wine Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Have you heard about this story yet? If you're a wine drinker, you know that the one thing that can stay on the shelves for years and years and actually get better with age is a nice bottle of red wine. Of course, the older the bottle, the more rare it is, and the more expensive it is to buy. Some people spend thousands, so just imagine how much a so-called bottle from Thomas Jefferson's stash went for? (Old Tommy was a huge wine connoisseur.) In 1985, someone from the Forbes family (Bill Koch) paid $156,000 for a bottle of 1787 Chateau Lafite Bordeaux, said to be from a collection of wine Jefferson stored in France.

Being a billionaire, Koch had the money to do the sensible thing -- an investigation to confirm that the wine was linked to Jefferson. His findings found the wine to be founding-father-free, and he sued the seller, Hardy Rodenstock. Now, there's a book coming out called The Billionaire's Vinegar, and Variety reports that Will Smith and the rest of the producers who brought us The Pursuit of Happyness (as well as the upcoming Seven Pounds) have bought the book's rights. This project will compete with HBO, who bought the rights to The Jefferson Bottles, a New Yorker article about the investigation. So far, however, there's no word on who will adapt, direct, or star.

The story, meanwhile, continues. Just this month, Koch's lawsuit was thrown out.

Too bad for fans of the book Judgement of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tastings That Revolutionized Wine. Its adaptation might be overshadowed in the same way that Infamous was overshadowed by Capote. Of the dueling films about the 1976 Paris Tastings, Bottle Shock seems to be taking the lead. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film begins shooting August 1 and it has just announced its principal cast. Meanwhile, I haven't heard much about Judgement in six months, despite the fact that it is supposedly the 'official' film about the event and had originally appeared to have the higher profile. However, according to Decanter.com, which has been following the clashing projects, Judgement producers Elizabeth Fowler and Clark Peterson are looking into suing the makers of Bottle Shock. So, maybe it is still too early to tell which film will hit theaters first.

Bottle Shock is not based on any book, but the project was commissioned by Jim and Bo Barrett, who own the Napa property Chateau Montelena. Montelena surprised many by coming in first in the blind Chardonnay tasting in 1976, which really put California vineyards on the map. The film will feature a varied ensemble of actors, including Bill Pullman as the owner of Montelena and Chris Pine as his son, who saves the winery by entering it into the tasting event. Alan Rickman has been cast as Steven Spurrier, the English wine merchant who organized the event, though his character could have a different name if Fowler and Peterson do in fact own all rights to the man's life story. Also in the cast are Elisha Eliza Dushku, who will play a bartender, and Transformers' Rachael Taylor, who will play an intern at the winery. The original script for Bottle Shock, by Ross Schwartz, has been rewritten by Randall M. Miller and Jody Savin, and Miller will be directing the film.

While it might not be the most interesting of topics to some, two new films on the same subject are gearing up to battle it out Capote style for a chance to be the first in theaters. In one corner we have Intellectual Properties Worldwide and Zen Haze Prods. who have just tapped Randall Miller to direct Bottle Shock, based off Ross Schwartz's screenplay. Pic will focus on the 1976 Paris Tastings where California wines seemingly came out of nowhere to beat the French. No, we won't get an actual battle with thousands of troops running towards each other, bottles of red and white in hand. Instead, there's a good chance of seeing a crop full of snobbish snots, their noses stuck deep inside each glass, with lots of twirling and note taking. Killer! Casting will begin early next year with an eye to shoot over the summer.

In the other corner we have a little privately financed indie based off George M. Tabor's Judgement of Paris. Robert Mark Kamen has been hired to adapt, with Clark Peterson (Monster) and Elizabeth Fowler set to produce. And yes, this project also focuses on the 1976 Paris Tastings -- apparently, a critical event in the history of California wine. No word on how far along Judgement is, though there's a chance they'll both be filming at the same time. Having learned everything I know about wine from the film Sideways (yes, I'm that guy), all I want to know is whether or not Paul Giamatti will play a part. God, I loved him and his little Pinot Noir fetish in that film. "I am NOT drinking any f**king Merlot!" Classic stuff.