When you do a movie like "Bottle Shock," you have to know your wine. After all, "Sideways" was about amateur connoisseurs (even if Paul Giamatti's character Miles is up there with the best of them: "I'm not drinking any f---ing Merlot!"). But "Bottle Shock" is about the actual tastemakers -- those who grow the grapes, sell the wine, and make judgments which affect the world market. It's actually about the judgment, the Judgment of Paris, which put California wines on the map. "So pretty much we had to get drunk for three months," laughed Rachel Taylor, who plays an intern at the Chateau Montelena.
"A lot of the vineyards [in Napa and Sonoma] realized the significance 'Sideways' had for the Santa Barbara area," said filmmaker Randall Miller, "so people were like, 'Come see our vineyards!' And to get rights to a lot of [real-life] characters, I had to go drink wine with the vinters."
"There were a few occasions where you couldn't turn down someone's pride and joy," said Bill Pullman, who plays winemaker Jim Barrett.
Not a tough job -- except the director wasn't sure of the etiquette involved. "They would drink it and spit it out, and I wasn't sure if that was allowable or not," said Miller, who then opted not to spit. "So it got a little rough a couple times, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon after a couple of bottles of wine."
"We had to haul him out of there!" laughed screenwriter Jody Savin.
"We had to do our research right?" Freddy Rodriguez asked. "So we had to research what it was to drink good wine and be around vineyards and vinters and did I mention drinking a lot of really good wine?" He smiled. "It was all in the sake of research."
Right, research. Eventually, the cast and crew realized they need actual lessons, so they got winemakers such as Heidi Barrett -- the wife of Chateau Montelena's Bo Barrett -- to give them the basics. "She was on set most of the time, which was tough, because it was harvest season," Miller said. "And she'd say, 'Swirl it like this,' 'Smell it like this.' Down to how you'd pick up the dirt, and letting it fall through your fingers. Who would know?"
"People were offering to teach us about the grapes," said Eliza Dushku, who plays the bartender Jo. "As much as we wanted to take in, they were there to give it, so it was a crash course in wine."
Before anyone gets the wrong idea and thinks that the "Bottle Shock" cast and crew were blotto while filming, Alan Rickman, who plays wine seller Steven Spurrier, stressed that all the drinking was off campus. "You've got to remember that there's no real alcohol on set," Rickman said. "I don't think the film's insurers would have allowed it. And you've got to get in bed in time to wake up early. So sorry to disappoint you, but I didn't [drink]." He paused. "Well, a little bit, on days off."
So what did the "Bottle Shock" cast sample, and did it affect what they like in their wine? "La Sirena," Savin recommended. "Heitz has some really good stuff," Miller recommended. "I like red wine generally," Taylor said, "but that Chateau Montelena Chardonnay is a sensational drop of wine. And it's the wine that changed the world. It's buttery, and sensual, and you can understand the artistry in it. Other than that, a really sublime glass of wine would be a Freycinet Pinot Noir from Tasmania."
"I just finally discovered what the big deal was about," Rodriguez said. "I always wondered. But it's not until you have the first glass of really good wine that it opens you up."
Have any movies about food or wine have affected what you eat or drink? What ones, and how?
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