Bottle Shock (Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman, Chris Pine, Freddie Rodriguez, Rachel Taylor) – In 1976, a British wine shop owner, Stephen Spurrier, living in Paris decided to sponsor a blind wine-tasting contest pitting French and American wines. Unfamiliar with American wines, he heads to the Napa Valley to sample the mysterious fare of what were considered second-rate wine growers. Meanwhile, there were only a few vintners there and, while these wines were popular on the West Coast, few connoisseurs believed that U.S. wines could compare to the French. Bottle Shock is the story of one of those Napa vintners. Played by Bill Pullman, in his first major role in years, Jim Barrett has left his lucrative law practice to follow his dream to making the perfect wine at Chateau Montelena. He’s a perfectionist, workaholic, and stubborn to a fault. His son, Bob (played by Chris Pine), is a lazy, but good-hearted 1960-70s free spirit, who is working in the vines largely because he doesn’t want to go back to college or get a job. Jim is divorced and, after mortgaging himself to the hilt, becomes irate when Bo borrows money from mom to get his father the new barrels he needs. Father and son regularly get in the boxing ring both for real exercise and to exercise their personal demons.
Meanwhile, Spurrier traverses Napa, constantly amazed at the quality of the wines he tastes. Taking two bottles of all the wines he will consider to put up against the top French vintages, he sets up the contest in Paris with France’s foremost experts. (Beware of spoilers coming up!) Unable to easily distinguish among the samples, the experts vote for their favorite whites and reds. When the votes are tabulated, the winning wines … well that’s for you to watch. Bo, despite his hippiness, redeems himself in his father’s eyes and is chosen to represent the Napa growers in France.
Win or lose,the news of great American wines goes out around the globe, and California wines become an international staple. As they say, the rest is history. As Spurrier tells his close friend, Maurice (played by Dennis Farina), an American ex-patriot who owns a travel tour business next to Spurrier’s, the result of his taste-testing contest is the genesis of a trend where wines from South America, New Zealand, and even Africa become mainstream. The French pre-eminence had been broken. The movie’s breathtaking photography helps hide a relatively thin script. But the acting is excellent with Rickman (Die Hard, Galaxy Quest, The January Man, Sense and Sensibilities, and almost every Harry Potter movie) positively delicious as the self-important transplanted Brit. Pullman (Sleepless in Seattle, Malice, When You Were Sleeping, Independence Day) is surprisingly powerful and vulnerable. And the kids in the movie — Chris Pine (Smokin Aces) as the son; Freddie Rodriquez (Bobby, Poseidon) as the farmhand who knows and grows grapes; and Rachel Taylor (Transformers) as the beautiful intern who provides the eye candy for the film – hold their own and move the plot along. This is a wonderful, understated independent movie that I recommend to everyone.