Forever Blowing Bubbles

People sometimes don't give wine importers enough credit for what they do. The best importers are those with a nose for wine, who can sniff out good stuff through endless trials, then bring the product to us. Great importers like Kermit Lynch and Terry Theise are as important and as recognizable as great producers.  

Mack and Schühle are Miami-based importers who find great wine and pass it along at a fair price. Founded in 1939, the company expanded to the Miami office about a decade ago. They produce wine in Italy and Spain and distribute other wines globally.

Art of Earth is a global vintner which makes wine from organic vineyards the world over. Their line includes bottling from Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Argentina. 

The Art of Earth Organic Prosecco Frizzante hails from Veneto, in Italy's DOC Prosecco region. The grapes used here are 85% Glera and 15% other varieties. It is a gluten-free wine, non-GMO and organic. Alcohol sits low at 11% abv and the retail price is around $15.

This fizzy wine has festive bubbles which should be enjoyed before they dissipate. The nose shows apples, pears and a hint of citrus minerality. The palate brings a zippy acidity along with the salinity-laden fruit flavors. The feel is more savory than fruity, and that lasts into the medium finish. 

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A Breezy Sicilian White Wine

Donnafugata is a Sicilian winery run by a family who has been making wine there for 170 years. Their name comes from a novel called The Leopard, in which a queen, a fleeing woman - donna in fuga - finds refuge in the area of Sicily where the vineyards are located today.

The main grape in the Anthilia white blend is Lucido, or Catarratto Bianco Lucido as it is officially known. The winery decided to simplify the name in an effort to make it more likable.  Lucido is the second most widely planted grape on the island of Sicily, right behind Trebbiano. Donnafugata has been making this wine since the 1983 vintage. 

Grapes were taken from the Contessa Entellina estate, in the southwestern part of Sicily. The wine was vinified in stainless steel and aged in tanks for two months, with another two months in the bottle. Alcohol tips in at 12.5% abv and it retails for about $20.

The wine colors up as a light straw yellow in the glass. Its nose is quite fragrant, with explosive notes of peach and pear, white flowers and a nice touch of salinity. The palate is savory, with a strong streak of minerals draping the stone fruit flavors. The acidity is very brisk, which will make a nice pairing with seafood dishes, a Nicoise salad or creamy pasta. 

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Blood Of The Vines - On The Altar Of Altman

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 pour up some wine pairings for a few films directed by the late, great Robert Altman. He was a groundbreaker, a trailblazer, an innovator - and hopefully our pairings will be at least half as inspired as his movies.

California Split, from 1974, has been called the greatest movie ever about gambling, and that may be, despite some lofty competition like Ocean's 11, Molly's Game and Atlantic City. Las Vegas and the Jersey shore I get, but isn't everyday life a gamble in Los Angeles - even when you're not at a card house or a Native American casino?

Split is set in Reno, where many people go to gamble after they've seen Lake Tahoe. The movie captures the grimy essence of the gambling world and Altman's famous overlapping dialogue perfectly recreates the feel of walking a casino floor. Except, after the movie you still have most of your money.

If you're a fan of the card tables, you might try a wine from JAQK Cellars - the letters stand for jack, ace, queen and king. If you don't find those cards, you may not be playing with a full deck. Their main wine seems to be the High Roller Cabernet Sauvignon. Suuure it is. 

1971's McCabe and Mrs. Miller was the followup picture to M*A*S*H. For a smooth transition from California Split, we can make note that McCabe is a gambler who rolls into town and starts a whorehouse, and the original title of the film was The Presbyterian Church Wager. That notion was dropped after the Presbyterian church took offense.

Critics refer to McCabe as a "revisionist western" and Altman himself called it an "anti western." It’s set in a Washington mining town in the early part of the 20th century, which tends to give a nod towards a more modern time than the horse'n'buckboard era. 

The gambler hooks up with a lady hustler, and together they find that there is a fortune to be made in selling sex. However, when a fortune is made, someone always wants a slice of the pie. 

Here's a Nevada dessert wine made right down the street from a brothel. Too on-the-nose for you? I didn't think so. Check with Pahrump Valley Winery for this Port-style sipper.

