Popping The Cork On Netflix.
After years of watching movies the old-fashioned way, we decided to take the plunge and sign up for Netflix. What does that have to do with wine you ask? Read on…
Well first of all, when I’m able to sit down and watch a movie at home, I generally do so with glass in hand. And until recently, those movies were DVD rentals, pay-per-views, or recorded on the DVR. Now with Netflix in the house, we’ve been getting the little white and red envelopes at the house. But here’s where it gets interesting.
Last week, I thought to myself out-loud, “Gee, I need to check out that movie Bottleshock…”. Fifteen seconds later it was cued up and ready to watch via wi-fi and the X-Box 360. In High-Definition no less! I’m not really into playing video games, but this instant movie thing that X-Box has going with Netflix is going to make it an anchor in our living room.
So I kicked off my shoes, poured a glass, pushed play on the X-Box and sat down to watch Bottleshock. I had heard mixed reviews from folks, somebody told me “it’s not as good as Sideways“. First of all, there’s room in the world for more than one wine movie, and second of all Sideways would have been a great movie whether it took place on a wine tasting trip or a fishing trip. Wine really was more of the setting, whereas in Bottleshock, the wine is really a main character of the film.
The film is based on the 1976 blind tasting in Paris in which California wines took the first prize over the French. Shot in Napa and Sonoma, the film stars Alan Rickman as the British wine merchant Steven Spurrier, who organized the tasting, Bill Pullman as Jim Barrett, the owner of Chateau Montelena (whose ‘73 Chardonnay won the competition), and Chris Pine as Jim’s son Bo Barrett.
A surprising omission was winemaker Mike Grgich, (of modern-day Grgich Hills fame) who actually made the winning Chardonnay. (You can check out our WE webisodes shot at Grgich Hills here). Instead they focus on Grgich’s assistant Gustavo Brambila (played by Freddy Rodriguez), the son of a field hand who today has his own winery, the Gustavo Thrace Winery.
I admit that the movie romanticized the wine industry a bit and played up the innocence of the ‘wine folk in California in the 70’s’ in order to make the story a little more dramatic, and there were times when it was a tad corny.
Bottom Line: I loved it. Maybe it’s because I romanticize the wine industry in my head. Maybe it’s because the cinematography was beautiful, capturing California wine country in all of it’s glory. Maybe it’s because I couldn’t help but get caught up in the underdog story of the little California winery that could.
I think at the end of the day, the movie’s huge charm far outweighs it’s tiny flaws. The message of the film is sort of the same as ours here at WineExpedition.com: Wine is exciting… It’s an adventure… It’s something to be passionate about, and that there are really cool folks behind each and every bottle that have that passion.
It certainly made me want to pour another glass, and it makes me want to visit Chateau Montelana and meet Bo Barrett in person. (I’m sure I’ll be the first one to walk in and say “Dude! I loved you in Bottleshock!”) By the way, the music is great: “China Grove” and “Listen to the Music” from the Doobie Brothers are a nice soundtrack to the sweeping views of California wine country.
If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out when you have a chance. It’s available on Netflix…
There are some serious flaws in the movie: the most notable is it tries to portray Jim Barrett and his son, Bo, as poor, overworked winemakers when actually Jim was a successful attorney from Southern California who flew up to Napa on the weekends in his private plane to see how things were going and Bo was just out of high school. Mike Grgich was the winemaker and when he left Chateau Montelena to start his own winery with Austin Hills, the Barrettes have tried to rewrite history and pretend that he never existed, so he is not mentioned in the movie. The movie also does not even mention Stag’s Leap Wine Cellar won the red wine tasting in the afternoon (except for a note at the end of the movie
Neil, I am surprised that you failed to mention the “tip of the hat” the film makers seem to have made to Mike Grgich in the movie. Every pun intended; In the scene where the scantly clad watered down blond, Sam, played by Rachael Taylor is washing the wooden wine press the field hands and grape pickers are shown watching her with great “interest”. The only white guy sitting, watching is wearing a cap much like the hat Mike Grgich wears. Mike Grgich is famous for many things including always wearing a hat. Maybe it’s a stretch, but having met Mr Grgich, I could see him sitting eating his lunch with the men who actual have their hands on the fruit. Making wine…
I caught the guy in the hat, and that very well could have been a ‘nod’ to Mike Grgich. But as I mentioned in the blog, and as Ken reiterated with detail above, Mike Grgich made the wine that beat the French! He was the winemaker at Chateau Montelana; he was a main character in the story! I’m sure the filmmakers had their reasons, but I’m not sure that throwing a non-speaking actor with a hat in two scenes is a respectful ‘nod’ to the guy that made the award-winning wine. And Ken, I hear ya about the flaws. I guess I’m a sucker for pretty pictures of Napa, and that ‘forgave’ the flaws or at least allowed me to overlook them.