Bottle Shock

Here is another installment in a fun list of films introducing the rest of the world to a part of California many know very little about. The Napa Valley is only about an hour north of San Francisco, and is now well known for it's wine. But that was not always the case. This movie is about how that all got started, and many are surprise that is was not all that long ago.

Alan Rickman does a superb job playing a wine snob. He nails it. A Brit wine snob kept out of the inner circle of the then-dominant French wine industry hears that rowdy, upstart, Californians claim they have made wines as good as, if not better than, anything in France.

A contest during the American Bicentennial in 1976 is organized as a result. The now infamous "Judgment of Paris" is re-enacted as part of the film. Beautiful.

Bill Pullman and Chris Pine (the newest Capt. Kirk) play the father and son team who fought each other AND the French. They pull it off so well one might think they really are related. I wonder who they took notes from?

Freddy Rodríguez may not be the biggest star of the film but he is certainly the soul, the conscience, and the heart of the story. I've enjoyed everything thing young actor has done and I always look forward to seeing his work.

If you consider yourself a wine aficionado or just a enthusiastic amateur, you should enjoy this movie. But even if you know nothing about wine, like me, you can still catch even the finer points of the story.

Watch this movie with someone who knows thinks they know everything about Napa Valley.