Wine and the Movies: Part 2

The 1960s saw the creation of the new MPAA code, more freedom in movies and a larger international audience for film. The 1970s saw the rise of independent film. In the 1980s I was unable to find any movies that did little more than show people drinking wine except for TV’s Falcon Crest, which may have dried up all the wine-themed ideas coming from Hollywood. This changed in the 1990s as wine once again became a subject of interest for movie makers. 1995 became a banner year as three movies made wine the center of their focus.

Note: Underlined movies are available from Netflix. Others may be more difficult to find.

Tales of Terror (1962) Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone.

A horror movie about wine, you ask? Not exactly, although I’ve had wines that made me shudder. The second Poe tale, The Black Cat has a nodding acquaintance with the original, but the opening scene is priceless. Uh, that was not a pun just because Vincent Price was in it. In fact, Lorre as a wino with a highly evolved wine palate is also priceless.

After unsuccessfully obtaining funds to feed his wine drinking, Montresor (Lorre) stumbles upon (literally) a wine convention. While gazing fondly at the many bottles arrayed on a long table he hears that Fortunato Luchresi (Price) has the best wine palate in the entire world. Disbelieving that, Lorre challenges him to a contest.

I played this clip for the MRG Vine and Wine Society members at a gathering at my home were I discussed these very same movies.  They savored every moment, particularly when Lorre chugs the first wine and says, “Burgundy, Volnay, 1832” and then leans forward and adds, “and from the better slopes of the vineyard.” Really, do you need another excuse to watch this movie?

The Secret of Santa Vittorio (1969) Anthony Quinn, Anna Magnani, Virna Lisi, Hardy Kruger. 

The film is set in a small Italian village that is known worldwide for their wines. After Mussolini is killed the villagers learn the German army will retreat through their town with the idea of stealing all their wine. The town must hide a million bottles from the advancing Germans. Quinn as the town drunk and newly-elected mayor, Italo Bombolini, excels in the role and the town comes together to hide the wine and foil the Nazis.

I’d recommend having a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino with the movie since Santa Vittorio’s wine must be just as good to make the German army detour through their village. While a bit dated, the scenery, the music and the actors entice one to share their love of living in wine country.

The Godfather (1972) Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duval. 

This was a landmark film and the first of many Mafia-based movies. There were many scenes with wine flowing and the godfather dies in his own vineyard. However, blood flowed a lot more readily than wine, which colored most of the red-tinged scenes. This movie gave new meaning to a family-based film.

Killer Bees (1974) Edward Albert, Kate Jackson and Gloria Swanson. 

Filmed in what is now Francis Ford Coppola’s Rutherford home, the film includes dialogue on biodynamic farming. The killer bees are Swanson’s viticultural workers and even swarm to keep people out of the vineyard. They don’t have to punch a clock, either. Yeah, I missed this one, too. If only the title was Killer Bees Love Wine, Too, I might have given it a shot. It might be a blessing if this one doesn’t come out on DVD.

The Judgment of Paris 1976: This was not a movie, but an event that led to a global market in wine after the Chardonnay of Chateau Montalena and the Cabernet Sauvignon of Stag’s Leap Vineyard (now Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars) won as the best white and red wine in Paris.  This was a significant moment that gradually percolated through the wine world, and it meant great wines could come from around the world, not just in France.

TV took over the wine-themed market with the soap opera, Falcon Crest in December of 1980. The series ended in May 1990. The fictional series was filmed in part in Napa at Stags’ Leap Winery, not to be confused with Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, which of course, it is. Note the placement of the apostrophe in both names. That was part of the judgment that permitted both wineries to use Stag’s Leap or Stags’ Leap on their label.

Silence of the Lambs (1991) Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins and Scott Glenn.  

Let me ask you; are you as freaked out as I that this movie is 21 years old? Not a movie about wine, surely, but for wine pairing tips, few can match Chianti with liver and fava beans. Actually, Amarone was the wine of choice, but they went with Chianti because most viewers wouldn’t get Amarone. But if you want a great Italian wine you should get it.

Amarone Della Valpolicella or Amarone comes from the Valpolicella region around Verona, Italy. The grapes; Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara are dried for several months after harvesting, until they are raisin-like.  The resulting wine is intense and powerful with ripe fruit and low acidity. Personally, I wouldn’t focus on wines to serve with someone’s liver.