Short Cuts hit the big screen in 1993 and won praise from many critics, while disappointing others. The bad reviews called it shallow and sexist, while the fans listed it as one of the best of the year. The movie raked in a number of awards, and it might have bagged more if '93 hadn't also been the year of Schindler's List. 

The script assembles a collection of Raymond Carver stories into a glimpse of life in Los Angeles during a time when the Mediterranean fruit fly was the worry that distracted us from the fear of earthquakes. Shallow? Us? Stop whining and help me get ready for my next audition.

For a movie which is basically an ode to L.A., how about a wine from the heart of L.A.? San Antonio Winery is the largest and oldest wine producer in the City of Angels, although the grapes are grown elsewhere these days.

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Make It Mateus

Mateus Dry Rosé is Portugal's leading wine export. Its makers claim that a Mateus wine is sold every 38 minutes around the world. Many people of a certain age fondly remember Mateus Rosé as one of their first wines. You may remember the squatty green bottle if you're old enough, but it is now sold in a clear glass, flask-shaped bottle. 

Mateus is made from Baga and Shiraz grapes. Shiraz is a grape most wine drinkers are probably familiar with, but Baga could be a new one for many. It comes mainly from the Bairrada D.O.C., where it is the main variety grown. Alcohol for Mateus tips only 12% abv and the wine generally sells for ten bucks or less. 

Mateus Dry Rosé colors up as a medium-pale orange, or salmon color. Red fruit dominates the nose - strawberry mainly - with plenty more of it on the palate. The acidity is brisk, and the fruit flavors are up front. It's not a complicated wine, but it is fairly tasty and may be your best bet for adding the Baga grape to your "have tried" list. 

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Canadian Sweetness

Inniskillin bills itself as Canada's original estate winery, founded back in the 1980s. The winery stakes out the breadth of Canada, with locations in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario and the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia.

The wine we have here is their 2017 Icewine, made from Vidal grapes. Icewine, if you are not familiar with it, is made from grapes which are harvested so late in the season that they are frozen. Nicholas Gizuk is the Winemaker at the Niagara location, and he produces several icewines, Vidal (oaked and unoaked), Riesling, Cabernet Franc and sparkling styles. Alcohol in the Vidal sits at 9.5% abv, while a 375 ml bottle sells for about $50.

This dessert wine has a lovely, rich golden tint. The nose offers candied apricot and honey, while the palate shows that yummy stone fruit and a touch of citrus, along with plenty of acidity.

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Blood Of The Vines - Auteur Week

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 select a few wines to put alongside films of auteur directors, filmmakers whose visions for the scripts were so strong that we credit them almost entirely for what appears on the screen.

A number of auteurs have become household names for fine artistes. Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini and Akira Kurosawa are among those cited whenever the topic of auteurs comes up. Any of them is worth a wine pairing, in my humble opinion.

Army of Shadows is a 1969 film about the French Resistance in World War II. Written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, the script was adapted from a book by a real Resistance fighter, Joseph Kessel. The movie was not received well by French critics, who thought Melville kissed up to Charles de Gaulle a bit too much for their liking. It wasn't released in the U.S. until 37 years later, when it was hailed as a masterpiece.

The film does not sugarcoat the Resistance, presenting instead a stark and haunting view of the danger those men and women faced as they fought to free their country from the Nazis. It's a testimony to them that the word resistance came into popular usage during the Trump administration.

During WWII, many French winemakers acted bravely to hide Jews in their wine cellars and prevent the country's premier wines from being looted by the Germans. Bernard de Nonancourt, the head of the Laurent-Perrier Champagne house, was a member of the Resistance. Let's blow the cork on any of their fine Champagnes to pair with Army of Shadows. You can find some of them for as little as $40.

1972's Aguirre, the Wrath of God was written and directed by Werner Herzog. The movie fictionalizes the search for the gold of El Dorado. It was shot in what must have been a hellish five weeks on the Amazon River. 

Klaus Kinski, who stars as the Spanish conquistador Aguirre, reportedly ranted and raved like a madman at Herzog over their differences in how Aguirre should be played. Kinski wanted the ranting and raving madman approach, while Herzog opted for something a little more low key. Herzog got his way, and some say Kinski acted at gunpoint, although Herzog denied the story. If it's even remotely true, that would be one ballsy auteur. Herzog and Kinski worked together again on four more films, so there must have been an attraction that rose above the threat of violence.

