This wine pours up dark purple, with a matching head about one finger tall. It's a pretty pour. The nose is more complex than your garden variety grocery store Lambrusco. There is a ton of fruit showing, like cherry and strawberry flavors a la Jolly Rancher. The palate has darker fruit, black plum, currant and licorice. It’s fizzy for just awhile, so get your bubble thing on in a hurry.
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Vicki asks, "Why settle for ordinary when you can enjoy a glass of history, culture, and craftsmanship?" She reminds us that "the four cups of wine aren't just about tradition - they're about creating memories, laughter, and connection."
Eight-Day Passover Holiday Begins Apr 12 - Apr 20, Celebrating Freedom
The holiday is celebrated with festive meals. Part of the celebration includes the Seder - a dinner at which the story of Passover is told, commemorating the slavery of the Israelites in Egypt and their ultimate exodus to freedom. During the Seder meal, adults consume four cups of wine to symbolize the Ten Plagues that befell Egypt during the time of the Exodus. In many homes today, wine is the star of the Passover show. Forty percent of kosher wines are sold for the Passover Holiday.
The following are some of the wines under the Royal umbrella which she assures us will make Passover even more special.
USA:
· Herzog Generation VIII Cabernet Sauvignon Double Creek Vineyard Chalk Hill 2021: A rich, full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon from Chalk Hill's esteemed Double Creek Vineyard, showcasing the perfect balance of power and elegance (SRP: $200)
· Herzog Special Reserve Chenin Blanc 2023: A crisp and refreshing Chenin Blanc with notes of citrus, green apple, and honey, perfect for warm weather sipping (SRP: $35)
France:
· Great new 2022 vintage burgundy wines from Domaine du Château Philippe Le Hardi: A range of exceptional Burgundy wines, including the rare kosher Grand Cru Clos Vougeot, highlighting the region's renowned terroir and winemaking expertise (SRP: $65 - $500)
· Château Le Gay Pomerol 2022: A luxurious, full-bodied Pomerol from one of the region's most prestigious estates, boasting rich flavors of dark fruit, spice, and velvety tannins (SRP: $250)
· J. de Villebois Pouilly-Fumé Silex Blancs 2023: A crisp and mineral-driven Pouilly-Fumé, showcasing the region's signature flinty notes and citrus flavors (SRP: $50)
· Château Bellevue Morgon Grand Cras: A high-quality, full-bodied Beaujolais from the esteemed Morgon appellation, offering rich flavors of dark fruit, spice, and smooth tannins (SRP: $35)
· Clos Triguedina Probus: A flagship Malbec wine from the renowned Clos Triguedina estate in Cahors, boasting rich flavors of dark fruit, spice, and velvety tannins (SRP: $110).
Italy:
· Rocca delle Macie Chianti Classico: A classic, full-bodied Chianti Classico from the esteemed Rocca delle Macie estate, highlighting the region's signature blend of Sangiovese, Canaiolo, and other local varieties (SRPs: $25- $100).
Spain:
· Clos Mesorah and Elvi Wines release a very limited new wine from Garnatxa Nera (Grenache Noir): A limited-edition, full-bodied red wine from the esteemed Clos Mesorah and Elvi Wines, showcasing the rich flavors and velvety texture of Garnatxa Nera (SRP: $80)
Israel
· Feldstein- Dabouki Dry White Wine, Grenache Rose dry rose, Gilgamesh Dry red, & Cabernet Sauvignon dry red: A range of exceptional wines from the esteemed Feldstein winery, offering a perfect blend of quality, elegance, and value (SRPs: $50-$90)
· Gros: A selection of high-quality wines from the renowned Gros winery, boasting rich flavors and smooth textures (SRP: $45- $90)
· Naveh by Chateau Golan: A range of exceptional wines from the esteemed Naveh by Chateau Golan winery, offering a perfect blend of quality, elegance, and value (SRP: $50 - $85)
· Darom Cabernet Sauvignon- Vintage: 2023 | Dry Red Wine, Yatir Winery: A full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon from the esteemed Darom winery, boasting rich flavors of dark fruit, spice, and smooth tannins (SRP: $32)
Jay Buchsbaum, Royal Wine’s VP & Director of Wine Education notes, "The kosher wine industry has seen … incredible growth and industry accolades."
