I love wine. I like to think I know wine. But I also know I do not know all that much. There's too much to know. When I go to the places where these guys work, I trust them to help me get things right. That's what they do, its beautiful and it is absolutely an art.
These guys chasing the MS designation...THEY know a LOT about wines. More than any one else in the world. Seriously. They have to, just to be invited, even if they don't pass the test. Its brutal.
If you have sat for the Bar or the CFA or something similar, then the tale told here will ring very true. Its the same sort of obsessive all consuming effort required to get prepared.
The film gets very close to conveying what it takes and the methods used to even get to the testing table. And the Fraternity of the participants is absolutely one of the greatest messages that comes out. Its competitive but not in the 'I win you lose' sense. If you can raise yourself to the highest level of expertise in the world then you have a chance of passing. These guys are great.
There's a couple of slow moments but overall this keeps moving by portraying the toll on relationships and the character of all concerned.
Now I cannot judge whether a non-wine person would find it as emotionally immersive as someone that knows just what the hell they are talking about. The fluency and speed of interaction may all pass as a blur that gets boring after the tenth time, I dunno. But for me and the others in the theater, we were rooting for the contestants and making choices of winners and losers. Undoubtedly at some point I will look up at the Somm and it will be one of the guys in this movie.
If you want to know the outcome, you'll have to go cuz I ain't spoiling it here!
