in Los Angeles, “the most prestigious awards celebration in the world,” noted Mike Westrick, vice president of winemaking for Sterling Vineyards.

“Hosting this event lets us bring the Oscars experience home to the Napa Valley. As we all wait in anticipation to see who will walk away with the awards, attendees will enjoy special Sterling wines. We feel the smaller production wines as well as the wines available only at the winery that we’ll serve are just as special as those gold statuettes.”

Also participating in the 20th anniversary Oscars fundraiser are more than two-dozen Napa Valley chefs and caterers. They are preparing a wealth of taste treats for those attending the relatively informal Black T-Shirt Party, while Andy Arndt, executive chef of Elaine Bell Catering, is whipping up a four-course meal for some 150 expected at the event’s formal Black Tie Dinner.

Chef Arndt’s menu for the elegant dinner begins with savory lobster crème brûlée, and continues with a salad of baby organic greens with balsamic roasted black grapes, St. George white cheddar, spiced black walnuts, shaved Fuji apples and balsamic apple cider vinaigrette. The main course is slow-smoked beef short ribs with peas and carrots and a gratin of Yukon Gold potatoes and celery root. The dessert course features Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam cheese plus black currant bread pudding with caramelized walnuts and cabernet cassis reduction.

A number of local chefs will be on hand Sunday night to serve a variety of hors d’oeuvres, specialty dishes and desserts. Here’s what’s in store for Black T-Shirt Party attendees:

Barbacoa tostadas with radish and whole grain mustard salad, Alejandro Ayala, Meadowood executive banquet chef; green garlic vichyssoise with rock crab crème fraîche and osetra caviar, Robert Curry, Auberge du Soleil executive chef; smoked sturgeon crostini with wasabi tobiko, Victor Scargle, Go Fish executive chef; caramelized cipollini onions with Cabrales blue cheese and apple cider dressing, Dominic Orsini, BarVino executive chef; stir fry of minced chicken and vegetables in crisp lettuce cups, Peter Pahk, Silverado Resort.

Curried shrimp salad in a gougère, Ken Frank, La Toque executive chef; duck liver mousse with cherry compote on brioche, Gayle Keller, proprietor, All Seasons Bistro; duck confit tamales, Alex Dierkhising, proprietor, Hydro Grill; lemon-baked artichoke with lemon aioli, plus an Italian sandwich of onions, red peppers and marinara on sourdough, Bill Braddock, general manager, Bosko’s Trattoria; and from talented Napa Valley cook and friend of the Oscars party Emily Didier, galette bonne maman with brie, Belgian endive with goat cheese, meatballs with sweet and sour sauce and Caggiano sausage with mustard.

Roast beef sliders, Octavio Barrera, executive chef, Cuvée; pulled pork sandwiches, Stephen Barber, executive chef, BarBersQ; Flamiche (a cake of leeks with black truffle), Christophe Gerard, chef de cuisine, Farm at Carneros Inn; Italian and Belgian endive with rock shrimp and ahi poke salad, Kelly Macdonald, executive chef, Napa Valley Wine Train; jambalaya, plus huckleberry bread pudding, Matt Mermod, executive chef, Bleaux Magnolia; Manhattan clam chowder with Manila clams and Peruvian potatoes, Thad Lyman, executive chef, Napa Valley Grille; grilled Moroccan beef with hummus on flat bread, Bob Hurley, Hurley’s Restaurant & Bar.

The evening’s desserts should prove an event highlight. In attendance will be baking and pastry certificate students of chef instructors Stephen Durfee, Robert Jorin, John Difilippo and Aaron Brown from the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone.

They will be serving a variety of desserts, including assorted decorated cakes, cookies, petits fours, plus an assortment of panna cotta and mousse.

In addition, Sweetie Pies owner Toni Chiappetta has mini chocolate truffle tarts for partygoers, and an assortment of baked goods from Bouchon Bakery and Gillwoods will be served to guests.

Also scheduled to serve an assortment of finger foods at the Oscars gala are Julia’s Kitchen, Wappo Bar & Bistro, Redd, Angèle, Celadon, Downtown Joe’s and Annalien.

Sterling Vineyards will be pouring its Red Carpet Cabernet Sauvignon and Red Carpet Chardonnay throughout the event, with Diageo setting up a spirits and beer bar as well. After dinner, guests will also have a choice of sweetening their coffee with a shot of Bailey’s Irish Cream.

For those who’d like to try making some of these dishes at home, chef Arndt has provided a braised version of his short ribs, while Silverado’s Pahk and BarVino’s Orsini are sharing their recipes with Register readers.

Entertainment, silent auction, tickets

Popular Bay Area comedian Bob Sarlatte, a regular on the Late Show with David Letterman, is set to entertain the crowd at Sunday night’s Oscars party once the telecast of the 80th annual Academy Awards from Hollywood’s Kodak Theater has concluded.

Following Sarlatte’s segment, deejay Rotten Robbie will provide music for dancing, mixing it up with music from the disco era, the ’60s to the present.

A silent auction committee, headed up by Scott Butler, David Hannold and Robert Quick, has pulled together dozens and dozens of items to be bid on, ranging from a double magnum of Robert Mondavi cabernet sauvignon, hand-painted by Margrit Mondavi, to a week’s stay in Cabo San Lucas. Double magnums of the evening’s featured wines from Sterling Vineyards — and signed by Regis Philbin, who would have been backup emcee had the writers strike interfered with the Oscars ceremony — will also be on the block.

Additionally, the family of celebrated Napa Valley artist Dee Graves — a beloved instructor at Napa Valley College for 36 years who passed away last winter — has donated a sculpture and several of Graves’ paintings for the auction, including a portrait of Margrit Mondavi and others displaying the artist’s surreal imagination and whimsical studies.

Spa packages, theater tickets, restaurant dinners, rare wines and more are included in the treasure trove of items to be included in the evening’s silent auction.

Major underwriting for this year’s fundraiser comes from both Diageo and Ambrosia.com/WTN Services, according to event co-chairs.

A few tickets remain for the Black Tie Dinner. At $175 each, they can be reserved by logging online at www.napavalleyacademyawards.org. Tickets for the Black T-Shirt Party are $50 and can be purchased at Napa’s Antiques on Second, 1370 Second St., or online.