Increased variety: The range of kosher wines has expanded significantly, with more varieties, shades, and flavors to choose from. White, sparkling, and rosé wines are especially popular.
More kosher brands: There are now many more kosher brands to choose from than in the past.
Boutique wineries: A new trend is the emergence of kosher micro-wineries in Israel, often founded in people's garages. These small, family-owned wineries are all-kosher.
Organic and sustainable wines: Some kosher wineries are certified for organic grapes, sustainability, and carbon footprint.
Higher quality: Kosher wines have evolved from cloyingly sweet to well-balanced and complex.
Buchsbaum adds, "Kosher wine is made with the same fermenting process as traditional wine but only uses kosher-certified ingredients. The creation of kosher wine must be supervised and conducted by Sabbath-observant Jews."
Pale Flower is a 1964 Japanese film noir, directed by Masahiro Shinoda. The film follows a gangster who meets a woman at a gambling room. She's that girlfriend who is a lot of fun, but is also a dead end street. "Danger, Will Robinson! Run, don't walk!"
Well, our gangster doesn't run, he doesn't even walk. He is attracted by this thrill-seeker, who drags him into her world of ever-increasing risk. Is it fun? You bet it is. Is it advisable? Hell to the no.
Be forewarned that Pale Flower has plenty of blooms that may upset a viewer. Crime, prison, sex, cold-blooded murder… everything a good film noir needs is there. All we need now is some booze to wash it down.
Grab a bottle of Pale Flowers for Pale Flower. It's a Grenache rosé from Paso Robles' Linne Calodo, pale enough to pass as Provençe.
The 1992 documentary, Baraka, takes us on a trip around the world without any narration or explanation. The visuals carry the load. We go from Big Sur to a coal mine, from the pyramids to a waterfall, from Tiananmen Square to the Vatican. It's a travelogue with just the travel, no logue. The images shown in Baraka are striking enough that words are superfluous.
Although your inner gangster may opt for whiskey, neat, you are probably adventurous enough to seek out the namesake Croatian wine for Baraka, produced across the Adriatic Sea from Italy. The Baraka Prisbus Riserva is a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend that's been in the cellar for three years and sports a very conservative label, no pictures.
Our third seldom seen film is from 2002, My Beautiful Girl, Mari. This Korean animation feature tells the story of one boy's summertime and his growth over that span. For me, that pivotal summer was after 6th grade. The sweet object of my affection that year turned up in 7th grade as a street-smart, gum-cracking wiseass. "Time to grow up, Ran. They're leaving you behind." Oh, she was still the object of my affection, only now she was sexy, too.
Mari shows our struggling hero coping with his troubles in a dream world where the sweet don't chew gum and nobody leaves anybody. How nice that must be.
Mari Vineyards is the namesake choice for a wine pairing. Hard to find, it's located in northern Michigan. Harder to understand, they grow Italian grape varieties, like Nebbiolo and Sangiovese, instead of the usual cold-climate stuff. Is this, too, a dreamscape?
It’s made from the grape of Beaujolais Villages, Gamay. Alcohol sits at 13% abv and it was only $9
This wine is medium garnet in color. The nose is quite fruity, loaded with plum, raspberry, strawberry, cherry and licorice notes. The mouthfeel is juicy and the tannins are soft. Flavors of red and black fruit dominate the palate, while the acidity is fresh and lively. It's great with a soft cheese or pasta and olive oil. Like most of the Beaujolais I've tried, it's also a good sipper.
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Terre del Casone Vermentino 2023 is a Toscana IGT wine, with alcohol at 12.5% abv and a price tag of only $7 at Trader Joe's.
This wine is a pale yellow in the glass. Its nose has notes of citrus, peach and pear, but mostly there is a blast of salt sea air in the sniff. There is a very nice salinity on the palate as well, with citrus leading the way as far as flavors go. The acidity is nothing to write home about, but I had mine with some crackers and a homemade raita. It was fine. I would not want to waste crab or lobster on it, though.
Operation Mad Ball is a military farce from 1957. Quine had some great actors in this film. Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs, Mickey Rooney, Arthur O’Connell, Dick York, James Darren, and an uncredited Mary Tyler Moore in her first screen role. He also had Blake Edwards as a co-writer.
