Wine in Hollywood

Miranda blogged recently about some fave links of hers that she wanted to share. One of those was a link to wines in films by Wine Enthusiaist magazine. They took a look at movies that featured wine in either a lead or supporting role in the movie. I was intrguied by the movies they came up with. Lot's I hadn't see or heard of before. Others are classics that I've been meaning to watch to ages. I did some other searching and came across another article at SFgate.com with their list of the top 10 wine movies. I'm combining the lists and looking for more movies that feature wine in them. I'm actually hoping to find some foreign films where wine has a role. I enjoy foreign films and would love to see some new ones. Here's the list so far:

• Casablanca 1942 apparently there's lots of champagne drinking in this film. Just another excuse to see this classic.


• Notorious by Alfred Hitchcock in 1946


• An Affair to Remember 1957 A couple falls in love and agrees to meet on top of the Empire State Building to drink pink champagne.


• Gigi 1958 A young girl in training to become a courtisan learns the arts of flirting and wine drinking while practicing a rich playboy.


• This Earth is Mine 1959 about a wine company stuggling during Prohibition


• Dr. No 1962 I have not see any of the Sean Connery James Bond films. I'm very excited to watch this and maybe a few others. Apparently this is before Bond switch to martinis, in this film he mostly drinks champagne.


• The Secret of Santa Vittoria 1969 the main character schemes to find a way to hide the town's wine from the approaching German army


• Theres a Girl in my Soup 1970 recommended in the comments section. He's a food/wine critic who takes a very young Goldie Hawn to a disaterious wine tasting.


• Killer Bees 1974 A strong willed woman not only dominates her wine making family but also has a strange hold over the colony of bees in the vineyard.


• The Muppet Movie 1979 Steve Martin's cameo is how this made the list. He plays a sommelier to Kermit and Miss Piggy during a fine dinner scene and they order some bubbly.


• Silence of the Lambs 1991 Theres no wine in this movie it is responsible for one of the most famous wine pairings in cinema.


• Year of the Comet 1992 a comedey about the discovery of an almost 200 year old bottle of Bordeaux


• A Walk in the Clouds 1995 I've heard this is bad, but it's a love story and her family is has a vineyard


• French Kiss 1995 romantic comedy with Kevin Klien and Meg Ryan. She travels to France to win back the boy. He a son of a wine maker finds her stranded and offers to help her win back the boy.


• Blood and Wine 1996 Jack Nicholson plays a Miami wine shop owner in this mystery


• Sideways 2004 I love this movie and can watch it again and again. Sort of a dark comedey about relationships starting and ending and drinking wine to find their way.


• A Good Year 2006 I hadn't heard of this movie until now, about a New York tycoon tamed by the romaticism of the vineyard while visiting after an Uncle's death.


• Bottle Shock 2009 based loosely on the true story of how the world found out California can make good wine.

Have I missed anything worth seeing?

Bottle Shock

Although no wine was drank while watching this movie or even while I type this...I figure a review of a movie about wine fits this blog just fine. Recently Chris and I watched Bottle Shock, a light movie loosely based on the story of how California wines beat French wines in a blind tasting. A British wine merchant (Alan Rickman) sets up a blind wine tasting in France. He travels to California to sample wines from many vineyards and hand picks a few for the tasting. Two California wines, a Chardonnay from Chateau Montelena, and a Cab Sav from Stag's Leap beat out the French wines to the shock of the french judges. At this point in time French wine was the only wine that was considered good wine. The tasting blew open the doors for the rest of the world, and certainly gave California a name in the wine industry.

At times the movie is silly and corny, but worth it anyway for the hilarious 1970's clothing and who doesn't love Alan Rickman?

While discussing the movie w/ Miranda we decided the next time I'm in Cali we'll check out the vineyards that made the movie. That would be awesome, although I was at a high end wine shop w/ Theresa over the weekend and we found a couple bottles of Stag's Leap wine. The cheapest bottle was $70! So visiting the vineyard itself could be a bit pricey as well. Better start saving now!