Wine & The Movies!

I posted this on the Wine In My Opinion Facebook page yesterday and got some great feedback and likes.  On a Friday afternoon, after a long week at work, I thought it was fitting.  Most Friday nights, especially the hectic ones leading up to Christmas, I look forward to a relaxing glass of wine and a movie.  Thinking about it, wine plays a significant role in many movies.  Let’s look at a few

A blog about wine and movies has to start with Sideways.  I loved this movie so much I went out and bought it.  I like this movie for several reasons.

1.  I love the acting of all four of the central characters.  Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virgina Madsen and Sandra Oh are brilliant.

2.  It contains one of my favorite lines ‘I’m not drinking any f**kin’ Merlot“… or “If anyone orders Merlot, I’m leaving”.  You know I’m a huge fan of Merlot.   Here’s a few reasons why.  Sorry Paul, I love the Merlot.

  

3.  Paul Giamatti summed up all the reasons I like Pinot Noir better than I did.  I quote him a lot.

4.  This road trip between the two guys was the best road trip I’ve seen in the movies since Thelma and Louise.

 

Dom Perignon has made appearances in many movies, including many James Bond movies, but a movie you might not expect to have Dom Perignon featured is the Blues Brothers.  Dom Perignon is a classic champagne named after a Benedictine monk who did NOT invent the bubbly concoction, he improved on it.  When tasting it for the first time, Dom, who was blind, was noted as saying ‘Come quickly, I’m tasting the stars”.   In the movie of course, the waiter says ‘we have a Dom Perignon, ’71, for $120 … to which Jake replies, “that’ll be fine pal!”   Oh by the way, that same vintage of Dom Perignon can sell up to $1900 US today.  It was a good deal for $120

  

If you’ve ever watched Silence of the Lambs featuring Anthony Hopkins as Hanibal Lecter, no one could ever forget the line “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti”.  Now personally I prefer my Chianti with some fabulous pasta, but that’s just me.  And I like this Leonardo Chianti, it’s under $20 and comes in this spiffy looking basket.  And its a tasty Chianti.  For those of you that have never had Chianti, Chianti is a very dry wine.  Which is probably why I love it with pasta with lots of creamy sauce.  A great match.

 

And in the Godfather Part 2, did you know that Michael Corleone drank Bardolino at his sons Communion.  Bardolino is a medium bodied wine from the Veneto region in Italy.  The one on the right is the one available in our Liquor Store, and it’s from Masi.  Made from Corvina and Molinara grapes, this tasty Bardolino is under $15 and has really nice flavors of cherry, plums and spices.  It will compliment any tomato based dishes, including pasta, as well as cured meats and antipasto.

Well, we could go on and on… and I probably will write another blog about this one day…

What’s your favorite movie to enjoy a glass of wine with?

Till next week, Cheers

Darlene