Bottle Shock

We may have moved beyond the days of ‘freedom fries’ and boycotting Beaujolais, but as far as America’s concerned, it’s still open season on the French.

That’s definitely one of the motivations behind Bottle Shock, a comedy-drama that debuted last year at the Sundance Film Festival.

Starring Bill Pullman, Alan Rickman and (soon-to-be Captain Kirk) Chris Pine, it tells the story of the infamous ’76 ‘Judgment of Paris,’ a blind wine-tasting in which California wines beat out home-grown Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Bottle Shock is a sumptuous movie, filmed on location in the bright and beautiful Napa Valley of California. Encompassing blue skies and postcard-perfect vineyard vistas, the entire film plays like a commercial for the California Tourism Commission.

But there’s also a stonking good story to be enjoyed here.

Bottle Shock kicks off with snobbish British expatriate Steven Spurrier, played by a stuffy Alan Rickman, travelling from Paris to California to locate wines worthy of the upcoming competition.

Spurrier’s uptight mannerisms highlight the perceived differences between the French and American wine industries. French vintners are portrayed as stuffy and snobbish, peering down their noses at what they think are the ‘cowboys’ out in California.

When Spurrier arrives in America, he initially buys into this stereotype. After all, in playing the leading winemakers in the region, actors Pullman, Pine and Ugly Betty star Freddy Rodriguez are all portrayed as hicks in flannel shirts and jeans.

But the cowboy hats and rusty pick-up trucks are misleading props. Simon Spurrier soon discovers that these California ‘cowboys’ have compensated for their lack of wine-making experience by exploring daring new trends and technologies – producing wine with almost surgical precision.

In fact, it’s this ‘precise’ wine that gives this story it’s most stirring moment of drama – as Bill Pullman’s character, based on the real-life winemaker Jim Barrett, sends hundreds of bottles of discolored Chardonnay off to the landfill, unaware that the brown ‘taint’ is a temporary result of his near-perfect bottling process.

Don’t worry – things get sorted out in the end. Jim Barrett’s floundering vineyard finally gets the validation it deserves at the ’76 Paris Wine Tasting.

Although certain aspects seem overplayed – the moral of the story appears to be: ‘Dammit, we Americans make wine every bit as good as those damn Frenchies!’ - the script zings, the acting’s pitch-perfect and the story is wonderfully uplifting.

This leave Bottle Shock as an immensely satisfying movie experience (and, like many things in life, one that’s best enjoyed with a nice glass of wine.)

Bottle Shock is available in North America from Amazon.com, priced $19.99