xoxoxo e: catching up with ... bottle shock

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

catching up with ... bottle shock

Watching the delectable Alan Rickman in The Deathly Hallows Part 2 recently reminded me of a little film I caught with him, Bottle Shock, a little "true story" film set in the 1970s, about the wine industry. Rickman plays Steven Spurrier, who is worried about the survival of his wine shop. His American pal and wine lover Maurice (Dennis Farina), one suit louder than another, suggests that he could save his business by traveling to the United States and sponsoring a blind taste test/contest. Spurrier is doubtful, "No offense, but I don't foresee the imminent cultivation of the Chicago vine."

He does follow his friend's advice and travels to California's Napa Valley, where he meets Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman), owner of Chateau Montelena. Barrett has no interest in the gimmicky contest, the "Judgment of Paris" - Paris wines vs. CA wines, in 1976. But Barrett's son Bo (Chris Pine, in a very unfortunate and distracting wig) is eager to take part in the contest, as hopeful that it will help save the family winery as Spurrier is that it will save his shop. But Barrett is very difficult to convince:

Jim Barrett: Why don't I like you?
Steven Spurrier: Because you think I'm an arsehole. And I'm not, really. I'm just British and, well ... you're not.

Adding to all of the local color is Gustavo, (Freddy Rodriguez) a worker at Barrett's vineyard and son of a Mexican field hand, who is also trying to perfect his own wine and a girl named Sam (Rachael Taylor), who, in a perfect '70s movie fashion, likes both young guys, Gustavo and Bo, and doesn't see why she should have to choose between them. She also get sto play a sexy female empowerment twist on Claudette Colbert's famous hitchhiking technique from It Happened One Night.

Alan Rickman, Rachael Taylor and Chris Pine

There is quite an amusing scene where Bo and Spurrier ask passengers at the airport to help them carry bottles of wine aboard the flight to the competition in Paris. Apparently only one bottle per customer was permitted on flights at the time, and they need to transport at least a case of wine to the "Judgment of Paris." Luckily, their fellow passengers are only to happy to help, but wonder who he is exactly, "Your last name Gallo?"

The film also imparts some lessons about wine and oxidation (who knew white wine could temporarily turn brown?) Even my parents 1970s unsuccessful attempts with the home wine-making kits never revealed this. Of course all they were able to produce was some vintage vinegar. Pullman is great in the scene when he realizes he is still a vintner and should never have thought about going back to the cubicle world.

With so many wines at our disposal these days it's easy to forget how once French wines ruled the world, and people's eyes were opened in (bottle) shock as they realized, "We have shattered the myth of french wine ... we'll be drinking wine from South America, Australia ... this is just the beginning." Rickman and Co. are quite enjoyable and it will be impossible not to want to break open a bottle of Napa Chardonnay while watching Bottle Shock, which was part of the 2008 Sundance film festival. Cheers!