Bottle Shock REVIEW

Last night I was lucky enough (OK, so I paid) to attend the San Francisco premier of Bottle Shock as well as a modern day interpretation of the Judgment of Paris.

Prior to the screening, we convened at Crushpad to taste 5 chardonnays and 5 Cabernet blends, to see if the current results would match or best the original 1976 tasting. At the same time, i wanted to present myself with a personal challenge and see if I could (accurately) guess which wines being tasting were French, and which were from California.

First, my tasting results, as compared to the crowd's popular vote at our recreation, and the results in 1976.

First, my results:

Chardonnay
My Place	Wine #	Popular Vote	Origin?
1st	Wine 2	2nd	France
2nd	Wine 5		CA
3rd	Wine 4	1st	CA
4th	Wine 3		France
5th	Wine 1	2nd tie	CA
Cabernet
My Place	Wine #	Popular Vote	Origin?
1st	Wine 6 but it was a very close battle with my 2nd place winner	2nd	CA
2nd	Wine 10	1st	CA
3rd	Wine 7		France
4th	Wine 9		CA
5th	Wine 8	3rd	France

Now that you're wonder what the hell these wines were, here are the actual bottles we tasted (and if they were tasted in '76, where they placed:

Wine #	Wine	Crushpad Result	1976 Result	Origin
Wine 1	2005 Gustavo Thrace	2nd (tie)	-	CA
Wine 2	2005 Girardin Meursault Charmes Du Dessus Premier Cru		2nd	France
Wine 3	2005 Puligny-Montrachet Clavillon Domaine Leflaive Premier Cru		8th	France
Wine 4	2006 Chateau Montelena	1st	1st	CA
Wine 5	2006 Freemark Abbey Winery	2nd	6th	CA
Cabernet
Wine #	Wine	Crushpad Result	1976 Result	Origin
Wine 6	2004 Freemark Abbey Winery Bosche Vineyard	2nd	10th	CA
Wine 7	2004 Chateau Mouton Rothschild		2nd	France
Wine 8	2004 Chateau Montrose		6th	France
Wine 9	2004 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars SLV	3rd	3rd	CA
Wine 10	2004 Ridge Monte Bello	1st

So now that I've completely confused you - a question:
Are palates demographically and attuned? It it in our genes to like particular wines, or is it what wines we have been given as we are training our palates?

Now! On to the movie! First, let me tell you how important it is to be able to bring wine in to the movies, particularly if the movie is, well, about wine.

Fortunately, the Sundance Kabuki has a wine bar with balcony seating, that allows you to order wine and food for your enjoyment in the theater. You might think that this is sacrilege, but what better to go with a campy soap opera treatment of the wine wars than a nice glass of wine & a nibble? They have done a great job revamping this San Francisco institution, and include soft liek seating with cocktail tables every two seats int he balcony. For all this cozy atmosphere, you only pay $1.50 plus food, which brings the ticket price to $11.50. Doesn't seem like much more than the Metreon if you ask me, and I'd pay that anytime. The wines by the glass could use a little help, but the food was quite tasty.

Bottle Shock needs to be viewed with a grain of salt. The producers were on hand to give us the backstory, as was Bo Barrett and Gustavo Brambila two of the main characters in the film.
I take this movie to be a reality TV show type spin on the true story of Chateau Montelana as well as Beau, his father Jim.

Telling the story of the 1976 Paris tasting requires a certain amount of camp treatment, and the producers were given creative license to...well...enhance their characters. What this amounts to is the portrayal of Bo as an ambition-less hippie at odds with his father. Yes, most of this is actually true, but the over the top performance of Chris Pine as Bo and Alan Rickman as British wine merchant Steven Sperrier just add to the hilarity.

My favorite moment in the movie was when Rickman takes a sip of the Montelena Chardonnay and makes a face as if he is eating dirt since he can't believe that this California swill could possibly be a palatable solution to the French domination in the wine market.

Take it for what you will, part soap opera, part realty TV. I loved it, just as I loved Sideways and give it 5 Chardonnays.