A Bountiful Harvest of Contemporary Wine Films
Photo by Thomas Schaefer/Unsplash
In anticipation of the bounty from this year’s wine harvest, here’s a curated list of wine flicks released over the past two decades designed to satisfy an oenophile’s palate.
1. Bottle Shock (2008)
This depiction of the early days of California winemaking featuring the now infamous blind Paris wine tasting of 1976 (a.k.a. the “Judgment of Paris”) contains more than a few bits of fiction. Yet this story of a middle-aged guy leaving his law practice and trying to make a go of starting a winery inspired Vietnam veteran Roger Lemstrom to do likewise. In 2016, he purchased a distressed vineyard in the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, Oregon, that Lemstrom named Los Rocosos (“rocky” in Spanish) Vineyards as a tribute to his Mexican heritage. Similar to the winemakers depicted in this film, Lemstrom creates wines that are expressive, terroir-driven and delivered from the heart.
2. Blood Into Wine (2010)
In this documentary, multi-platinum recording artist Maynard James Keenan (Tool) and Eric Glomski set out to make their mark in the Northern Arizona wine country via Caduceus Cellars situated in Jerome, Arizona. Once one gets beyond the film’s cringy opening that appears to mimic Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis, the film delves into an intriguing and mysterious look at Keenan’s cosmic approach to winemaking.
3. Drops of God (2023)
Lyndsay Dyk of Field Day PR turned me on to this trippy dive into the world of fine wines and gastronomy. As this three-part series opens, viewers learn of the death of Frenchman Alexandre Léger, creator of the famous Léger Wine Guide and an emblematic figure in oenology and owner of an extraordinary wine collection—the greatest collection in the world, according to the experts. These wines will be inherited by either his estranged biological daughter, who has never consumed a single drop of wine, or his spiritual son with whom Léger imparted all of his wine knowledge. I found myself subsumed in a series of immersive wine-tasting experiences that illuminated how Léger’s wine legacy became infused throughout the bodies of both his heirs.
4. A Good Year (2006)
This Ridley Scott-helmed flick reunites Scott with Russell Crowe, who portrays a highly successful investment expert named Max who unexpectedly inherits a vineyard where he spent much of his youth after his estranged uncle dies. Set against the succulent and sensuous background of Provence, Max begins to recapture this sense of childlike wonder as he learns to ground himself in the soil he inherited, which in turn saves his soul.
5. John Cleese’s Wine for the Confused: Food Network (2004)
Who knew Basil Fawlty had it in him to present such a succinct and non-snobby introduction to wine? Through direct narrative and interviews with California winemakers and others in the wine industry, Cleese takes viewers on an immersive wine experience from the vine to the glass.
6. Sideways (2004)
This classic road trip comedy through California’s wine country finds Miles (Paul Giamatti) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church) drowning in wine and women as they mourn their fading youth and failed ambitions. While this film is pure fiction, Miles’ dismissal of Merlot as he pines for the perfect Pinot Noir had real-life consequences. A 2022 study in the Journal of Wine Economics found this film correlated with a reduction in demand for Merlot and an increase in demand for Pinot Noir in the U.S. This market shift led California winemakers to grow Pinot Noir grapes in unsuitable land and blend those grapes with the grapes grown in high-quality areas just to meet demand, which may have led to lower-quality California Pinots.
7. SOMM: Cup of Salvation (2024)
As mentioned in my prior Paste article, this documentary depicts how the Persian spirit of winemaking continues in Iran and around the world—including in Oregon’s wine country. While the saga of a father and daughter risking their lives to retrieve grapes from Iran kept me intrigued, I was particularly captured when Moe Momtazi, founder of Momtazi Vineyard and Maysara Winery, and his second daughter Naseem tasted the first wine from Moe’s homeland since he fled during the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Since this film won a 2024 James Beard award and has been picked up for distribution by Samuel Goldwyn, it will hopefully command the larger audience it deserves.
8. Sour Grapes (2016)
This suspenseful and humorous documentary tells the real-life saga of an ingenious young man who floods the elitist American wine market with fake vintages valued in the millions of dollars. Yes, I confess to experiencing more than a bit of schadenfreude watching self-proclaimed wine snobs get their just rewards as they sip swill they mistakenly proclaimed to be spectacular.
9. Uncorked (2020)
In this formulaic tale, an African-American father wishes for his son to take over the family BBQ business. But the son’s gifts clearly lie in his uncanny gifts and enthusiasm to become a master sommelier. The pride both men have in their professions coupled with their love of family elevates this film from hordes of other Hallmark-y type films.
10. A Walk in the Clouds (1995)
This romantic fantasy, set in the vineyards of Northern California, stars a young Keanu Reeves as an unhappy World War II soldier who meets a woman pregnant by a departed lover. The intoxicating heat emanating from the couple, her Mexican American family, and the grape vines creates a sumptuous dish that pairs well with wine.
11. Widow Cliquot (2024)
While Edina and Patsy drowning themselves in Cliquot Ab Fab style represents the height of celebrity excess, the woman behind this ionic Champagne brand displayed a far more entrepreneurial spirit. This film is based on the true story of the “Grande Dame of Champagne,” Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin (1777 to 1866) who, at the age of 20, became Madame Clicquot after marrying the scion of a winemaking family. After her husband’s untimely death, Ponsardin shocks the wine world by assuming the reins of their family wine business, and in the process, revolutionizing the Champagne industry.
12. Wine Country (2019)
Based on by SNL alumni Rachel Dratch’s 50th birthday, this film directed by Amy Poehler follows Dratch, Poehler and pals on a birthday getaway in scenic Napa Valley. As expected, once the alcohol flows, their characters slowly reveal their inner selves with predictable humorous and heartwarming results that lead me to wonder if perhaps a documentary depicting the events of Dratch’s actual birthday as they unfolded might have been far more hysterical.