Bottle Shock (2008)

Director:

Randall Miller

Writers (WGA):

Jody Savin (screenplay) &
Randall Miller (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 September 2008 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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".

Plot Keywords:

Wine | Wine Making | Airport | Paris France | Father Son Relationship

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Chris Pine	...	Bo Barrett
Alan Rickman	...	Steven Spurrier
Bill Pullman	...	Jim Barrett
Rachael Taylor	...	Sam
Freddy Rodríguez	...	Gustavo Brambila
Dennis Farina	...	Maurice
Eliza Dushku	...	Joe
Miguel Sandoval	...	Mr. Garcia
Bradley Whitford	...	Professor Saunders
Joe Regalbuto	...	Bill
Hal B. Klein	...	Shenky
Kirk Baily	...	Loan Officer
Phillipe Simon	...	Claude Dubois-Millot
Philippe Bergeron	...	Pierre Tari
Jean-Pierre Gillain	...	Pierre Brejoux

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Netherlands:6 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Hong Kong:IIA | Australia:M | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Shocking Bottle

Trivia:

Bill Pullman lost his sense of smell after a head injury and two-day coma.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the Napa wine makers all scramble to meet Stephen Spurrier with their bottles of wine, one person is clearly offering a prop bottle of "Canadian Club" whiskey as if it were a wine.

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]

Movie Connections:

Spoofs It Happened One Night (1934)

A great story not a great screenplay

I admire the producer for making and bringing this story to the public. Few who enjoy wine these days know why there is such a selection of good wine at their store. However, I was disappointed. It is such a good story that could have been so much more of a movie. It lacked the passion needed. This is probably the most important event in the history of the international wine industry and in making wine a part of regular life in the United States. Only at the end is the scope of the competition's event given any recognition by Spurrier (Rickman). A documentary would have done a better job of telling this story and keeping the fact intact.