Blood Of The Vines - Night Frights

Pairing wine with movies!  See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell. This week, our trio of films are not for those who are afraid of the dark. If you are, don't be scared of our wine pairing for each.

In 1972's The Night Stalker, Darren McGavin plays a newspaperman who has been around the block a few times. Kids, newspapers were actual paper publications which contained the news of the day, or night, as in this case. McGavin's Carl Kolchak was the star of this Movie of the Week, and later of the TV series Kolchak, The Night Stalker.

Our scribe finds himself on the police beat in Las Vegas, where showgirls are turning up dead, their blood drained from their bodies. Could it be a Vegas vampire? Most of the ones I've met worked the blackjack tables, where they sucked the bills from my wallet. Not that I'm a sore loser.

This case was handed to Kolchak by Metro, who wanted no part of the horrors they anticipated. If you want to find vampires, as the song says, the nighttime is the right time.

The Stalker Pinot Noir comes from Oregon's ROCO Winery. The name actually derives from the winemaker's time in Australia, where the grapevines are called stalks. You can stalk this Willamette Valley Pinot for $45, if you think you can stomach a big, bold Pinot Noir that isn't from California. If you have a problem with it, just call Kolchak.

Night Gallery was the 1969 pilot for the television program, hosted and partly written by Rod Serling. By the time Night Gallery appeared, times had changed enough that he no longer stared into the camera with a cigarette between his fingers.

The pilot - and the ensuing episodes - consisted of three segments, each of which was represented by an oil painting in the gallery. Serling delivered his introductions while standing before the paintings, like a macabre docent. One of the segments in this hour-and-a-half pilot film was the directorial debut of one Steven Spielberg. He went on to gain a bit of fame on his own.

While Serling's intros were delivered in much the same style as his oft-imitated Twilight Zone cadence, they seemed a bit threadbare in comparison. The tone of the show also had changed, from TZ's sci-fi slant to a more supernatural approach.

Let's find some really artsy wine labels for Night Gallery. Château Mouton Rothschild has commissioned genuine, real live, authentic painters to adorn some of their labels since 1945. Big names like Picasso, Dali and Hockney have splashed a little paint for the Rothschilds over the years. Unfortunately, you won't be able to pick up a bottle at Gil Turner's on the way home. They are sold at auction each year, for anywhere from four to 20 thousand dollars a case. I understand if you take a pass on this pairing suggestion. I know you have to budget for wine tariffs.

Nothing But the Night, from 1973, stars Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Here's where I pause to say "All hail the great Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing!" That will keep my wife happy for another week. She's a big fan. 

This film flopped in its initial release, and the years have not been kind to it. It's set on a tiny Scottish island, which is about the best thing reviewers had to say about it. Cushing got some kudos for his performance, but everybody else in the cast was labeled a stiff. Even the fair amount of children in the movie got thrown under the bus as lifeless mannequins. 

To clarify, the kids didn't actually get thrown under a bus, but the bus driver surely won't ever hit that turn signal again. The kids go to a school for orphans, and the institution's trustees start dropping one by one. The movie tries to milk some real concern out of viewers, but the process of getting to the bottom of the mess of murders is where we may let our thoughts wander to what we have in the fridge that would be good to eat right now. Or what we may have in the wine rack that needs opening. 

Cushing reportedly suffered from nyctophobia when he was young. That's a fear of the dark. Go figure, huh? He cured himself by taking long walks, late at night. Ooh, scary. Napa Valley's Night Wines has a Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon with just a kiss of Merlot. Dracula fans will note that the midnight-y wine takes a bite out of your wallet, to the tune of $150. 

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Award-Winning Red Blend From Virginia

One of my favorite wine states is Virginia. There is such a wide spread of varieties being grown there. I've sampled Virginia grapes that represent Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Loire, the Rhône, Spain, and Italy. Not to forget, of course, the all-American Norton grape. The good grapes in Virginia are abetted by good winemaking practices, as well.

I was blessed with samples of the winners from the 2025 Governor's Cup event, which started in 1982. A Zoom call featured the makers of the 12 wines which made this year's Governor's case, the top dozen bottles from the event. I have written a lot recently about the white wines. Now let's look at one of the reds.