The film takes place at a U.S. Army hospital in France. A big dance is planned, the titular Mad Ball, in an effort to keep post-WWII morale high. A nosy captain who plays everything strictly by the book does everything he can to screw morale into the ground. Isn't that a captain’s job?
More was made of the army hospital scenario in M*A*S*H, on big screens and small, but perhaps 1957 was "too soon" for a comedy about Korea.
It’s just the right time, however, to pair a Quine movie with a wine that has his name on all over it. Domaine Le Quine is in the exquisite southern Rhône Valley. Their Saint Mark's Cross is a GSM blend, heavy on the Grenache and light on the Syrah, with Mourvèdre in the middle.
Kim Novak and James Stewart may have been feeling a bit dizzy from Vertigo when they teamed up, again, less than a year later for Bell, Book and Candle. This 1958 romantic comedy is set in Manhattan, during the Christmas season. Quine spins the story around a subculture of witches there. He also lets Jack Lemmon take off with a bongo solo in the local witch and warlock hangout.
Witches aside, it is a beautifully shot movie and makes a great way to kick off the holiday season, if you don't concentrate too much on the meaning of the title. A bell, book, and candle are used in excommunication rites, so linking that imagery with the Christmas season may seem a bit Grinchly.
Because of the feline costar of Bell, Book and Candle, Pyewacket became a popular name for cats. Apparently, cats are closely bonded to witches - chalk up one more reason to be a dog person.
Carlsbad, California's Witch Creek Winery, is loaded for bear in the cat department. Le Chat Blanc would seem to be the white witch, while Screaming Kitty, their 2008 Proprietary Red blend, features Petite Sirah, Zinfandel and Primitivo. Their Chateau Neuf Du Cat screams sour cherry and a puff of smoke. Let us know if a witch appears when you open the bottle. It sells for $23 and is available only through the winery.
Hotel is the 1967 adaptation of Arthur Hailey’s bestseller. Quine directed with stellar performances from the likes of Rod Taylor, Karl Malden, Kevin McCarthy and Michael Rennie.
There’s a lot going on at the fashionable St. Gregory Hotel. The property is losing money like a degenerate gambler, there's a burglar getting into the guest rooms, the hotel detective is dirty and the elevator is on its last legs. Stir in some sex and corporate intrigue and you have a recipe for a good two hours of entertainment.
Considering all the troubles that arise in the film, it’s no wonder the hotel had a permanently lit “VACANCY” sign out front. One note if your stay there is going well: don't take the elevator.
Wine and hotels go together like wine and cheese. In fact, if your hotel doesn’t have an evening wine tasting hour to remove the edge from a day of complete relaxation, find another travel agent. Temecula’s South Coast Winery even has a spa, and they’re pretty big in the wedding business, too. If you’re okay drinking some f&%$#ing Merlot, they have a nice one for $40. They even show off their terroir with a Tempranillo-Monastrell blend and a Touriga Nacional. Beat that, Napa Valley.
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The 2021 Luigi Bosca De Sangre Malbec was made from Malbec grapes grown in the loamy, sandy, stony soil of Lujan de Cuyo DOC of Argentina, at the foot of the Andes Mountains. It has been made there since 1991, a collaboration of engineer Alberto Arizu and winemaker Pablo Cuneo. The wine was aged for 12 months in oak barrels. Alcohol is 14.4% abv and the retail price is $32.
This wine is dark garnet in the glass. Aromas of blackberry, plum, and cassis grace the nose, along with some oak spice. The palate has plenty of dark fruit, a savory edge, and very firm tannins. It pairs nicely with any kind of beef, especially a steak with lots of fat. I also tried it with a spicy pasta dish, but I found that the tannins fought with the spice a little too much. Beef that has been salted and peppered is the better choice.
The 2023 Luigi Bosca Chardonnay was made from 100% Chardonnay grapes grown in various vineyards in Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina. Part of the wine was aged in French oak barrels for six months. Alcohol settles at 13.6% abv and the wine retails for $20.
This wine has a pale yellow tint to it. The nose offers aromas of lemon, apple, and nectarine. Acidity is great. The palate has citrus minerals and minimal oak notes. It has a clean, refreshing finish and a full mouthfeel.
