We also have wine pairings from ghost wineries for these films. These are winemaking outfits which were doing good business in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Then came phylloxera, or fire, or Prohibition, or The Great Depression. Some wineries were able to trudge through the bad times and come out on the other side. Some were not so lucky. Some are back in business today, having been resurrected by an angel who had the money, time and inclination to care for a field of neglected grapevines.
A Haunting in Venice is another Kenneth Branagh take on Hercule Poirot. The movie is an adaptation of an Agatha Christie book, one that fell short of many Herculean fans' expectations. Mr. Branagh: Please leave Dame Christie alone.
In this film, the great detective pays a visit to an opera singer's Venice palazzo for a Halloween party. Perfect timing, since the place was once an orphanage where children died of neglect. What's that? Is that a little child ghost I hear?
Buena Vista Winery is the second oldest winery in California. Founded in 1857 by a wily Hungarian immigrant named Agoston Haraszthy, the winery went bankrupt 20 years later, after his death. This is one ghost winery which really does have a ghost, so they say. The founder's apparition reportedly still roams around the barrel room when it thinks no one is looking. Their 2021 Sheriff of Buena Vista will pair nicely with the Belgian detective at a cost of $55.
1982's The Entity was directed by Sidney Furie and starred Barbara Hershey. The story - of a woman who is assaulted repeatedly by an invisible entity - was based on actual events. Sort of like The Exorcist with clippings. There was a ton of backlash at the time, with women's groups railing against the depiction of the violence. Since then, it has attracted a cult following and is now seen as an allegory of the way women are victimized. It's not a pleasant movie to view, and it's hard to write something snarkily funny about it, so pardon this paragraph's lack of laughs. There simply aren't any there.
Freemark Abbey was one of the first wineries in California that was founded by a woman. Her name was Josephine Tychson, and she started the business in the 1880s. Today, the wine is made by a woman as well. Their Restoration blend of Bordeaux grapes costs just a bit more than a Benjamin.
The Uninvited, a 1944 Ray Milland classic, features a story about a woman who is haunted by her mother. A lot of women can say that about mom even though she's still alive.
A brother and sister buy a house with an ocean view, and the ocean view proves to be the only good thing about the property. A young woman becomes a frequent visitor after being drawn in by the memory of her mother, who fell off the cliff years ago and got an even more close-up view of the ocean. Excitement? There's a ghost, a seance, a heart attack, a psych ward stay, an identity switcheroo and, well, there's that cliff again. Plus, it is my wife's favorite ghost movie. So, it is also mine.
Did someone say cliff? Vine Cliff Winery is on Napa’s Silverado Trail. Most of what you see there today is reconstructed. Fire consumed the original winery, which was built in the 1870s. Vine Cliff goes full blast today, with a $125 Oakville Cabernet Franc as one of their more enticing offerings.
No comments:
Post a Comment