The 2021 King Family Vineyards Mountain Plains Red is made of 45% Cabernet Franc grapes, 37% Merlot, and 18% Petit Verdot, all estate-grown fruit. Winemaker Matthieu Finot was born in the Rhône Valley, so he knows his way around a few red grapes. 

The wine was aged for 22 months in new barrels made of oak sourced in France's Troncais forest. Alcohol content is 14% abv and it costs $85.

This wine is a dark purple in the glass. Its nose is amazing and complex. Blackberry and blueberry aromas meet with anise, tar, tobacco, earth and vanilla. The palate is deep with dark fruit and oak spice, while the tannic structure is firm. I made a killer tomato sauce with this wine. It goes to show that you should use the best available wine for cooking. 

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A Big Grape From Virginia - Petit Manseng

While writing about wine over the past 16 years, I have been fortunate to taste wine from around the world, and from nearly all 50 US states. Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming are the only four missing from my American wine itinerary, and I would love to hear from any winemakers in those states.

One of my favorite wine states is Virginia. There is such a wide spread of varieties being grown there. I've sampled Virginia grapes that represent Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Loire, the Rhône, Spain, and Italy. Not to forget, of course, the all-American Norton grape. The good grapes in Virginia are abetted by good winemaking practices, as well.

I was blessed with samples of the winners from the 2025 Governor's Cup event, which started in 1982. A Zoom call featured the makers of the 12 wines which made this year's Governor’s case, the top dozen bottles from the event. Here we have some truly great Petit Manseng.

The 2023 Winery at La Grange Petit Manseng was fermented completely in French oak barrels. The varietal wine is made entirely of estate Petit Manseng grapes, from Catherine's Vineyard. 

Winemaker Seth Chambers says his Petit Manseng is planted on a hill of fill dirt from a construction effort, and he credits the poor soil with making his vines struggle to greatness. This is a big grape in Virginia, different from where I live in California. Alcohol resides at 13.6% abv and the wine retails for $39.

This wine has a rich golden tint in the glass. The nose offers evidence of the oak vinification, but it also carries aromas of stone fruit and a nutty citrus minerality. The palate has an almost racy acidity on top of the apricot, peach, and nectarine notes. The wine finishes long and savory. It will pair well creamy pasta dishes, chicken, or a bowl of rice and beans.

The 2023 Valley Road Vineyards Petit Manseng is a varietal wine that was grown in Valley Road's Mountain Glen Vineyard, in Virginia's Monticello AVA. Winemaker Corry Craighill fermented the wine in neutral oak for the winery's first-ever vintage of the Petit Manseng grape. Alcohol hits 13.5% abv and the retail is just under $31.

This wine has a rich, golden color to it as well. The nose features apricot, lemon, grapefruit aromas, laced with plenty of minerals and a savory salinity. The fruit comes on so strongly that it hits my taste buds as almost sweet. The acidity is fresh and vigorous. On the long finish, that sweet aspect is just noticeable. Pair this wine with shrimp and grits. 

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Blood Of The Vines - Dead In The Water

Pairing wine with movies!  See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell. This week, we have three films about death in the murky depths. In the event of a water landing, the wine pairings may be used as life preservers.

Dead Calm is an Australian film from 1989. Great performances from Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill, and Billy Zane keep the movie afloat, along with some great oceanographic cinematography. Kidman and Neill play a couple who are out cruising the world on their yacht to try and forget their troubles. Natch. Isn't that what everybody does?

Trouble paddles to their vessel in the form of a guy who says he abandoned a sinking ship where all the others died of food poisoning. A likely story. Hubby rows off to find the soon-to-be shipwreck and discovers that the other passengers didn't die from something they ate. Wifey and the stranger are alone on the yacht, staying busy trying to kill each other. What a vacation. 

The wine pairing for Dead Calm has to be Australian, and I've got the perfect bottle. I consulted AI for some help, and AI says that Penfolds Grange Shiraz "is a favorite choice for premium yacht experiences." Well, at $800 a bottle, it had better be considerably more premium than the yacht experience in Dead Calm. 

Don't put your credit card away just yet. We have another top shelf wine for the 1978 Jaws parody, Piranha. The Roger Corman production, directed by TFH chief guru Joe Dante, requires a wine that will take a bite out of the ol' paycheck.