1959's The Savage Eye is a drama and a documentary rolled into one picture. It examines how a divorced woman lives, set against a backdrop of Los Angeles city scenes. A trio of directors worked on the film during their weekends over a few years. It may have been a clever ruse to avoid taking the kids to Disneyland, but it worked out.
The divorcee isn't so gay. In fact, she finds herself cut off from the world by her failed marriage. Her views of L.A.'s not-so-soft underbelly are not exactly the stuff of which the tourist guides are made.
Savage Grace is a $35 Malbec from Dineen Vineyard in Washington’s Yakima Valley. They call it Côt instead of Malbec, in the fancy French way. The wine may be the only fancy thing about your viewing of The Savage Eye.
The 1973 French film, The Mother and the Whore, makes the most of France's nonchalant attitude towards les rapports sexuels, or as we say in the U.S. of A, sex.
A man, his wife, his lover, a lot of sex talk and a ménage à trois. What could go wrong? I'm reminded of the golf joke in which a couple of guys are plodding along behind two women who play slowly. One tells the other to go up ahead and ask if they could play through. The guy comes back and says, "I can't ask them. It's my wife and my girlfriend." The other says, "Okay, I'll go." He returns and says, "Small world, isn't it?"
That joke may take the long way around a sexual dogleg, but at least it's not as long as the movie's three and a half hours. Of course, who am I to downplay three and a half hours of sexy subtitles?
The easy pairing is Ménage a Trois, but I try not to recommend six dollar wines. Gerard Bertrand makes a $25 Grenache/Syrah/Cinsault rosé called Chou Chou, which is a French term of endearment. By the end of the movie, nobody is calling anybody by a term of endearment, but cheers anyway.
Do the Right Thing is Spike Lee's 1989 slice of a hot and turbulent Brooklyn summer. Lee produced, wrote, directed and acted in the film, er, joint, his third release. There are a few laughs along the movie's two hour length, but don't expect any at the end. The slice of life ends tragically as racial tensions heat up and boil over.
You could crack open a bottle of Absolut Brooklyn, but we do wine pairings here. I think Spike would be okay with me pairing a Pinot Noir from Esterlina Vineyards of Napa Valley. I think this, because he has already paired that $65 bottle with his own films. Esterlina is the largest African-American winery in the country.
The 2022 Vint Pinot Noir is made primarily from Pinot Noir grapes, with some Syrah thrown in to beef up the blend. Yeah, I was surprised, too. A major winemaker who actually admits to putting Syrah in their Pinot Noir. Go figure. Alcohol stays low, though, at 13.5% abv and this bottle cost me $5, on sale from $12.
This wine is medium dark purple in the glass. Its nose is somewhat muted, but what's there is fruity. Cherry, raspberry, strawberry and plum notes abound, with a trace of vanilla also coming through. The palate shows barely a hint of black tea, with the dark fruit overpowering everything else. This is where the raspberry is the strongest. It's a smooth sip, with soft tannins and a refreshing acidity. I paired it with my beef bourguignon and it was quite nice.
This wine is colored yellow-gold. I found the nose to be strange, with apple, pear, and nectarine aromas up front, followed by an odd scent of vanilla and butter. It has a hint of the smell of the butter offered on popcorn at the movies. The palate gives the fruit center stage as well, with oak notes a bit more prominent. The acidity is nice and the mouthfeel is full. It's not a wine I will seek out in the future, even though I rather like buttery Chardonnay.
If you think making movies is a dream job, 1995's Living in Oblivion is for you. Steve Buscemi stars as an independent filmmaker who fights problem after pitfall after predicament to get his picture completed. It was the film debut for Peter Dinklage, by the way.
Hollywood may be the stuff that dreams are made of, but dreamy, Living in Oblivion is not, even though some of the scenes turn out to be imagined. Nightmarish is probably closer to the truth.
I think everyone dreams about their job, and it's not always a good dream. During my time in radio, nearly every one of my colleagues has told me of their "radio dream," which usually involves trying to accomplish a complicated feat before the song ends. I'm sure it's the same with accounting, pushing a broom and selling shoes. It's the same with movies, too, according to this film.
There are hundreds of wineries in Paso Robles, and every damn one of them extols the virtues of Paso's wide temperature swing from day to night. It's what makes the grapes so good. Oblivion Cellars jumps on that bandwagon in describing their Cabernet Sauvignon, which is available in most places for less than $20. Dreamy.