It would be easy to select a wine from the El Dorado AVA in California's Sierra Foothills for Aguirre and be done with it. I even found wines called Conquistador from Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Chile. However, a Spanish conquistador deserves a Spanish wine, one that may have been on board the Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria. Lustau's Don Nuño Oloroso sherry is dry, dark brown and rich, and available for around $25.

From 1974, Celine and Julie Go Boating is a French fantasy from director Jacques Rivette. There is a bit of Alice in Wonderland in it, along with other literary inspirations, and it has a title that probably loses something in the translation. For most of the movie, you’re wondering, "Where's the damn boat?" A lot of people like it, though, and it is quite highly regarded by critics, too. 

There is a fanciful friendship which becomes fueled by eating mysterious candies and taking trips to a house in another time. The young ladies attempt to unravel a mystery at the house and find that time follows them back home and lets them become auteurs themselves, rewriting the mystery. It is a trippy film, and fully deserving of a trippy wine pairing.

Shroom Wines claims to sell non-alcoholic wine made from the grapes you know and love with a bit of magic mushroom mixed in with them. I don't know if the laws governing psilocybin have been relaxed - or tossed aside - but the last time I had magic mushrooms, there was definitely an air of illegality about the whole affair. Well, trippy is trippy, and if you’ve got some Shroom wine on hand, or just some shrooms, schlagers!

 

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What Bubbles The Future Holds

This California sparkling wine is named after a card from the tarot deck, the one symbolizing harmony, joy and contentment - perfect for a nice bottle of bubbly. Banshee Wines makes an assortment of wines in Healdsburg, where they can be nearer to the Sonoma County vineyards where they source the fruit.

This non-vintage brut was made in the Méthode Champenoise, with secondary fermentation happening in the bottle. It was aged on the yeast for two years or more.  The grapes involved are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier, with alcohol sitting at 12.5% abv and a retail price of $30. 

This wine presents a thick, white froth upon pouring - and the fine bubbles stick around awhile. On the nose, green apples, pears and white flowers abound, with a healthy dose of minerals along for the sniffing. The palate also shows off a ton of the aforementioned fruit and some citrus minerality as well. The wonderful acidity will make this a sparkler that can do more than host a toast. You may want oysters or lobster with it. 

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Bending Branch Anniversary Blend

Bending Branch Winery is as close as it gets to being a beloved Texas institution - and Texans don't toss about their institutions lightly. The winery is so loaded down with awards and accolades that work should be underway for a new trophy room. Perennial favorites in newspaper and online reader polls, Bending Branch makes their wine in the aptly-named town of Comfort, along Interstate 10, between the rustic, laid back, hick chic of Kerrville and the Latino-flavored urban sprawl of San Antonio.  The town sprung up in the mid-1800s, a product of the influx of German immigrants into the central part of Texas.  

The outfit is headed up by winemaker Robert W. Young, MD, MPH. That last set of letters means he has a masters in public health. The good doctor, on a recent Zoom get-together, said that he is making an ice wine, probably the first and only ice wine produced in the state of Texas. He explained that a grower called him - quite some time after harvest - and told him that he had some Cabernet grapes still on the vines but it was freezing cold up in the High Plains. Dr. Young had the grower put the fruit on dry ice and send it to him. He pressed and vinified it just as they do up in Canada. 

The 2019 Anniversary Blend is a Texas High Plains wine which celebrates the 10th vintage for  Bending Branch. The grapes are one-quarter each of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot. Aging took place over 19 months in a 50/50 mix of French oak and neutral barrels.  Alcohol clicks only 13.9% abv and the wine retails for $75.

This inky wine has aromas of black fruit - berries and plums - laced with notes of oak. The clove, cedar, leather and earth that come through on the nose are almost overwhelming, but not quite. The palate shows off that dark fruit with a rich backing of mocha, coffee and black pepper. The tannins are quite firm and ready to tackle anything that's coming off the grill. The finish lasts a long time and leaves a fruity memory behind. 

