'Sopranos' Actress's Wine Gets Support From High Places

Mayor Bloomberg is lifting a glass in support of a private wine company started by an actress who starred in "The Sopranos," Lorraine Bracco.

He is speaking at a launch party for Bracco Wines at the Hard Rock Café in Manhattan tonight.

Mr. Bloomberg and Ms. Bracco are old friends. Their daughters rode horses together and they often spent time in each other's company at horse shows.

In 2002, Mr. Bloomberg refused to walk in the Columbus Day Parade after parade organizers balked when he invited Ms. Bracco and another "Sopranos" actor, Dominic Chianese, to march with him. Parade organizers barred the actors from marching and argued that "The Sopranos," a television series about mobsters that ran on HBO, promoted negative stereotypes of Italian Americans.

When Mr. Bloomberg ran for reelection, Ms. Bracco was a leader of Women for Bloomberg.

Cast members from "The Sopranos" and a new television series, "Lipstick Jungle," are expected to attend the launch party tonight, as is the police commissioner, Raymond Kelly.