Year of the Comet (1995) Penelope Ann Miller, Louis Jourdan, Tim Daly. 

An extremely rare large bottle of French wine bottled during the appearance of the Great Comet of 1811 is discovered in a Scottish castle. Key vintage years for Chateau Lafite around this time were 1801, 1802, 1814, 1815 and especially 1818, so harvesting the grapes during the year of the comet had to be part of the attraction. What affect would the tail of the comet have on the wine?

Margaret Harwood (Miller) is sent to retrieve the large format bottle so it can be sold at auction. The bottle could have been a Balthazar or a Nebuchadnezzar.  A Nebuchadnezzar is equivalent to 20 - 750ml bottles! That’s a lot of wine to be carrying around.

Oliver Plexico (a mustachioed Daly) is assigned as her travel guide/bodyguard for the trip, and to haul around that big box of wine. Naturally, other people desperately want the bottle and a simple task becomes an international chase. Philippe (Jourdan) in particular scatters bodies around him in his quest for the bottle. He should have stuck to Champagne.

French Kiss (1995) Meg Ryan, Kevin Kline and Timothy Hutton.

Kline as a Gallic winemaker is wonderful. The scene where he introduces Meg to a way to appreciate wine is a classic. He shows her his homemade wine aroma kit and then asks her to try some wine and describe it.

Ryan: "A bold wine with a hint of sophistication and lacking in pretension. (Pause.) Actually I was just talking about myself.

Kline: "You are not wrong. Wine is like people. The wine takes all the influences in life all around it, it absorbs them and it gets its personality."

 

He then has her sniff essences of rosemary; cassis and lavender and try the wine again. She does and realizes the essences are reflected in the wine as well. It was many years later when I purchased my own wine aroma kit that I realized its benefits in sharpening one’s nose and palate.

A Walk in the Clouds (1995) Keanu Reaves, Anthony Quinn and Giancarlo Giannini.

The scenery in this movie is breathtaking and Quinn as the old wine maker is wonderful, but the story requires a huge suspension of belief. The fire in the vineyard and how they handled it left me shaking my head. I received unanimous agreement from my wine group on this scene as well. And there was no O’Leary’s cow to blame it on either. There is a wonderful grape stomping scene, however.

Commercial wineries use mechanical presses to do the work now, but in the 1940s using human feet would have been an acceptable process. 

Autumn Tale (1998) Eric Rohmer’s final tale in his Four Seasons series.

 

A middle-aged widow, Magali, looks for love and someone to share her vineyards in the south of France. Wine is an integral part of her life and so it is present in many scenes. This is a comedy of manners with two of her friends trying to play matchmaker – at the same time. The backdrop of wine and vineyards added another romantic element to the film.

The director is a member of the legendary French New Wave of directors that includes Tuffault, Malle and Goddard. The movie is available on DVD.

During My Absence

My apologies to all those who have followed my blog here. I do write blogs for Examiner.com, but have been off here for a few months while I completed my new wine book, Wines of Enchantment: The Centennial Edition. Now that it is being readied at the publisher I can resume my irreverent wine blogs, beginning with a series on wine and the movies. I hope you enjoy them.

Jim Hammond

Wine and the Movies: Part 1

 Wine is a part of life in many wine regions of the world such as France. There has been a spate of movies and documentaries about wine, winemakers and vineyards recently. This could be partly due to the demographic that there are now more wine drinkers than beer drinkers in the US. But what about older movies? Did any of them feature wine or make it an integral part of the movie? And how accurate were these portrayals?  I recently did some research on that very topic and found out some old favorites delved into wine lore without going sideways about it.

Note: Underlined movies are available from Netflix. Others may be more difficult to find. Part 1 covers movies made between 1940 and 1959. All posters courtesy IMDB Pro website.

They Knew What They Wanted (1940) Charles Laughton, Carole Lombard. 

Laughton plays an Italian grape grower in Napa. On a trip to San Francisco he spots Carole, a waitress in a local restaurant, falls for her almost on sight and invites her to come see his vineyard. Yeah, right! Even out of his Quasimodo garb Laughton was not going to flutter any hearts.