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Blood Of The Vines - Happy Birthday Dustin Hoffman

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 pair wines with birthday cake for a trio of movies starring Dustin Hoffman.

Dustin Hoffman is now 85 years old. What birthday present do you give someone who has two Oscars and a large duffel bag full of other awards? A bigger duffel bag? We have all evoked Hoffman's roles at one time or another, anytime we have said, "I'm walkin’ heah!," "Are you trying to seduce me Mrs. Robinson?," "Ten minutes to Wopner" or "No, it's dangerous, it's very dangerous." More Novocaine, please.

It's a shame that none of those quotes come from the movies we're viewing this week, but I don't choose 'em, I just pair wine with 'em. If I did get to choose, Ishtar would be in the lineup.

In 1971's Who is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? Hoffman plays a songwriter, although a successful one rather than the hard-luck boob of Ishtar. 

Kellerman is one of those movies with an incredibly long title - like Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension or Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood. Hey, they can't all be Ishtar.

The critics' opinions ranged from one end to the other. Hoffman didn't get the credit when they liked it, but he also didn't get the blame when they hated it, so it all evened out in the end - which is more than can be said about the film.

Shel Silverstein appears, along with Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, and it was apparently a good pairing. They collaborated on a couple of unusual albums in ensuing years, before Hook turned to disco pop.

For a movie with a long title, let's find a wine with a long name. Nobody does long names better than the Germans, like the Dr. Hermann Erdener Prälat Riesling Alte Reben Lange Goldkapsel Magnum. What style of Riesling is it? Glad you asked. Trockenbeerenauslese.

Straw Dogs, also from 1971, pairs Hoffman with director Sam Peckinpah, so you know what you're getting into here. It is a hard film to watch, if you ask me. Two scenes in particular have drawn a lot of criticism and while you like seeing bad guys get their comeuppance, you hate to see a mild-mannered guy turned into a killing machine. Or, maybe you don't hate it. The movie is generally considered to be Peckinpah at his best, or worst, depending on your point of view. Hoffman's role shows a side of him that was unexpected at the time, even though '71 was the year that movie violence got turned up a notch.

We can pair a wine that comes in a straw basket with Straw Dogs. It's been years since I have seen Chianti packaged that way, but Banfi's Bell'agio brand still does it. Ten bucks! And there's a case discount, heh heh heh.

Lenny, from 1974, sees Hoffman turn in a stellar performance as troubled comedian Lenny Bruce. Hoffman gets a lot of praise for the way he portrayed Bruce. The critics who didn't like Lenny probably didn't like Bruce, either. Or simply didn't get him - which invalidates their opinions in my book. 

Hoffman obviously put in a lot of work in mastering the comic's nervous stage presence. So did Luke Kirby, who plays Bruce in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and one might wonder if he's copying Bruce or Hoffman.

There is a Dom Perignon named Lenny, but that's for Lenny Kravitz, a rockstar of a different era. In Oregon's Willamette Valley, you can get a Pinot Noir from the Lenné Estate, which may be as close as we can get to Lenny, unless you know of a Riunite laced with morphine. I don't. 

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Doing Backflips For Pink Wine

With the heat of summer digging in across much of the U.S., this is a great time to look for a cool, refreshing rosé wine. It's a great time to drink pink. And here we have a rosé over which you'll likely flip.

Made under the Foley umbrella, a California wine outfit, Acrobat uses grapes from Oregon to make their wines. This rosé combines Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir grapes, partially whole cluster pressed and partially pressed in the saignée method. The wine was vinified then aged for two months in stainless steel tanks. Alcohol rests comfortably at 13% abv and the retail sticker reads $15.

This pale pink wine has a nose of strawberries, green parts and all. It is a fresh and lively aroma, one that invites the sip deliciously. The palate shows more strawberries, along with some stone fruit and a hint of salinity. The acidity is refreshing and will make for good food pairings across a wide range of dishes.

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Cabernet From Alexander Valley

Sebastiani has been in the winemaking game for more than a century, and they haven't lasted that long by shrugging their shoulders and saying, "It's good enough." Vintner Bill Foley and Winemaker Mark Beaman work together to bring honor to the Sebastiani legacy with single-vineyard and sub-appellation wines that live up to expectations. 

