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'Bottle Shock' was premiered last Friday at the Sundance
Film Festival in Park City, Utah, being held from 17-27 January. It's
one of two rival movie projects about the historic wine event, which made
Napa Valley globally popular. The second movie about the same tasting,
'The Judgment of Paris' has not started shooting yet.
When a group of French experts rated wines from brand-new
California makers higher than Burgundies and Bordeaux, the wine world
was flabbergasted. Chateau Montelena and Stag's Leap Wine Cellars with
its 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon have been reaping the benefits ever since.
As expected, Chardonnay is now over the top, but the Cabernet is still
delicious and sells for about $1,000.
Focussing on Ch Montelena, the movie reviewed by Bloomberg
is the white wine version of the Paris tasting, the 'Judgement' will be
the red wine equivalent. It focuses on the father-son conflict between
the winery's colourful owner, Jim Barrett and his son Bo.
Bo is a shown as the young surfer who helps save the
day. 'It's completely Hollywoodized,' says Bo Barrett though, now 52.
`My character has this great girlfriend. But I had zero luck with girls
back then.''
Though the winemaker at the time, Mike Grgich, made the
winning wine, he's not a major character. His assistant gets the key role.
The widely respected Spurrier who I had the pleasure
of meeting in London recently, is not amused at his portrayal in the movie.
He obtained the draft of the screenplay late and is not happy about his
own portrayal as an English snob in 'completely invented incidents'.
He was based in Paris in 1976 and owned Academie du Vin
where he developed an idea to educate Parisians, not on French wine, but
on the new wines coming out of California.
Steven who seems to be a very relaxed and an unassuming
person in real life says, 'I'm extremely angry at the deeply insulting
and inaccurate way my business and I were portrayed,' He has hired a London
law firm to write to Randal Miller, director and co-screenwriter Randall
Miller who has toned down his role and insists, 'In our film, Spurrier
is heroic.'
But the winery owner Barrett is happy, 'I'm personally
amused by the movie. It's a love letter to the wine business.' And, of
course, it will draw attention to Chateau Montelena.
It is unlikely that the movie will be screened in the
regular theatres. Sideways, which was highly popular overseas was watched
by the wine lovers in India only on DVDs.
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