The scenes of 1940 Napa Valley are fascinating however. Imagine seeing the valley before the Napa renaissance of wine had begun.

 

Casablanca (1942) Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains are unforgettable. 

One can’t help but notice all the champagne, cognac and brandy being consumed at Rick’s Café Americain. This is where the toast, “Here’s looking at you, kid,” originated. Rains as Capt Renault orders a bottle of 1926 Veuve Cliquot, which he assures his guest, Major Strasser, was a good year. The Champagne cocktail also seems to be a very popular drink, particularly among those without “letters of transit”. 

I recently saw this movie again at the Cottonwood 16. It was a Turner Classic Movie (TCM) promotion for the 70^th anniversary of Casablanca on March 21 and only shown at the Cottonwood cinema. My thanks to them for giving us a glimpse of what the original audiences saw back in 1942.

 Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane and Peter Lorre.   

This was both a classic play and a great movie. What we learn from the movie: to lay off the Elderberry wine. That is what Cary as Mortimer Brewster decides after this dialog with his Aunt Martha.

Aunt Martha: For a gallon of elderberry wine, I take one teaspoon full of arsenic, then add half a teaspoon full of strychnine, and then just a pinch of cyanide.
Mortimer Brewster: Hmm. Should have quite a kick.

  

Notorious (1946) Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains. 

The wine cellar scenes make me envious every time I see them. The 1934 Pommard is a key element in discovering what secret project the Nazis are working on. Delvin (Grant) knocks a bottle off the shelf and discovers it contains filings of heavy metal.  Unfortunately, they replace it with a bottle of 1940 Pommard. 

I’ve never seen a vintage year displayed that prominently. Usually one has to scan the label carefully to locate it. The date almost glows neon, but then Alfred Hitchcock was known to highlight important clues. The question remains, why didn’t they notice that?  Also, why were those bottles all standing upright? That would dry out the corks. If this was set during the war, 1940 Bordeaux wines would be several years away from being ready to drink and a 1934 just about ready. Surprisingly, one can still purchase a 1934 Pommard for under $300. One would hope there were no heavy metal fillings.

 

The Unholy Wife (1957) Diana Dors, Rod Steiger, Tom Tryon. 

Here’s a film you may have missed unless you’re a Diana Dors fan. She was Britain’s answer to Marilyn Monroe and her statuesque figure was poured into many outfits. She’s a gold digger and Rod is a respected Napa winemaker who marries her; shades of Carole Lombard and Charles Laughton.

It would appear Napa winemakers are better at tending grapes than their much younger lovers. The debate between Napa quality and Central Coast quantity discussed din the movie is still a current topic. 

 

Gigi (1958) Louis Jourdan, Leslie Caron and Maurice Chevalier. 

The musical won 9 academy awards including best picture as it captured life in turn of the century Paris. Leslie Caron plays the titular character as a courtesan-in-training who must know how to roll a cigar for her man and drink champagne. The song, “The Night They Invented Champagne” is wonderfully staged. I’ve been known to hum a few bars while sipping the bubbly.

Everyone was drinking Champagne in this movie. I wonder how the film was ever made. If nothing else this movie made champagne appear to be the best beverage in the whole world. Well?

This Earth is Mine (1959) Rock Hudson, Jean Simmons, Claude Rains and Dorothy McGuire. 

This film was shot at modern day Rubicon Estate. Issues that divided Napa Valley in the 1930s when this movie was set are still prevalent now and imbue the film with veracity. This was probably the most wine-centric movie before Sideways. One can only hope it will one day be available in DVD.

Philippe Rambeau (Rains) at 70 is the aging patriarch who insists on keeping his grapes out of the hands of bootleggers during Prohibition. His illegitimate son John Rambeau (Hudson) opposes him. The movie captured the impact of Prohibition and the different responses to it. Claude Rains deserves a medal for being in the most wine movies, too.

Bella Vista Winery: Good Views and Good Wine

It was mid-April this year when I drove from Capistrano Beach to the Temecula wine region. I only had a few wineries I really wanted to visit and the first stop was a complete delight. Bella Vista Winery is well named, resting on a hill that overlooks much of Temecula. There I had the privilege of meeting the owner, Imre Cziraki, and a more fascinating man would be hard to find.