The 2019 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is composed of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, 6% Syrah, 6% Petit Verdot, 5% Merlot and 2% Petite Sirah, all grown in the warm Alexander Valley AVA. The wine aged for 16 months in 15% new French and Hungarian oak barrels, with the remaining wine aging in neutral oak barrels. Alcohol is lofty, at 14.9% abv, and the retail price is $45.

This wine is inky looking and carries a wonderfully demonstrative package of aromas. The nose has classic notes of graphite, but also features black tea, sage, oregano and a healthy lump of earth - that good, Sonoma dirt. On the palate are bright cherries, tea, herbs and minerals. The tannins are firm without being overbearing and the acidity is quite refreshing. You could chill this wine and open it next to the grill this summer - or you could have in cooler weather with a beef stew. 

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Blood Of The Vines - Scorsese On Music

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 pair wines with a look - and listen - to three Martin Scorsese films about music. 

Who uses music to better effect in movies than Martin Scorsese? Put your hands down - that was a rhetorical question. Scorsese, however, has not only used music in his films, he has examined it - thoroughly.

No Direction Home is the 2005 documentary on Bob Dylan as he appeared in the early to mid 1960s. Dylan's manager got the ball rolling by conducting scores of interviews with people who knew The Enigmatic One back in the day. When it came time to put all that video, plus the hundreds of hours of footage culled from historical sources together, Scorsese's name came up.

The film debuted on PBS as a mixture of Dylan in performance and commentary from those with something to say about him. And everyone has something to say about Bob Dylan. Just ask anybody. 

It has been a few years, but Italian winemaker Antonio Terni of Le Terrazze used to bottle a tribute to Dylan. Visions of J is probably sold out now, and Planet Waves may be, too, but Dylan did lend his signature to stand alongside Terni's on those labels. It's worth a shot to see if there are any left on the shelf.

2008's Shine a Light spotlights The Rolling Stones, with concert footage shot by Scorsese two years earlier at New York City's Beacon Theatre. Archival footage is mixed in as well. Scorsese has used Stones songs so extensively in his films over the years that Mick Jagger reportedly quipped Shine a Light may be the only Scorsese movie that does not have Gimme Shelter in it.

From the Napa Valley, California wine's tribute to ostentatiousness, comes Stones Wine. Owner Lawrence Fairchild is a winemaker who dresses like a rock star - a very rich one, with a predilection for vintage haute couture. His preferences in fashion, art, cuisine and wine sound more like bragging than explaining, but we get that a lot from Napa Valley. You have to get on a list to buy the wines - Cabernet Sauvignon, what else? - and you can expect to pay through the nose. 

The Last Waltz was Scorsese's coverage of The Band's 1976 goodbye concert filmed at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom, where the group had their first gig about 16 years previous. The scene of the crime, so to speak. Robbie Robertson was quick to point out in the film how long 16 years is. And don't forget - those are rock'n'roll years, which are way longer than normal human years.

Superstars, the music of a generation, drug-fueled mania behind the scenes - this movie stands as one of the great concert films ever made, with an all-star lineup, killer songs, wonderful camera work and the slow realization that we are witnessing, truly, the end of an era. 

Waltz Winery, in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County, offers Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Moscato, to name a few grapes - all of which will pair well with rock'n'roll. And when you've polished off all but one bottle - that's the last Waltz.

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Vermentino Wine - Herbs, Minerals, Salinity

The Frescobaldi history stretches back to the Middle Ages, but winemaking in the region was already old hat by then. If you have been doing something for more than 700 years, you must be doing it right. 

Today, the Tuscan landscape is studded with properties which reside under the Frescobaldi umbrella. The Ammiraglia Estate is in southern Tuscany, Maremma, near the ocean. The warm climate is cooled by the breezes coming in from the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The 2018 vintage featured a lot of precipitation, even snow early on. All that water helped out a lot when the hot summer season arrived and rainfall dried up.

The Massovivo 2018 wine is all Vermentino grapes, aged for four months in the stainless steel tanks where it was vinified, on the lees, and another month in the bottle. Alcohol rests at 12.5% abv and the retail price is $24.

