Bottle Shock and Digitasting Wines

 It's been a while since I last participated in a #FoodnFlix and I thought it was about time to join in again. I couldn't have picked a better time, as we were to watch the movie Bottle Shock, a 2008 film based on a true story.  We are being hosted by Eliotseats.com.  

The story is about the struggling California wine industry in the 1970s.  I love this setting as the background music is some of my favorite 70s tunes!  A British wine teacher decides to create a blind taste testing between French wines and American (Californian) wines during the American Bicentennial.  It's called the "Judgement of Paris" and it marks the way for the world to discover California wines.

The movie stars Christopher Pine, Bill Pullman, and Alan Rickman. Chris stars as Bo, the son of Jim Barrett (played by Bill Pullman.)  Alan plays Steven Spurrier, the British wine teacher.  I think each does very well in their roles and I loved the storylines which include romance, family struggles, and personal struggles.  In the end, this is a tale of how a little luck and a good product can take over the world.

Jim Barrett's Chardonnay beats the French Chardonnay for first place which stuns the French wine tasters. That's a magical moment in the film.  I checked to see if Total Wines had a wine from Chateau Montelena, the vineyard owned by Barrett.  They did, and ranging from $50-300 a bottle. Way more than I spend on wine.  The red wine was won by Stag's Leap and while expensive as well, there are some $18 bottles that sound promising.

The movie offered a lot of wine but not much in the way of food (there was a scene about Portuguese sardines and water crackers) although there was a fun wine tasting note: "I detect bacon fat laced with honey melon."  Spurrier has his first guacamole and Kentucky Fried Chicken, which he seems to like.  Here's a recipe I published on Grilled Pineapple Guacamole that was wonderful!

Since the wine tasting is what was featured in the movie, I thought I would share with you an experience I will be having in the near future.  I will be digitasting wine with Millesimes Alsace.  I received four boxes of four sample-sized wines from a variety of winemakers.  This will be the first digistasting with real wine.  The virtual conference will be held June 7-9.  Before the conference, I am able to meet virtually with the winemakers to ask questions about their wines.

This beautiful 5-minute video shows one of the vineyards at work.