At this stage most of us think of "bottle shock" in terms of "when did this wine get this expensive?"
This movie puts it all in perspective. The cast is superb: Alan Rickman, Dennis Farina (his NikNik shirt should be in the Smithsonian), Bill Pullman. But the clear star of the movie is Napa itself and wine making in general. I now wonder how in the world I pay so little for wine (not counting two buck chuck)What gives California wines their luster is the result of a blind wine tasting set up by a British shop owner, Steven Spurrier, who had a shop in Paris to boost sales of his French wines? Alan Rickman is wonderful as the shopowner. OK.
Let's face it. Alan Rickman is wonderful...in anything. I do not know what it is about him. He is simply fabulous. Sense and Sensibility, Die Hard, OMG even Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.Hard to believ
e that there was a time that American wines were shunned...and that that time was in my lifetime. Even harder to believe is that this publicity stunt could have pushed an industry ahead as it did...and that the result is in the Smithsonian...the recipients of praise: Chateau Montelena (at left) and Stag's Leap.The one thing I came away with is that I would rather be drinking it than making it.
Bottom's up!
