Bottle Shock (2008)

The story of the early days of California wine making featuring the now infamous, blind Paris wine tasting of 1976 that has come to be known as "Judgment of Paris".

Director:

Randall Miller

Writers:

Jody Savin (screenplay), Randall Miller (screenplay),

Stars:

Chris Pine, Hal B. Klein, Alan Rickman

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chris Pine	...	Bo Barrett
Hal B. Klein	...	Shenky
Alan Rickman	...	Steven Spurrier
Bill Pullman	...	Jim Barrett
Jean-Michel Richaud	...	Maitre d'
Freddy Rodríguez	...	Gustavo Brambila (as Freddy Rodriguez)
Rachael Taylor	...	Sam Fulton
Eliza Dushku	...	Joe
Kirk Baily	...	Loan Officer
Dennis Farina	...	Maurice Cantavale
Philippe Bergeron	...	Pierre Tari
Bradley Whitford	...	Professor Saunders
Louis Giambalvo	...	George Taber
J.P. Gillain	...	Pierre Bréjoux (as Jean-Pierre Gillain)
Greg Collins	...	Trucker

Storyline

In 1976, Steven Spurrier, a sommelier in Paris, comes to the Napa Valley to take the best he can find to Paris for a blind taste test against French wine. He meets Jim Barrett, whose Chateau Montelena is mortgaged to the hilt as Jim perfects his chardonnay. There's strain in Jim's relations with his hippie son Bo and his foreman Gustavo, a Mexican farmworker's son secretly making his own wine. Plus, there's Sam, a UC Davis graduate student and free spirit, mutually attracted to both Gustavo and Bo. As Spurrier organizes the "Judgment of Paris," Jim doesn't want to participate while Bo knows it's their only chance. Barrett's chardonnay has buttery notes and a Smithsonian finish.

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Plot Keywords:

wine | chardonnay | wine making | napa | california | 

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Taglines:

Based on a true story of love, victory and fermentation.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, some sexual content and a scene of drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English French German

Release Date:

19 September 2008 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

California Wine with Love

Filming Locations:

Buena Vista Vinyards - 18000 Old Winery Road, Sonoma, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$277,839 (USA) (8 August 2008)

Gross:

$4,040,588 (USA) (17 October 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shocking Bottle, Intellectual Properties Worldwide (I), Unclaimed Freight Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The white car driving toward camera and out of frame immediately after the "Judgement of Paris" is a Jensen Interceptor.

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Goofs

Before the blind wine tasting, several cars of the make Citroen 2 CV are shown, among them the red-and-black "Charleston" edition which was not produced before the year 1981.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Bo Barrett: [voice-over during a vineyard pan] It wasn't always like this. Before Paris, people didn't drink our wine. I mean, my friends did. But you could hardly consider their palates discerning...
Bo Barrett: Hell, we were farmers... sort of...
[pan to empty bottles of Montelena label and several early twenties/late teens smoking hookah]

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Connections

Spoofs It Happened One Night (1934)

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Soundtracks

"Listen to the Music"
Written by Tom Johnston
Performed by The Doobie Brothers (as Doobie Brothers)
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records
By Arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

Great story with a bit of Hollywood editorializing

Yes, it may be a bit Hollywood-ized, but overall it's a fun film with a great cast. Alan Rickman is delightful as Stephen Spurrier (not portraying him as effete, as the real S. Spurrier complained of upon reading the screenplay), and Bill Pullman, Freddy Rodriguez, and Chris Pine all turn in great performances as well. Dennis Farina is an amusing and welcome addition if also because of his scenes with Rickman. One negative aspect is that the gorgeous and talented Rachael Taylor is not put to better use. Also, one very negative aspect is that the love plot is totally weird and seems an afterthought - the movie would have been a lot better without it.

That said, I really don't have other complaints, and I found the story interesting and basically just enjoyed the film. Sure, it may have some corny scenes, but geez.. when was the last time you watched a movie without a corny scene?? Just because you've seen the story before in, say, The Mighty Ducks, doesn't make it necessarily bad.

Also, for those who have issues with the facts of the story that have been changed, you can rent any number of documentaries on the story for free from your library - this film, might I remind you, declares itself "based" on a true story, which it is. I also highly recommend checking out George Taber's book, Judgment of Paris, which inspired this film.