Let me start by disclosing that Matinee, 1993, was directed by the Chief Guru at Trailers From Hell, Joe Dante. He is the guy who opens the emails containing my little articles each week, laughs his way through them, hopefully, and sends them off to be placed on the website. So, naturally, I think Matinee is the best movie ever made. Ask me about Citizen Kane and I'll tell you, "Well, it’s no Matinee."
Seriously, Matinee is a great movie, dripping with more movie-buff treats than Cheez Whiz on theater nachos. It has a permanent place on the "must watch" list for my wife and me. But as good as Matinee is, who among us didn't want to see a full-length version of Mant!, the movie within the movie. As half-man half-ant movies go, it's either Mant! or Ant-Man, and I'll take Mant! all day long.
New York state's Fulkerson Winery has a name-check wine for our film. Matinee is a white wine made from the Himrod grape. Yeah, it stumped me, too. Himrod is a hybrid cross of Ontario grapes with seedless Thompsons. It's sweet and special, like Matinee, but it's probably tough to find on the West Coast.
Day for Night is one of François Truffaut's best films, and it's generally considered one of the best movies ever. The 1973 rom-com not only has a great director behind the camera, it's got Jacqueline Bisset in front of it. Any movie with Jacqueline Bisset in it has a lot going for it already.
It's about the making of a movie, and all the melodrama that goes along with such a foolhardy endeavor. The title of Day for Night comes from the photographic stunts used to film a scene in daylight when it is supposed to look like night.
Even as a kid, I could tell when the night scenes in those old B movies had been shot in daylight. I didn't know the tricks of photography that made that happen, but I knew it when I saw it. It was the hallmark of a low-budget film. It was also something I grew to love pointing out when I saw it, to the sorrow of everyone who ever went to the movies with me. "Shut up, know-it-all!"
Commune of Buttons is an Australian winery in the Adelaide Hills. Making my job amazingly easy, they have a rosé called Day For Night. It's made from Syrah and Chardonnay grapes, which is an unusual combination. The winery says it's savory and it pairs well with pickles. I don't know why that made me laugh, and I don't know why anyone would shop for a wine to pair specifically with pickles, but here we have it. It runs about $30, pickles not included.
Salento is an area in southern Puglia. It is the sun-soaked heel of Italy's boot shape. The wine's name, 12 e mezzo, means twelve and a half in Italian, which is the alcohol level found in the bottle. That's lower than most other wines from Apulia. Primitivo is the Italian equivalent of what we call Zinfandel, and it is a 100% varietal wine.
After malolactic fermentation, the wine was aged in American oak barriques for about three months. Alcohol at 12.5% abv means you can have an extra glass without getting too tipsy. The price isn't too high, either, about $20.
This wine is colored medium ruby in the glass. The nose gives bright cherry, red plum, and raspberry aromas, with a hint of chocolate and a faint herbal note. The tannins are medium firm and the acidity is zippy. This will pair nicely with a spaghetti sauce, meaty or marinara, and should go nicely with some of the chocolates from the Valentine box.
The 2023 Delicious Monster is composed of estate fruit. The mix of grapes is 60% Chenin Blanc and 20% each of Muscat and Chardonnay. Alcohol sits at 12.5% abv and it costs $6 at Trader Joe's.
This wine is pale greenish-yellow in color. Its nose offers abundant lemon and lime aromas, along with floral and herbal notes. The palate shows apple, pear, and peach flavors, along with a healthy dose of citrus minerals. The acidity is quite good and the sip is clean and fresh. Load up on this before springtime.
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The Cat Man of Paris was Republic Pictures' contribution to the horror of 1946. The story involves an author whose writing is getting him into trouble. We've seen this before, but bear with us. A librarian gets clawed to death, which is not the way it's supposed to go for librarians. The Dewey Decimal System is supposed to be a safe career path.
People start giving the author the side eye for some reason, but they really get nasty when his ex meets the same fate. It's pitchforks and torches time. His current gal pal is given a gun by his friend. I think we can look up "MacGuffin" the next time we are near a dictionary that hasn't been clawed up or spattered with blood. I won't spoil the ending for you, but the gun and the friend who gave it to her end up in the same obituary.
