Wine: Sunshine in a Glass

Red Red Wine by Roger Kirby

Today, we're celebrating a birthday so we'll be opening an excellent bottle of wine this evening -- possibly one of the bottles of Signature Red from Red Road Winery. They call this a soft merlot, and it's so smooth and drinkable that it goes down almost too easy.

As we are preparing dinner, we're talking about wine and some of the best films about wine. Most of the adult members of the Reeves clan really like A Good Year starring Russell Crowe as Max, the heir to a vineyard and chateau in Provence. The movie is delightful and based on one of my favorite books, A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle. Mayle has built a literary career writing about beautiful Provence, and he does so with great affection.

Another family favorite is Bottle Shock starring the remarkable Alan Rickman as an Englishman who owns a wine shop in Paris and who sets up a competition between California wines and French wines. Bottle shock is the jostling of the contents when wine is moved from place to place.

Set in 1976, this docudrama which also stars Bill Pullman and Chris Pine, is about the real-life showdown between California's wineries and their French counterparts. This event is what put California wines on the tables of restaurants around the world.

Another good film we recently saw was Somm [HD], a documentary that was filmed in 6 countries over a two-year period. The film follows 4 sommeliers as they try to pass the almost unpassable exam for Master Sommelier. The documentary makes becoming a rocket scientist seem almost easy by comparison.

You'll gain new respect for a sommelier after seeing this film, which is an education in itself. You'll certainly remember the phrase, "essence of black currant." In fact, over the holidays, we had a German Riesling and that phrase immediately came to mind with the first inhalation of the wine's aroma.

Takeaway Truth

Be sure and watch any or all of these with a glass of good wine in hand.

Note: Photographer's Webpage: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/theswedish