Vintage victory: You don't have to be a connoiseur to enjoy 'Bottle Shock'
A Parisian merchant’s scheme backfires when California wines win a tasting against French competition
Thirty years ago, a group of French wine experts at a Paris tasting crowned California wines over French competitors.
It was an underdog story for the ages, with the California vineyards playing the 2004 Boston Red Sox, down three games to none to the New York Yankees.
That tasting, now dubbed the “Judgment in Paris,” is viewed as a historic event in California wine history. There’s no denying it may even deserve a film that explores its roots and impacts. Unfortunately, “Bottle Shock” isn’t it.
Still, it’s a tart pleasure to see Alan Rickman, as wine merchant Steven Spurrier, sprinkle his dry British snobbery over delicious conversations about fine wine. “Wine is sunlight suspended in water,” Rickman intones, borrowing a line from Galileo.
Trying to drum up interest in his Parisian wine shop, Spurrier sets up the challenge, trying to stir interest in non-French varieties.
He even stirs himself to visit the California wine country, to learn how the New World has progressed in winemaking. But he can’t stop himself from dripping superiority over the wine-makers he meets.
In the Napa Valley, Spurrier gets to meet a succession of people whittled down to sketches. We have Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman), the gruff owner of Chateau Montalena, who’s going bankrupt while chasing the dream of producing a great chardonnay.
Barrett’s got a hunky son Bo (Chris Pine) who lacks focus, but possesses a great chin. Then there’s Gustavo (Freddy Rodriguez), a Mexican-American employee driven to make the wine his dad, a vineyard laborer, never could.
Then, as if answering fears that the story might risk plausibility, a battered VW Beetle chugs into the scene. Inside is Sam (Rachel Taylor), a gorgeous woman who wants to be an intern at the winery. She quickly becomes a source of jealousy between Bo and Gustavo.
What exactly a winery intern does is not clear, except for the scene where Taylor soaks her shirt while trying to wash a grape press. The men on their lunch break, watching her, are almost too distracted to chew.
Will the Barretts’ California chardonnay make a splash in Paris? Will the girl choose a boy and split up the friends? Will Pullman figure out a way to signal “stressed out businessman” without a queasy grimace that makes him look like the victim of bad fish tacos?
The biggest problem with “Bottle Shock” is that 10 minutes in, you already know the answers to all those questions.
As predictable as a glass of Gallo burgundy, this film’s pleasures are simple and direct. Viewers who delve as deeply into cinema as Spurrier delves into wine may just turn up their noses.
Movie Review
“Bottle Shock” ★★½ (Out of four) Rated: PG-13
Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman and Chris Pine star in director Randall Miller’s film on a taste test that changed the wine industry. 110 minutes. Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, some sexual content and a scene of drug use. Opens Friday in area theaters.