We have to go here with a rosé called La Nuit Tous Les Chats Sont Gris. That translates roughly to "At night, all cats are grey." That may be due to the work of the cold-hearted orb that rules the night, or it may not. But who am I to turn down a rosé that is almost from Provence?
In Cat People, a man marries a woman who is afraid she will become a killer cat if she has sex with her husband. That takes "I've got a headache" to a new level. I'm guessing this wasn't what they meant by a "lady in the parlor, tiger in the bedroom." When I think of cat people, I think of that crazy lady down the street who has about 27 of them living in her one-room apartment.
I hear that Cat People, the 1942 original, in glorious and shadowy black and white, was shrugged off as a cheap horror flick by critics of the day. Since then, though, they have started calling it a "smart little drama," maybe after a few glasses of wine. Over the years, the film has become a cultural touchstone. It has left its paw prints in the Library of Congress and is even in the New York Museum of Modern Art. Not to mention the references all over the Internet. That's one place where a kitty feels right at home.
Let’s get our claws into a wine pairing for Cat People. Napa's Black Cat Vineyard quotes Mark Twain: "If man would be crossed with a cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat." Meow! Normally, we look for dogs at wineries, but this one went the other way. Their top shelf Cabs run $120, which is also what their bottom shelf Cabs run.
If you want a sequel, here comes 1944's The Curse of the Cat People. Don’t dig in, though. Although several of the characters and actors from Cat People appear, the story is completely detached from the original and cats are all but inconsequential. The film is more like a fairy tale than a horror movie and as TFH guru Joe Dante suggests, it may have been better suited as a Disney production.
The ghost story has a complicated plot and leans heavily on a child and her imaginary friends. I'm not opposed to children, or imaginary friends, but it seems this flick should have had either a different title or a different script.
Hirsch Vineyards has a Pinot Noir called The Bohan-Dillon, made with grapes grown in western Sonoma County. It's good, I'm told, but what really gets it listed here is the label art featuring a black cat prowling through the tall grass. $45 if you can find it.
The winery uses grapes from Central Coast regions stretching from Santa Barbara County to Monterey County. They don't say which specific region gave the grapes for their 2021 Seaglass Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon, but they came from somewhere in the huge expanse of the Central Coast region.
Alcohol is restrained, at just 13.5% abv and the price was right. It was $13 at Pavilions, on sale from $20.
This wine is a very dark purple, more like indigo, in fact. The nose offers a bushel basket of fruit. Blueberry, plum, currant, and blackberry aromas are abundant. There is a hint of oak, but it stays well in the background. The palate is just as fruity, but there are some savory notes of earth, licorice, and black pepper. A hint of chalkiness is in the flavor profile, but it, too, stays somewhat undercover. The tannins are useful, but not bothersome, while the acidity perks up the taste buds nicely.
The 2022 Robert Mondavi Vint Private Selection California Chardonnay is made largely from Chardonnay grapes, with a touch of Muscat Canelli in the blend. Alcohol hits 13.5% abv and I got it on sale for $5 at Pavilions Market, down from $12.
This wine has a pale golden-green tint in the glass. The nose throws off some lively apple, pear and citrus notes, while bathing them in a buttery vanilla scent. Fruit is forward on the palate, and the buttery oak is pleasantly present, not overpowering. The mouthfeel is full, while the acidity is fresh. The lush flavors linger on the finish. Pair this wine with seafood or salad, or even with a chicken or pasta dish in a creamy sauce.
Descriptions cannot do 1977's Eraserhead justice. You may not understand it, but you'll sure as hell never forget it. The first full-length film from David Lynch features a weird dude who is almost incapable of behaving like a human. Even weirder is his offspring by the Beautiful Lady Across the Hall. The baby-sized creature makes the most annoying sound one can imagine from a living thing.
Speaking of sound, the whole movie has white noise growing throughout. When it abruptly ends, the silence is deafening. Lynch's title character gets his name from a sequence in which his disembodied head falls on the street and cracks open. A kid gathers it up, takes it to a pencil factory, and it is made into erasers.
Back in the Golden Tan Summer of '77, a buddy and I traveled an hour and a half to see Eraserhead at an art house in Houston. We were mystified, but not disappointed, by the movie. If you have never seen Eraserhead, you should strap in and prepare for what may well be the strangest film ever made.
