Sideways<\/em> did, because it is not as outrageously crass as that prior movie, but it actually has a better and bigger story. I\u2019m not sure that the film makers were completely aware of this fact, however, because they spend an awful lot of screen time diddling around with mostly draggy and often irrelevant character moments. But the movie for me was ultimately saved by the charming and \u201ctriumphy of the human spirit\u201d story elements which are based on real events.<\/p>\nThe movie relates the story of how the Napa Valley wine industry was born, taking the Valley\u2019s vineyards from the expensive hobby \u2013 almost fetish \u2013 of some California farmers and idealists to the triumphat introduction to the global wine stage that occurred when Nappa vineyards defeated the dominant French wine industry at a 1973 blind wine tasting held outside of Paris. There is a lot of time wasted in the film in broken family-father\/son angst and interracial romance, and in scratching heads over the weirdness of the 1970\u2019s, but the movie manages to ascend these sidetracks to make for an enjoyable piece of entertainment that has something for the mind, something for the heart, and the sparkle of deep reds, golden whites and purple grape laden vineyards.<\/p>\n
As with Sideways<\/em>, I enjoyed everything in the movie about wine and winemaking. The whole wine thing in movies, seems to me to be a metaphor for the human nature thing. Our love and appreciation of something like wine demonstrates powerfully that men are not beasts, and that there is something called the beautiful that exerts a powerful draw on us.
<\/p>\nSimilar to a movie like The Perfect Storm<\/em>, Bottle Shock<\/em> is almost entirely about an arena and the people who inhabit it. Who are these people who slog away in the hot sun of Nappa, mortgaging everything they have to buy one more set of barrels all to get the most perfectly clear Chardonnay? The character stories the film makers manufactured here to satisfy the Hollywood formula of small world foreground story aren\u2019t particularly profound, but they work as part of the backdrop of the whole Valley life and culture. <\/p>\nAlan Rickman is perfect as the British wine snob who loves French wines, but loves wine itself more \u2013 which allows him to get past his disdain of the roughshod California ranchers to really experience the beauty and wonder of what they are bottling in Nappa. The other main draw of the film is the look and sweep of Nappa itself \u2013 the vines wrapping around gentle hillsides, the sun\u2019s rays finding a ripe purple clump of grapes, the lush perfection of a deep red vintage being poured into a glass. It\u2019s nice.<\/p>\n
The theme of the movie is expressed by Bill Pullman who plays a struggling Nappa rancher, obsessed with developing the perfect Chardonnay. He says to his young intern (slight paraphrase) \u201cWe don\u2019t water the vineyards too much, because it makes the vines have to struggle. Vines that struggle produce a tough grape and then a full-bodied, complex wine.\u201d Very cool.<\/p>\n
There is really nothing here people need to be afraid of \u2013 a quick out of wedlock tryst, and maybe one or two curse words \u2013 but both are appropriate in context.<\/p>\n
Bottle Shock<\/em> has a gentle, quirky aura. It\u2019s texture is alternately light and then surprisingly affecting. The aftertaste is pleasant and satisfying. You\u2019ll want to stock this one in your cellar.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bottle Shock, could do for Chardonnay what Sideways did for Pinot Noir. At least it will send wine Neanderthals like me surging out of the theater desperate to slake a strange new thirst for the Napa Valley golden wine that is the heart of this quirky little movie. Bottle Shock won\u2019t get the attention that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1121,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Not Much to Wine About<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bottle Shock, could do for Chardonnay what Sideways did for Pinot Noir. At least it will send wine Neanderthals like me surging out of the theater\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/2008\/08\/not-much-to-wine-about\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Not Much to Wine About\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bottle Shock, could do for Chardonnay what Sideways did for Pinot Noir. At least it will send wine Neanderthals like me surging out of the theater\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/2008\/08\/not-much-to-wine-about\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Church of the Masses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-08-15T14:51:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_q0DXFHA7NW4\/SKWa9iO7tfI\/AAAAAAAAA9M\/AXyhebknIaQ\/s400\/alan_rickman_bottle_shock_movie_image__3_.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Barbara Nicolosi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Barbara Nicolosi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/2008\/08\/not-much-to-wine-about\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/2008\/08\/not-much-to-wine-about\/\",\"name\":\"Not Much to Wine About\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-08-15T14:51:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-08-15T14:51:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/#\/schema\/person\/ba0f1b7b363d55ec96a9775380695055\"},\"description\":\"Bottle Shock, could do for Chardonnay what Sideways did for Pinot Noir. At least it will send wine Neanderthals like me surging out of the theater\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/2008\/08\/not-much-to-wine-about\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/2008\/08\/not-much-to-wine-about\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/2008\/08\/not-much-to-wine-about\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Not Much to Wine About\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/\",\"name\":\"Church of the Masses\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/#\/schema\/person\/ba0f1b7b363d55ec96a9775380695055\",\"name\":\"Barbara Nicolosi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/425c746b5615ed26d89d082ba5276d75?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/425c746b5615ed26d89d082ba5276d75?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Barbara Nicolosi\"},\"description\":\"Barbara Nicolosi is the Executive Director of the Galileo Studio at Azusa Pacific University. She founded the Act One programs in Hollywood (www.actoneprogram.com) and is an adjunct professor of cinema at Azusa Pacific University and Pepperdine University. Barbara is the co-editor of the Baker Books release, Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith and Culture.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/author\/barbaranicolosi\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Not Much to Wine About","description":"Bottle Shock, could do for Chardonnay what Sideways did for Pinot Noir. At least it will send wine Neanderthals like me surging out of the theater","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/2008\/08\/not-much-to-wine-about\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Not Much to Wine About","og_description":"Bottle Shock, could do for Chardonnay what Sideways did for Pinot Noir. At least it will send wine Neanderthals like me surging out of the theater","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/2008\/08\/not-much-to-wine-about\/","og_site_name":"Church of the Masses","article_published_time":"2008-08-15T14:51:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_q0DXFHA7NW4\/SKWa9iO7tfI\/AAAAAAAAA9M\/AXyhebknIaQ\/s400\/alan_rickman_bottle_shock_movie_image__3_.jpg"}],"author":"Barbara Nicolosi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Barbara Nicolosi","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/2008\/08\/not-much-to-wine-about\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/2008\/08\/not-much-to-wine-about\/","name":"Not Much to Wine About","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-08-15T14:51:00+00:00","dateModified":"2008-08-15T14:51:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/#\/schema\/person\/ba0f1b7b363d55ec96a9775380695055"},"description":"Bottle Shock, could do for Chardonnay what Sideways did for Pinot Noir. At least it will send wine Neanderthals like me surging out of the theater","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/2008\/08\/not-much-to-wine-about\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/2008\/08\/not-much-to-wine-about\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/2008\/08\/not-much-to-wine-about\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Not Much to Wine About"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/","name":"Church of the Masses","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/#\/schema\/person\/ba0f1b7b363d55ec96a9775380695055","name":"Barbara Nicolosi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/425c746b5615ed26d89d082ba5276d75?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/425c746b5615ed26d89d082ba5276d75?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Barbara Nicolosi"},"description":"Barbara Nicolosi is the Executive Director of the Galileo Studio at Azusa Pacific University. She founded the Act One programs in Hollywood (www.actoneprogram.com) and is an adjunct professor of cinema at Azusa Pacific University and Pepperdine University. Barbara is the co-editor of the Baker Books release, Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith and Culture.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/author\/barbaranicolosi\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}