Bottle Shock

Based on true events in 1976, this movie tells the famous story of how French wine lost its claim to superiority to some Californian, Napa Valley winemakers. Alan Rickman plays Steven Spurrier, a British wine store owner in Paris. Struggling to attract any customers, he hits upon the idea of sponsoring a blind taste-test between French and Californian wines after hearing of their quality from a neighbouring American businessman (Dennis Farina). Holding a very low opinion of any wine not produced in France, he assumes the event will reinforce the quality of French wine while providing positive exposure to his store.

Arriving in Napa to select wines for the competition, Steven runs into Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman), owner of the vineyard Chateau Montelena and heavily in debt. He manages to sample his wine and receives Jim's assistance in tasting the wines from other vineyards in the area. Jim is resistant to the competition though, believing they are being set up for a fall in Paris. His son Bo (Chris Pine) is more positive, but tensions already exist between father and son. Meanwhile Gustavo Brambilia (Freddy Rodriguez) and Sam (Australian Rachael Taylor), employees at Chateau Montelena, provide some background to the passion and processes involved in making exceptional wine.

Most viewers would roughly know the end of the film before they sit down to watch it, but there is much fun and interest to be had in watching it come about. This is largely due to the performances of veteran actors Rickman, Pullman and Farina, who work off each other well and provide interesting and comical characters to watch. The younger actors also provide some interest to the story, with Rodriguez in particular able to elicit empathy from the viewer for his character.

The film is shot in a bright and airy fashion for the most part, with Paris coming off as dark and drab until the Californian wine arrives with its sunshine. The Napa Valley vineyards are filmed beautifully and revealingly, while the soundtrack also has a suitable selection of 70s rock and pop that adds to the entertainment of the film's story.

Bottle Shock is available now on DVD.

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