Bottle Shock
The Next Sideways
By Ron Kapon
 I
loved Sideways and apparently so did most of America as it led to a
resurgence of Pinot Noir and lots of people visiting the Santa
Barbara area (the prime location of the movie) and drinking more
wine.
In 2006,
I attended a blind tasting conducted by The Wine Workshop in New
York recreating The Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the
Historic 1976 Paris Tasting that revolutionized wine (several of the
original judges attended this tasting). That is also the name of
George M. Taber’s book published by Scribner in 2005. But I am
getting ahead of myself.
George
M. Taber was a reporter and editor with Time Magazine for 21 years.
Stationed in Paris between 1973 and 1976, he wrote extensively on
French wine and cuisine. He was the only reporter in attendance when
Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, who owned a wine shop in
Paris and organized wine tasting and educational seminars decided to
pit the best of French wines against “those California newcomers.”
Spurrier was sure that the French wines would win easily as he sold
only French wines in his shop. He used mostly French judges
including: Pierre Tari of Chateau Giscours; Aubert de
Villaine of Domaine de las Romanee-Conti; Christian Vanneque
the sommelier of Tour Argent. Spurrier and Patricia Gallagher
of l’Academie du Vin were the non-French judges (there were
11 in total). However, the totals for Ms. Gallagher and Mr. Spurrier
were not taken into account, leaving nine French judges to rank the
wines. Leaders of the French wine industry banned Spurrier from
attending France’s wine-tasting tour for a year because of the
tasting results. The French press ignored the story but Frank J.
Prial writing in the New York Times and many other US publications,
picked up Taber’s Time Magazine story.
The
1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon finished first,
beating out Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1970; Chateau Montrose 1970
and Chateau Haut-Brion 1970 which finished second to fourth.
Chateau Montelena 1973 finished first among the white wines
beating out Roulot Meursault Charmes 1973. Third and fourth place
went to Chalone Vineyard 1974 and Spring Mountain Vineyard 1973
Chardonnay.
Bottle Shock — The Movie
There are certain moments in history
when America has proven itself to the world: Neil Armstrong setting
foot on the Moon; or the USA men’s hockey team beating the Soviet
Union in the 1980 Olympics. Would I place the 1976 Judgment of Paris
in that category? That depends on whether you love wine. The movie
Bottle Shock tells the story through the eyes of father and son Jim
and Bo Barrett. Jim Barrett, played by Bill Pullman, was a former
real estate lawyer, whose winery, Chateau Montelena, was struggling
until this tasting. His son Bo, who is now the winemaker, is
portrayed as a slacker and hippie (Chris Pine). Alan Rickman is
perfect as Steven Spurrier. Dennis Farina has a part solely written
for the movie. There is a love interest for Bo and a Latino
apprentice (Freddy Rodriguez) who now has his own winery. But why no
mention of Miljenko (Mike) Grgich who was the winemaker at Chateau
Montelena at that time? The vineyard scenes are fabulous using the
real outside of Chateau Montelena, but interior shots use several
Sonoma wineries. Since this was not a documentary there are love
scenes and several referrals to drug use. The movie is not adopted
from George Taber’s book (I understand he has another movie in
production using his book as the source) and the character of George
barely has anything to say in the movie. It is not until the crawl
at the end of the movie that we learn that Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
won in the red wine category.
I enjoyed the movie that could be called a “Love
Story to the Napa Valley and Chateau Montelena.” Just a few weeks
ago I read that the owners of Chateau Cos d”Estournel purchased
Chateau Montelena. The moral of this story just might be: If you
can’t beat them, buy them.
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