Wine Movies

[Kurt]

"Wine is sunlight, held together by water." - Galileo Galilei

Fittingly, these movies have a strong romantic element.

Bottle Shock (2008)
Bill Pullman's California wine beats the French in 1976. Alan Rickman portrays Steven Spurrier, a renowned wine expert and the owner of a Parisian wine shop, who decides to hold a blind wine tasting pitting the finest French Cabernets and Chardonnays against the best from California.

Sideways (2004)
Miles Raymond (Paul Giamatti), a divorced, embittered writer and oenologist takes his best friend, Jack (Thomas Haden Church), on a trip to California?s wine country a week before Jack?s wedding. While Miles intends to drink wine and play golf, Jack has ideas of his own?involving as many women as possible. Along the way, they meet a soulful waitress named Maya (Virginia Madsen), a vivacious wine pourer, Stephanie (Sandra Oh), and the four spend some time together until the inevitable truth comes out.

A Good Year (2006)
Russell Crowe is a British investment broker who inherits his uncle's chateau and vineyard in Provence, where he spent much of his childhood. He discovers a new laid-back lifestyle as he tries to renovate the estate to be sold.

French Kiss (1995)
Meg Ryan play a woman flies to France to confront her straying fianc?, but gets into trouble when the charming crook (Kevin Kline) seated next to her uses her for smuggling.

 

[Will B]

Sideways has probably done as much for the American / Californian wine market than any movie made!

 

[Jdarg]

Sideways has probably done as much for the American / Californian wine market than any movie made!

I want to watch this one again- I had forgotten about it!

And French Kiss is one of my favorite Kevin Kline movies. Love Kevin Kline. Big time.

 

[Miss Critter]

A Walk in the Clouds with Keanu Reeves is romantic. Enjoyed Sideways and Bottle Shock. Will check out the other two. Thanks, kurt!

from wiki:
http://www.sowal.com/wiki/Roger_Ebert

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Timeshttp://www.sowal.com/wiki/Roger_Ebert called the film "a glorious romantic fantasy, aflame with passion and bittersweet longing. One needs perhaps to have a little of these qualities in one's soul to respond fully to the film, which to a jaundiced eye might look like overworked http://www.sowal.com/wiki/Roger_Ebertmelodrama, but that to me sang with innocence and trust ... At a time when movies seem obligated to be cynical, when it is easier to snicker than to sigh, what a relief this film is!"[1]
Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chroniclehttp://www.sowal.com/wiki/Roger_Ebert said, "A couple of turns of plot ? including the histrionic ending ? seem less magical than overwrought, but A Walk in the Clouds is for the most part a beautiful, well-acted and emotionally rich picture ... In this very warm-hearted film, Reeves' face is the movie's locus of kindness and decency ? and he stands up to scrutiny. There's not just sweetness there but depth."http://www.sowal.com/wiki/Roger_Ebert[2]
Hal Hinson of the Washington Posthttp://www.sowal.com/wiki/Roger_Ebert called it "a phenomenally atrocious movie ? so bad, in fact, that you might actually manage to squeeze a few laughs out of it ... The film has the syrupy, http://www.sowal.com/wiki/Roger_EbertKodak magic-moment look of a Bo Derek movie, and pretty much the same level of substance."[3]
Varietyhttp://www.sowal.com/wiki/Roger_Ebert described the film as "a glossy, fairy-tale romance that's longer on wishfulness than believability" and "a modest but sharply mounted comedy/melodrama."[4]

http://www.sowal.com/wiki/Roger_Eberthttp://www.sowal.com/wiki/Roger_Ebert

 

[JUL]

Seen all except A Good Year. I did not know about the brown chardonnay. Loved Sideways!

 

[TooFarTampa]

Sideways has probably done as much for the American / Californian wine market than any movie made!

Except for the ones who make Merlot.

Love that movie!

 

[Miss Critter]

"Sideways" gets everything right. Through the character of Jack (Church) a washed-up actor with an unquenchable libido it teaches wine novices how to taste wine. The arrogant oenophile Miles (Giamatti) explains the elusive appeal of Pinot Noir.
Maya (Madsen) Miles' love interest shows us why stuffy snobs like Miles don't really get it; that wine is meant to be shared with friends. And Stephanie (Sandra Oh) Jack's fling shows us that you don't need to be wealthy to have a few good bottles lying around. She also shows us that it's not a good idea to lie to a lover.
The movie's characters are richly developed and the depth of detail extends to the wines chosen. Miles hates Merlot and Cabernet Franc yet his most precious wine is a blend of the two. But the script doesn't shove that point down our throats; it's there if you know it's there.
By the way thanks a lot Miles you twit for superheating the market for Pinot Noir. At least good Merlots are more available than ever. This is called the "Sideways effect" in the wine industry; the fact that there is such a term two years after the film's release shows how important this movie is.
Moreover like a good Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon the movie's acidic dialogue and well-balanced characters mean it will still seem fresh 30 years from now.

Top 10 wine movies - SFGate - Page 7

 

[poppy]

No one has mentioned the uplifting love story from 1962 - Days of Wine and Roses?

 

[Beauty hunter]

Thanks Kurt, for the reminder of fine wines and endless nights of romance. Reality is so overrated!!!

 

[John R]

No one has mentioned the uplifting love story from 1962 - Days of Wine and Roses?

great movie