The Dream of Imre Cziraki

Generous, affable and with a firm passion for his wines, he regaled my wife and I with stories of his escape from Hungary during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. One of his friends told Imre that his name was high on a list of those considered enemies of the state. That was all the motivation he needed to make his way, eventually, to the US.

Knowing only a few words of English he’d learned from his grandfather, also a winemaker, he managed to make his way to California. He purchased La Cresta in 1982, Bella Vista Vineyards in 1998 and the former Cilurzo Winery in 2004. The few words he’d picked up from his grandfather he later learned were all curse words. One can imagine the confusion his new American friends must have experienced when he used them.

A self-made man, one would think he’d take his own path to wine-making and that proved to be correct. The tasting room is expansive and could accommodate multiple tour bus crowds. The grounds are large, with plenty of areas to stroll and enjoy the views while sampling the wines. The website offers photos of some of the many events that take place here, and everyone seemed to be having as good a time as my wife and I.

Bella Vista Wines

Many of Bella Vista’s wines are unique and well-priced. The list is a long one, so I’ll focus on a few of my favorites. We had to try the 2007 White Cabernet Sauvignon. Many years ago, my wife Barbara was dining at an up-scale Chicago restaurant and asked the waiter for a Cabernet Sauvignon. The waiter replied, “Did you want the white or the red?” “Oh, I’ve never had the white, why don’t you bring it,” she said, rather disingenuously.  After a while the server returned, red-faced, and said, “I’m sorry, we’re all out of the white.”

Well now, we could finally try a White Cab. Actually the wine has a darker Rosé cast to it, fruit-forward with hardly a hint of tannins. Tart cherry and spice make this a very drinkable wine, perfect for those that are tannic-challenged. The 2007 Petite Sirah Rosé is a wine with greater depth than one would assume from a Rosé. Layers of red fruit hovering around cherry and a satisfying mouthfeel will make this a summertime favorite.

The 2005 Grenache weaves of complex tapestry of earthy dark fruit and ripe red fruits and is one of the best domestic interpretations of this Rhone grape I’ve ever tried. Not so heavy that it would overpower the bird, I’d try this one on Thanksgiving. In fact, I will try this one on turkey day. The 2004 Petite Sirah Reserve was another favorite of mine. Taken from some of the oldest plantings in Temecula, it shows maturity and youth in each sip. Earth and spice and rich fruit, this wine should continue to evolve for years, but hard to resist now.

This should be your first stop in Temecula, and if you do try all the wines, probably your only stop. Not to worry, there is plenty of beauty around you here, and numerous spots to sit and contemplate how our lives are enriched by good wine. The Cziraki family lives the American dream so many of our youth these days have lost sight of. Take some inspiration from Imre and by all means take some of his wine and make your own dreams. Salut!

House Family Winery of Saratoga

I recently went to a wine tasting event at the home of Dave House. I’ve reported previously about the technology Dave employed to grow outstanding grapes for his wines here. The tasting took place on a grassy hill top near shade trees with breathtaking views of the vineyard and countryside. Dave also gave a talk on his grape growing methodology and a tour of the vines.

We went with our good friends Ken and Debbie McKenzie. Dave was one of the movers and shakers at Intel and many of the attendees are past employees of a fraternity that likes to celebrate reunions with wine. I’m all for that!

House Family Winery wines included Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot based wines. The 2009 Chardonnay is already sold out and the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon is nearly all gone. The small case production of fewer than 200 cases per wine is partly responsible and so are the wonderful flavors and balance of all the wines. The best way to secure them is to join the wine club, or go to their website and purchase online.

The 2008 Merlot is 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon. A rich blend with layers of red and dark fruit and spices. The tannins are soft and well integrated. If you’ve been bored with typical California Merlot this one will wake up your taste buds again.

The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon has 75% Cab, 13% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petite Verdot. Almost the classic Meritage blend, very complex with black currant, plum and cocoa and a mouth-feel that is lush.

The winemaker is Jeffrey Patterson of the well-regarded Mount Eden Vineyards. Jeffrey works with all the varietals mentioned as well as Pinot Noir, which will be in the future for House Family Winery. This is one boutique winery well worth checking out. Salut!