While Jaws had only one fish - okay, it was a pretty big fish - Piranha has a whole school of the fanged demons chewing up the scenery, and anything else into which they can sink their teeth.  A Piranha attack is something which has fascinated me all my life, and apparently Dante was similarly taken with the idea of a bunch of fish picking a carcass clean.

You have to love the script's plan to kill the piranhas by opening up the waste tank at a smelting plant and preventing them from making it into the open water of the ocean.  It may be the only time in movie history that industrial waste was penned as the good guy.  Did the plan go awry and allow the killers to spawn a sequel?  Does a fish have teeth?

For those of us who like really good wine, and don't care how much we pay for it, try Sine Qua Non's Piranha Waterdance Syrah. I'm not on their mailing list, but I hear this wine sells in some places for a little under $300. Don't ask me how, but it sells in other places for $1,800. I would love to join their wine club, but my wife would throw me into a pool of piranhas if I did.

1955's It Came from Beneath the Sea features a giant octopus that was made radioactive by nuclear testing in the Pacific. Stop-motion genius Ray Harryhausen did the special effects. This big mollusc makes the best of his atomic-age misfortune, pulling ships underwater, eating unwary beachgoers, and attacking the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Those who fight giant radioactive creatures decide that an electrified fence in the ocean is the answer. What happens when you electrocute a giant octopus? That's right, you just make him mad. It's the Godzilla Syndrome. 

You don’t need me to tell you that everything works out well, for the humans. The threat is neutralized, the bridge is saved, and all the Italian restaurants in North Beach have a special on polpo that night. 

So, have a nice Vermentino. Stellato makes a great single-vineyard Vermentino from Sardegna. It has the smell of the ocean, the hallmark of a good Vermentino. And it sells for about $30. That's a screaming deal, coming after the first two wines in this article.

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Award Winning Virginia Chardonnay

While writing about wine over the past 16 years, I have been fortunate to taste wine from around the world, and from nearly all 50 US states. Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming are the only four missing from my American wine itinerary, and I would love to hear from any winemakers in those states.

One of my favorite wine states is Virginia. There is such a wide spread of varieties being grown there. I've sampled Virginia grapes that represent Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Loire, the Rhône, Spain, and Italy. Not to forget, of course, the all-American Norton grape. The good grapes in Virginia are abetted by good winemaking practices, as well.

I was blessed with samples of the winners from the 2025 Governor's Cup event, which started in 1982. A Zoom call featured the makers of the 12 wines which made this year's Governor's case, the top dozen bottles from the event. 

The 2022 Michael Shaps Chardonnay is a varietal wine composed  of grapes taken from the Wild Meadow Vineyard. Cooler nighttime temperatures at this vineyard help preserve acidity. It is Shaps' second wine to make the Governor's Case. It is 100% barrel fermented and aged 15 months on the lees. Alcohol sits at 13% and the price is $28.

This wine is a lovely golden color. The nose carries plenty of lemon, citrus minerality, and a touch of oak spice. The palate has a good bit of acidity, lemon, stone fruit, and vanilla. It finishes long, full of citrus and a bit of apricot. This wine is made for seafood, but will also fit well with chicken or lemony pasta dishes. 

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Virginia's Take Of Right Bank Blend

While writing about wine over the past 16 years, I have been fortunate to taste wine from around the world, and from nearly all 50 US states. Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming are the only four missing from my American wine itinerary, and I would love to hear from any winemakers in those states.

One of my favorite wine states is Virginia. There is such a wide spread of varieties being grown there. I’ve sampled Virginia grapes that represent Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Loire, the Rhône, Spain, and Italy. Not to forget, of course, the all-American Norton grape. The good grapes in Virginia are abetted by good winemaking practices, as well.

The 2017 Barboursville Vineyards Octagon is a mainly Right Bank blend of 62% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Franc, and 7% Petit Verdot. Fermentation, under the guidance of winemaker Luca Paschina, was traditional. The blending occurred after a year of aging the three wines separately. Paschina graduated from the Enology Institute of Alba, Italy, and has 35 vintages at the Barboursville estate. Alcohol registers 13.5% abv and the wine retails for $95.

This wine is very dark. It has a fragrant nose, full of blue and black fruit, flowers, cedar, green pepper, and an underlying earthiness. The palate is fruity and rich, with blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. There is a bright acidity matched with gentle tannins. The finish is medium long and carries the fruit as a lasting memory. 

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