Andy Beckstoffer named to the California Hall of Fame’s 20th class
Governor Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom announced winegrower Andy Beckstoffer among the 18 inductee entries in the California Hall of Fame’s 20th class. The honorees were due to be formally enshrined at the California Museum in Sacramento in December 2026.
The 20th class
Newsom and Siebel Newsom unveiled the class on 13 November 2026. It is their final California Hall of Fame class and includes 18 entries from winegrowing, sport, food, entertainment, literature, art, business, civil rights and public service. The California Museum was due to formally enshrine the honorees in Sacramento in December 2026.1
The announcement said the group represented California’s creativity, innovation and advocacy. Newsom stressed ambition and public impact; Siebel Newsom honored living members and posthumous legacies. Museum board chair Anne Marie Petrie placed the class within a 20-year tradition.1
Beckstoffer and California viticulture
The announcement called Andy Beckstoffer a leader of modern American viticulture. It linked his commercial strategy, scientific innovation and farmland conservation to changes in California’s premium wine regions, also citing precision farming, farm-worker equity, vineyard stewardship and industry economics.1
The other 17 inductee entries
Edward Asner (1929–2021), the 1st actor to win Emmys as the same character in comedy and drama, served 2 terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild. Across more than 22 MLB seasons, Barry Bonds won 7 MVPs, 8 Gold Gloves and 12 Silver Sluggers. After joining the Giants in 1993, he set marks of 762 career and 73 single-season home runs and uniquely paired 500 homers with 500 steals.1
Betty Charbonnet Reid Soskin (1921–2025), the oldest full-time National Park Service ranger, retired at 100 after interpreting segregation and resilience. Atelier Crenn’s Dominique Crenn became the 1st woman chef in the United States with 3 Michelin stars, won Best Chef: West and entered TIME’s top 100 in 2024.1
Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water (2017) won Oscars for directing and Best Picture; Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022) brought his 3rd Oscar. Shepard Fairey, known for his 2008 Obama portrait, has made more than 135 murals and is collected by the Smithsonian, MoMA and SFMOMA.1
Maxine Hong Kingston blended Chinese American family history, folklore, memoir and fiction; The Woman Warrior (1976) and China Men (1980) won major book awards, and she later led veterans’ workshops. Diane Ladd (1935–2025), nominated for an Oscar 3 times, and Laura Dern were uniquely nominated as mother and daughter in the same year and film. Ladd served about 30 years on SAG-AFTRA’s board.1
Huey Lewis led Huey Lewis and the News, which sold more than 20 million albums. Lewis individually participated in “We Are the World” and expanded his career into film and theatre. Felicitas Méndez (1916–1998) joined 4 other families in the 1944 Mendez v. Westminster school case; its 1946 victory helped prepare Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.1
Metallica has sold 125 million albums and generated more than 17 billion streams. Entering the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, it became the 1st band to play all 7 continents after performing in Antarctica in 2013. Across nearly 6 decades, Joni Mitchell ranged through folk, rock, pop and jazz, receiving the Rock & Roll and Canadian Music halls of fame, Polar Music Prize, Kennedy Center Honors and Library of Congress Gershwin Prize.1
Nancy Pelosi became the 1st woman elected House Speaker in 2007 and, in 2019, the 1st former Speaker in 60 years to regain the office. Elected to Congress in 1987, she led House Democrats for 20 years and worked on the Golden Gate Bridge, health care, pandemic relief, infrastructure and clean energy. Bonnie Raitt has mixed blues, R&B, rock and pop for more than 5 decades; after 20 years as a cult favorite, she won 13 Grammys, entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 and received Kennedy Center Honors in 2024.1
Rob Reiner (1947–2025) and Michele Reiner (1955–2025) combined entertainment with education and civil-rights advocacy. Both helped found the American Foundation for Equal Rights; Michele co-founded Parents’ Action for Children and Rob led the California Proposition 10 campaign for programs serving children under 5. Susie Tompkins Buell co-founded 2 Bay Area brands, Esprit and The North Face, pairing growth with progressive workplaces and socially conscious marketing before supporting climate action and women’s leadership.1
Robin Williams (1951–2014), an Oscar, Emmy and Grammy winner, was known for Good Will Hunting, Dead Poets Society, Mrs. Doubtfire and Aladdin. He worked with Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg on Comic Relief USA, supported the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and Challenged Athletes Foundation, and performed for United States troops worldwide.1
About the hall
Created in 2006, the California Hall of Fame recognizes people whose achievements have affected California, the United States and the wider world. Each year the Governor and First Partner choose honorees in fields including arts, business, entertainment, food and wine, literature, music, public service, science and sport.1
Sources
Written by the Dionysus editors from the sources above.
