Pulling The Cork

Can New Movie Bring Merlot Back From Sideways Slide?

"I am NOT drinking any F&*$#ing Merlot!" - Miles in Sideways

And with these 7 words Merlot went sideways among most American wine consumers.  Movies can be powerful influencers when it comes to human behavior and without question these words changed the perception of Merlot in America.  While I like the movie Sideways very much I really dislike how it maligned Merlot...and Cabernet Franc for that matter.  I intend to write a post in the near future on Merlot so I won't go into detail here but the bottom line is Merlot gets a bad rap for sure. 

A new movie titled Merlove may just help Merlot get out of it's sideways slide.  Here is some info on the movie direct from it's site:

Merlove is a documentary celebrating Merlot wine in response to the movie Sideways...The bottom line is good wine is good wine and bad wine is bad wine, but that should not stop the adventure. The message of Merlove is that no single grape varietal should be singled out as superior or inferior to others. Enjoy as we interweave documentary style filmmaking with the animation of a bottle of Merlot wine named “Merlove” who must find a way to fill itself with love when aimlessly tossed into the ocean of mediocre Merlot wine.

We want people to know that Merlot is ready to be loved again by all and remember that every vintage has a new story to tell...

So, pop open a bottle of Merlot you like, give it a short decant and enjoy this trailer.  You might just be helping Merlot experience a revival.

Corked The Movie - Invoking The Spirit Of Spinal Tap

Came across this a while back but with this wine mockumentary gaining some momentum and set for wider release (I believe) in August I thought I would share it here.

Corked is a movie that, in the genre of This Is Spinal Tap and Best In Show, ridicules and mocks the world of wine.  To me I am not sure you can beat Spinal Tap for this genre of movie but the makers of Corked (@corkedthemovie for the Twitterati) are certainly doing their best.  Oliver Styles at Decanter.com profiles the cast of characters:

Characters in the film include Jerry, the independent winemaker ('eventually, I'll be the hospitality host – if I ever get a tasting room'), the marketing boss ('I certainly don't have to drink wine to sell wine'), Donald, the PR director of a large winery ('this is our provincial Italian courtyard - many people feel it evokes Tuscany...I like to think of it as a French chateau') and Dane, a vineyard manager with a 120dB bird scarer. 

Dane is looking like a scene stealer in this film but you know how misleading trailers can be.  While the trailer looks hysterical PTC is hoping this isn't all there is to Corked as is so often the case with movie trailers.   For your viewing pleasure, here is the trailer!

Attention Wanna Be Winemakers - The Winemakers On PBS

Well maybe I am late to this party but have you heard about the new reality show set to air on PBS September 1st called The Winemakers?  You have?

Really, you have?

Well I guess I have been under a rock or something because I was clueless about this until I visited this Paso Robles web site getting a few minor details gathered for an upcoming post on a Sauvignon Blanc from Clayhouse.  When I Googled it the only blog I found that mentioned it is Drink The Good Stuff. 

From the About The Show section of the website:

THE WINEMAKERS will plunge a diverse group of twelve men and women head first into one of the most uniquely challenging and rewarding professions in the world: the business of making wine.

Over the course of six half-hour episodes, this real-life cast of characters will experience every aspect of the wine industry from the ground up — with one goal in mind — to win the chance to launch their own wine brand.

It is set in Paso Robles and if you are thinking you might want to be on the show they are casting for season 2 now. 

I have to admit I am probably going to check this out just to give it a taste (ha, pun intended).  Based on the videos on their website it does look interesting and since it is about wine it can't be all that bad can it?  I guess it could be - have you seen The Great American Road Trip?  Ouch!

I am a bit of a reality show junkie but I only give a reality show one episode to get me interested and hooked.  If it doesn't, I move on to something else like re-runs of Full House or something.  So The Winemakers gets one shot to make me want to come back. 

One of my fears with this show is that it will end up completely downplaying and over simplifying the blood, sweat, tears and soul that winemakers and vineyard owners put into crafting their wines.   It seems most things on television and in movies these days get dumbed down so much that the reality goes missing missing from reality TV.  Even in movies this is true where, in the interest of supposedly making a movie more interesting or relevent, filmakers take liberties with the truth and mess up a perfectly great story.  See Bottle Shock for a wine related example of this. 

The Winemakers might be a standout compared to many other "not so reality" shows because it is on PBS.  For the most part PBS programming is more genuine and "real" than most.

If you're still reading and want to see a clip from the series, one of 10 on the website, I chose one below that I liked the best.