Eraserhead is a term used in vineyards, believe it or not. It describes a bud on a grapevine before it opens. Unfortunately, we don't make wine from eraserheads, we make wine from grapes, preferably good grapes.
Lynch designed the packaging for the 2003 Dom Perignon Brut. It runs close to $300 and often sells only in half-cases. The boxed version reportedly had little velvet curtains that rose by pulling a drawstring on the side. The Lady in the Radiator is extra.
The talk of 1986 was, at least in movies, Lynch's magnum opus of weirdness, Blue Velvet. My close friend Tom took his girlfriend to see it during its opening weekend. He called me on Monday, advising me to see it, while warning me not to take a date. "Don't let the title fool you," he said. "It's not a date movie."
It is a disturbing film, but after seeing Eraserhead, I expected nothing less. Many critics panned Blue Velvet, citing its extreme violence, brutal sexuality, and dreamlike quality. Their views have largely mellowed over the years. Now the film is hailed as a masterpiece. Maybe the critics were inhaling whatever Frank Booth was having.
Dennis Hopper's Frank Booth is the most unhinged and deranged character of the Hopper pantheon. His psychotic violence and reliance on some sort of gas, which he huffs from an oxygen mask, are both horrifying and spellbinding. If you think to yourself, "Hey, I once knew a guy like that," you are lucky to still be alive.
Kyle MacLachlan, who played Jeffrey Beaumont in Blue Velvet, owns a Washington state winery called Pursued By Bear. Their 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is a fine accompaniment for the film. It sells for $70. You won't find it on the wine list at This Is It, but you won't find a wine list there, either. Just order a Pabst! Blue! Ribbon!
In 1980, The Elephant Man brought Lynch to commercial and artistic success. The story of Joseph Merrick, a severely disfigured man in 19th century London, was critically acclaimed and a big hit at the box office. The film garnered a heap of Oscar nominations, notably for Best Picture and Best Actor for John Hurt. However, no wins resulted.
At the time, the line, "I am not an animal. I am a human being," became a part of pop culture. Mostly used by ignorant people trying to be funny, the phrase was often spoken in tortured bellowing, cheaply imitating Hurt's incredibly moving performance.
The movie was actually produced by Mel Brooks, whose name did not appear in the credits for fear movie-goers would expect a comedy.
New Zealand's Elephant Hill winery sells a red blend for $150. It's called Hieronymus, which means it will also pair if you're eyeballing some Dutch masterworks, or binge watching Bosch again.
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The 2023 Satis Dei Syrah Garnacha from the Exclusive Art Collection had me hoping high. I love Spanish wines in general, and Garnacha in particular. Satis Dei was made from 55% Syrah grapes and 45% Garnacha, grown in the IGP Tierra de Castilla region. The wine spent six months in French and American oak barrels. Alcohol hits 14% abv and it costs around $9 at TJ's.
That pretty label to which I alluded features a miniature version of an abstract work by Argentine artist Mauricio Lencina, Illogical Forms #2. The winery says the piece helps us understand "the voluptuousness of the wine." Having it mounted on a stave of oak would further illustrate the palate.
This wine is dark purple/garnet in the glass. The nose offers up considerable black fruit, such as blackberries, plums, and blackcurrant. It also offers up considerable oak effect, even though the wine's exposure to wood was minimal. The oak comes through heavily on the palate as well, obscuring some nice dark fruit flavors. The artwork on the label is nice, but the artwork inside the bottle can't live up to it.
The winery's history covers seven generations of Italian winemaking tradition. In 1924, Angelo Cetto came from Italy to Mexico, creating Bodegas Cetto in 1928. Luis Agustín Cetto led the way, then his son Luis Alberto Cetto, and today the seventh generation is carrying on the family legacy.
The 2022 L.A. Cetto Estate Bottled Chardonnay has alcohol at 13% abv and sells regularly for $16. I paid $5 at a sale run by Pavilions Market.
This wine is yellow-gold in the glass. Aromas of apple, apricot and mango are tinged with a bit of funky earthiness. The palate shows ripe fruit and oak effect which are nicely balanced. The mouthfeel is lush and creamy, and acidity is in the medium range. The aftertaste leaves apple and citrus notes. Salad is an easy pairing, but I'd love it with a creamy risotto.
