It seems to me that people will make a movie about anything (White Chicks… seriously?). From anacondas to Zorro, if there is a camera, there will be a film. A not-so-recent addition to this movie bandwagon is the food and drink industry. Strange Brew made beer famous, Supersize Me showcased the unhealthiness of fast food, Leaving Las Vegas spotlighted hard alcohol, and Babe, well, that was all about pork.
Wine, not to be left out, has begun to get noticed. Many movies have featured wine in supporting roles — a bottle thrown against a wall or a drop of Shiraz spilled on a white dress for dramatic effect — but wine has yet to plant its seed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. However, this may soon change: wine is becoming more and more popular as a subject matter, leaving me to wonder if it will soon become a diva, demanding to be fanned with giant leaves and fed grapes (cannibals!).
This following is a list of some of the best wine-related movies in my cellar.
Sideways (2004): If ever there were a movie the wine industry should toast, it is this one. Sideways did for wine what Psycho did for locks on bathroom doors. This movie tells the tale of Miles, a washed up English teacher, and Jack, an engaged actor, who travel to the Santa Ynez Valley for a week long wine tour. Miles wants merely to drink wine, while Jack wants to meet women before he says, “I do.” When they meet Maya and Stephanie, a waitress and a winery employee, their hopes of finding wine lead them to find something greater.
Sideways was a critically acclaimed film, winning an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Not only did it launch the careers of several unknown actors and actresses, but it also lit a fire under the wine industry. In fact, it is rumored that the sales of Pinot Noir — thanks to a speech Miles gives portraying his love for this grape — saw a twenty percent rise after the movie’s release. On the flip side, Merlot, which Miles detests throughout the film, saw sales drop.
A Good Year (2006): This movie was nowhere near as acclaimed as Sideways; some people might have a hard time saying A Good Year was a good movie. Still, it captured the essence of the wine industry from the inside out. Set in southeastern France, this movie features Max Skinner, a seemingly heartless investor who inherits a large vineyard from his uncle. Thanks to wine, women, and the weather, Max evolves from a sullen man into one who can appreciate the little, and big, things in life.
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