BLOOD OF THE VINES: ROSEMARY'S BABY

Wine Goes To The Movies
with NowAndZin.com and TrailersFromHell.com
"Rosemary’s Baby" gives us a glimpse of just how far an actor will go to get a role.  Make a deal with the devil?  Okay.  Pimp out your wife to Satan?  Hey, residuals are residuals.  The conflict between God and the devil really boils down to artistic differences.  They're both directors, and they each want a different ending.  Considering all the devil-worshiping in "Rosemary's Baby," some may want to watch it while drinking sacramental wine - naked.

John Cassavetes as struggling actor Guy Woodhouse displays a lack of moral character usually reserved for agents, or so they say.  Mia Farrow as his wife, Rosemary, shows once and for all that it's not paranoia if they really are out to... well, you know, screw you.

There's a lot of drinking in the movie, so you should feel right at home uncorking a bottle and having a hell of a good time.  Raise a special toast when Hutch says, "Have some more wine," this movie's "Hi, Bob" moment.

The Swingin' Sixties tone of "Rosemary's Baby" is set with Mia Farrow's groovy fashions and Vidal Sassoon haircut, and it gets kicked up a notch when Roman Castevet brings out that tray of Vodka Blush cocktails.

It can be argued that no woman in movie history ever needed - or deserved - a drink more than Rosemary.  After all,  the devil got to know her - in the biblical sense.  She needed a real drink, not that homebrew made from tannis root that Minnie Castevet kept pushing on her.  Tannis root, by the way, is not to be confused with the tana leaves that brought The Mummy back to life.

On to the pairing. Napa Valley's Stone's Throw Winery has a Cabernet Sauvignon called Rosemary's Baby, but it doesn't even have any devil imagery on the label.  There's a Rosemary's Baby India Pale Ale, but I don't see a craft beer working, either.  There’s no sin in having a beverage with a head - but what’s wrong with its eyes!!

As long as we're dealing with the devil's apartment, how about going downstairs to the devil's cellar?  The Chilean winery Concho Y Toro makes a wine by that very name, albeit in Spanish.  Casillero del Diablo celebrates the legend of the winery's founder.  They say he discovered some of his primo wine missing from the cellar, so he put out the word that the devil lived there.  That kept everybody away, except the ambitious actor who sublet it.

7 Deadly Zins, though, is my choice of wine to pair with "Rosemary's Baby," for obvious reasons.  It's actually named for the seven Lodi vineyards from which the grapes were harvested, not the seven deadly sins which can probably be repeated - chapter and verse - by anyone with a Catholic school background.

Before we close the page to resume our sinnin' and movie watchin', let's have a little fun.  I have one more wine to suggest for "Rosemary's Baby" - Tell Tom Evil Revved.

"The name’s an anagram."

If you're stumped, or just hate puzzles, come back next Thursday for the answer in Blood Of The Vines.



Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter.

WINE AND FOOD PAIRING: HAMBURGER

If you’re about to dig into a big ol’ hamburger and would like to pair a wine with it, think about what’s there besides the burger!

If you like a burger with bacon, try Zinfandel, Syrah or Tempranillo. All three are fruity red wines with either a spiciness or tartness which will pair well with the pork element.

For a burger adorned with ketchup, you can go jammy and spicy with Syrah, full and earthy with Cabernet Franc or fruity and spicy with Zinfandel.

If your burger is dressed with with Mustard or Relish, you might find Merlot's smokiness a good match. Cabernet Sauvignon might pair well, but it might be overkill, too.  A Beaujolais Cru orBeaujolais Villages will bring some light berry flavors along with the spice.

Burgers with onions and mushrooms call for Chianti or another Sangiovese-based wine.  Those Italian reds will bring cherries and peppers to the table.  Tempranillo's tart edge will hit the mushroom notes just right.

Your cheeseburger will find paradise with a Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir.  Both fit the profile for beef and cheese, but Beaujolais will score again with this meal in a wrapper.

Plain ol’ hamburger likes Merlot's fruity earth notes, while the black cherry flavors of a niceBarbera will also liven up the naked burger.

EDNA VALLEY VINEYARD CHARDONNAY PARAGON VINEYARD 2008

California Chardonnay- big, bombastic white wines full of oak and all that implies - is a style many wine drinkers have been shying away from in recent years.  The swing toward unoaked - naked, if you will - Chardonnays which emphasize the flavor of the fruit and the effect of the earth has left many old-line California Chardonnays holding the oak.

I’ll admit, I love the purity and minerality expressed in an unoaked or low-oaked Chardonnay.  Burgundy found long ago how much was to be gained by letting the terroir do the talking.  There are times, though, when you want a Chardonnay to get all hedonistic on you.  For me, the holiday season is that time.

After months of austere whites and fruity, bone-dry rosés, the arrival of that lip-smacking prelude to the Thanksgiving feast puts me in the mood for a big, creamy, buttery Chardonnay.  And I look to Edna Valley.

A place responsible for many of those austere whites which refreshed me through the summer, Edna Valley is also home to one of my favorite over-the-top Chardonnays, Edna Valley Vineyard.

A San Luis Obispo County favorite, the ‘08 Paragon Vineyard Chardonnay has a nose full of vanilla spice, richly layered flavors and a near-bracing acidity to make it a more than capable holiday choice.  It’s great with food.  Turkey is a snap for this wine, which even turns a handful of peanuts or almonds into a gourmet delight.

I had a bottle early in the spring, and it put me in mind of a holiday spread even then.  “The wood comes through in healthy fashion,” I wrote, “with strong notes of vanilla and traces of holiday spice.  This would be a great white on the Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner table.”

The wine shows a golden straw color in the glass, one that suggests there may be some oak at play.  The nose further reveals that influence with the spiciness.  Pears and some of those Edna Valley minerals also are apparent.”

The incredibly full palate is dripping with the sweet fruit flavor found in a can of fruit, like pineapple, pears or peaches in heavy juice.  There's more than a trace of lemon zest, too, and a razor-sharp acidity despite the creaminess of the mouthfeel.  So big is the taste, it may make you think there's an extra portion of something on your plate.

My bottle was on sale at a discount store for $13.  Its 13.9% abv, is a fairly moderate number, something many of us like to keep in mind during holiday entertaining.