Saturday, June 14, 2008

Bottle Shock, The Movie

Got this news off of Jamie Goode's excellent wine blog.

It looks like Chateau Montelena, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars and probably the California wine industry in general is about to be in the limelight with the upcoming release of a wine-themed movie titled "
Bottle Shock". It's based on the 1976 "Judgment of Paris" taste-off that brought Californian wines head-to-head with the heavyweights of the French wine world. "Bottle Shock" got mixed reviews at the Sundance Festival, and its existence is not without controversy. Steven Spurrier, the mastermind behind the 1976 event, is apparently threatening to sue the people behind the making of Bottle Shock.


I wonder what positive and/or negative impact this movie will bring to the California wine industry (and French's, too, for that matter). The last time Hollywood came up with "Sideways", that movie did two great things: it placed Pinot Noir and Santa Barbara wine country in the conscious mind of the general public, and it helped push Merlot out of trend (thanks to Miles' opinion of it).

What is bottle shock as a wine term?

What is the 1976 Judgment of Paris?

(Thank God for Wikipedia!)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great movie, sundance this year was great. It's release is an indy release though, so it won't play everywhere, but look for it around August 6th or the 15th. The story isn't 100 % historically accurate, but the movie is superb, and the soundtrack is exceptional as well.
www.bottleshockthemovie.com