The Wine Knows

I can only speak for myself, tim, but I had to Google to get back here. For the last couple of weeks I could only get to the main WinePressNW page. For those who are not busy with harvest, that could be part of it.

I will also add that after years of driving by the Hoodsport winery on Hwy 101, I stopped by today and tried some of their wines. The host gave me a list, from which I could pick 3. I tried the Angevine, which was pretty peppery, and then two fruit wines--the ones for which they are known...a Pear wine that was good, and a cranberry cordial. I bought a bottle of the Pear, which should go well with a wine and cheese gift I will be giving for Christmas.

I am here too, just too busy to reply to much. I am working full time in the wine lab and taking wine classes every night. I get home around 10pm dog tired. Once crush is over, I'll waste bandwidth and post some stuff. We have brought in about 50%.
David

But you knew that ...

Interesting topic spin. As for what Bottleshock can do for the market as in manipulate it. I would speculate more people will turn to Chardonnay again as a wine. (Far as I know people here in the NW love Chardonnay.) Cabs are already loved, but too bold for some. Often a big wine. It has earned its right as the King of wines, at least to most wine drinker.
What is interesting is how movies like Sideways and Bottleshock can manipulate the ebe and flow. These movies are typically "independent " movies that are seldom seen due to limited distribution. (Has it been to Easter WA yet? Hello wine country.) Maybe the DVD market has more impact.

Yes, Bottle Shock did play in Spokane for one week and was then pulled. It is still playing in 4 locations on the left coast (Seattle area). I didn't see any advertising in the Spokane area at all for the film and I didn't even know it was playing here until the day before the showings ended. That sucked! It will probably be 3 months before it hits DVD since it is still playing many parts of the country.

The funny thing about "Sideways" was that it really wasn't a movie about wine. It was a road/buddy movie about two friends taking a "bachelor" road trip before one of the characters wedding, that happened to be set in wine country, and one of the main characters happened to love pinot noir. What the writers did with the whole pinot noir story line was to draw upon the similarities, and create a metaphor, between pinot noir (a thin skinned grape, hard to grow, very finicky, but possessing endless layers of flavors and elements, very 'haunting' and brilliant, has to be coaxed to its fullest potential, etc...) and Paul Giamatti's character, Miles, who was also thin skinned, hard to understand, etc.). Miles was haunted by his ex-wife, who he had never gotten over, and he held out hopes that they would one day be together again - until he found out she was not only getting remarried, but was pregnant. He feared that she was the only one who ever truly understood him, just as he thought of himself as one of the few people who really understands and appreciates pinot noir for all of its complexities. Miles was sort of an elitist, a wine snob, all the while being very insecure. He found his "soul mate" in pinot noir. Mile's buddy, Jack, was a more simple character who was only out for immediate pleasure (getting laid before getting married), and I think the merlot references were really pointed at Jack. He was much more "simple", perhaps more immediately accessable, and less "evolved". I am sure the fine folks at Chateau Petrus (Petrus is a predominately merlot based blend), everyone involved in "Merlove", and the hundreds of wineries who offer top bottlings of merlot would beg to differ at the insinuation.

What will the impact of Bottle Shock have on the American wine consumer? Yes, probably chardonnay sales will increase, particularly California chards. For those of us who have "been there and done that", while we may revisit the California chardonnays, we will probably continue to search out the more rare and underappreciated varietals and many of the Rhone and Alsatian whites that are proving to be so haunting, brilliant, and endlessly fascinating.

Whatever the influences are that these movies (Merlove, Bottle Shock, and Sideways) will ultimately have, the bottom line is that they are drawing more people into the wine community and expanding the minds and palates of those of us who are already here. 4 years later, we are still talking about Sideways... I think it is a win win deal.

Cheers!
Tim

Bottleshock is not near the quality of movie that Sideways is: very little consumer response at the box office, dumped by critics, and practically offensive to watch and take seriously (IMHO). To find what it was that gave Sideways such leverage with the consumer, don't look further than the box office: $71m, which was in part due to the Oscar nods. Bottleshock, on the other hand, comes in at just over $3m. I doubt that at any point will Bottleshock have as heavy an influence on the consumer as Sideways. Just a guess, though.

Looking forward to Merlove.

Hey jlarosee,

I can't address the critique of Bottleshock since I haven't seen it, but I will admit, I loved Sideways. Not for the wine commentary or opinions (particularly on merlot), but for a great story line, superb acting, funny dialogue, and a setting that happened to feature some gorgeous Santa Barbara County wine country. I have been there (Los Olivos, Solvang, Buellton, etc) and it is a very cool place to visit. It is funny to me that so many wine people loathe Sideways and the so-called "Sideways effect" on merlot and pinot noir sales. Yes, that effect was there, but this wasn't a movie about wine! It was a buddy road trip movie set in wine country. I seriously doubt that the writer ever dreamed of having an impact on merlot or pinot noir sales. (Editorial note - I think it shows just how easily influenced the American public is by Hollywood, and how so many people will believe anything they hear or see on TV or the movies.... the fact that people would actually listen to the likes of Oprah, Matt Damon, Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, or any of the self-obsessed Hollywood elitists in the current political season never ceases to amaze me... but alas, I digress.... deeply digress....)

Your last line, however, addresses the real point of this debate. Will Bottleshock have an appreciable impact on the consumer? I think it will have some, and like I wrote above, I think this movie will have some impact on California chardonnay sales and perhaps spark some interest in the American participants in the "Judgement of Paris". I seriously doubt it will have anywhere the impact on chardonnay sales that Sideways had on pinot noir sales and consumption! Likewise, I doubt that Merlove will have that big of an impact on merlot sales - for two reasons. First, like your argument about Bottleshock, people actually have to see the movie for it to have an impact. These very low budget, limited release movies simply don't have a large enough audience to make much of an impact. Sideways, a low budget, festival, indie movie, is an exception to that. It happened to be good, and the movie going public figured it out from word of mouth. Second, if my memory serves me correctly, merlot is still the top selling red wine varietal in the US.

I will say, I have read some pretty decent reviews of Bottleshock and I am looking forward to seeing the movie. Not so much for historical accuracy, but for a fun movie that cheers on the underdogs and features one of my favorite subjects - vino!

Cheers!
Tim

This one looks like it will be lots of fun: merlove.com