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We are a dwindling company: those who watched Whisky Galore on its first tour of the cinemas, with or without a dram in our hands. Not at all like Pilcher romanticism but probably just as good a tourist puller in its day. I was brought up in a society that visited each other ‘for drinks’. Once there one indulged in sherry, g and t, horse’s necks and similar driving limiters. Wine was barely known and then often called plonk in later years. So how could you expect me to become a consumer of wine let alone a connoisseur?
But I love to smell what everyone else is drinking and was doing this even before I watched French Kiss. The scene where Meg Ryan (Kate) describes the flavour, taste and feeling of the local red to Kevin Kline’s Luc has long impressed me and I try to find these notes in the wines I am allowed to smell. But I don’t drink it.
In spite of being a teetotaller I can still appreciate the draw of wines. The work, the luck, the geography, the business. And it is lovely to be able to combine wine with going to the cinema, a simple pastime I do indulge in.
The films listed here are the best known though not necessarily most accurate in their presentation of the wine world. There is rarely a film which manages to be absolutely 100% accurate and compromise or lack of insider knowledge of the consulting experts can lead to unfortunate blunders, another cinematic pastime and one which does not combine successfully with wine. And so the job of continuity girl will live on and be knocked: freshly shaven soldiers in battle, disappearing trousers in Love Actually. But she is not to be blamed for getting years, names, labels and provenances mixed up. But not to worry. Films are also entertainment. And when combined with a little taste bud amusement an evening of relaxation and enjoyment can be guaranteed. So get out the crystal and a favourite bottle and let yourself be carried away:
French Kiss: wonderful Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline played off the screen by the French scenery.
Sideways: you didn’t know what hit you till it was over.
A Walk in the Clouds: OK, I admit it. I think Reeves is good, a bit like Mitchum.
A Good Year: amusing, warm, oh yes I think Russel Crowe was in it. But then so was the French scenery again.
Bottle Shock: the Judgement of Paris in 1976 and the background story with Rickman and Pulman.
Others have suggested J’ai epouse une ombre and The Secret of Santa Vittoria as films with a story to tell whilst Merlove has been mentioned as a very informative and entertaining documentary.
JK Clouston for GourmetPortal, 2009
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