This Italian white has a most interesting presence in the glass. The pale yellow liquid has a nose which is quite herbaceous, showing notes of sage, anise and oregano. The palate brings forth some citrus fruit - Meyer lemon - and a boatload of minerals and salinity. There is quite a racy acidity, too. Like a good Vermentino should, the wine leaves a sense of the seashore on the finish. 

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Blood Of The Vines - Killers On The Loose

Pairing‌‌‌ ‌‌‌wine‌‌‌ ‌‌‌with‌‌‌ ‌‌‌movies!‌‌‌ ‌‌‌See‌‌‌ ‌‌‌the‌‌‌ ‌‌‌trailers‌‌‌ ‌‌‌and‌‌‌ ‌‌‌hear‌‌‌ ‌‌‌the‌‌‌ ‌‌‌fascinating‌‌‌ ‌‌‌commentary‌‌‌ ‌‌‌for‌‌‌ ‌‌‌these‌‌‌ ‌‌‌‌‌movies‌,‌‌ ‌‌‌and‌‌‌ ‌‌‌many‌‌‌ ‌‌‌more‌,‌‌ ‌‌‌at‌‌‌ ‌‌‌Trailers‌‌‌ ‌‌‌From‌‌‌ ‌‌‌Hell.‌‌‌ This week is a killer. Three killers, to be precise, and a wine pairing for each.

Back when I was a music director for a radio station, I would get a call every week from a record promoter who told me the same thing each time - "This record is deadly, Randy. Deadly. You gotta add it right away." I usually told him that we had few enough listeners as it was - I didn't need to be killing off any of them with a "deadly" record. Most of those records would probably only bore you to death, anyway. Our three movies this week all have a killer on the loose - and he's deadly. 

The 1956 film noir, The Killer is Loose, features Joseph Cotten, Rhonda Fleming and Wendell Corey. Cotten is a cop while Corey is a banker who is the inside man in a robbery of the institution where he works. Fleming is the cop's wife, who becomes the target of revenge after the bank teller escapes from the prison term he was serving for the heist.

The cop was no fool, except maybe for shooting the banker's wife dead by accident. The banker vowed revenge, killed a guard to break free and hightailed it to the cop's neighborhood. At this point, the cop was possibly a fool for leaving his desk job when the force asked him to help find the killer. He put his wife in hiding, to which she somehow took exception (fool) and came out into the open, acting as beautiful bait to lead the criminal to John Law.

The film was viewed rather favorably by critics of the day, and who can argue about the casting? I'll watch anything with Joseph Cotten in it, not to mention Fleming and Corey.

I ran across a photo from the '90s, showing Cotten and his real-life wife tasting sparkling wine at Henkell in Weisbaden. Today, the outfit is known as Henkell Freixenet, maker of German bubbles (sekt) as well as Spanish (cava) and Italian (Prosecco). These international sparklers are less expensive than Champagne, but just as much fun, if you ask me. Be careful where you aim that cork, killer.

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, from 1976, was written and directed by John Cassavetes, so you know you're getting a work that is a little bit off the wall. Ben Gazzara stars as the owner of a Sunset Strip nightclub. Gazzara says the character has a deep appreciation for the art of his establishment, while the customers are mainly there for the naked ladies. He says the character has a lot of Cassavetes in him.

Gazzara’s Cosmo falls into a big debt while playing poker with the wrong crowd. The mobster to whom he owes the money assigns him to perform the task of the title, a job he's not supposed to survive. He does survive, however, although he takes a bullet for his trouble. Back at the club, he is inspired to give his troupe a pep talk, urging them to live their roles while giving the patrons a means of escape from their own troubles. Bullet or no bullet, the show must go on.

You may want to stop into Gil Turner's liquor store for a wine to pair with Bookie. Turner was once known as Mr. Sunset Strip, so the ad blurb says. The store stocks a ton of cult wines that would be welcome at the Riot House, many of which can be had for less than a hundy. 

1964's The Killers is a remake of the 1946 film noir classic of the same name. It was made for TV, but TV didn't want it. NBC deemed it too violent to air, so it was sent to movie theaters. What a cast: Lee Marvin, Clu Gulager, Angie Dickinson, Ronald Reagan, John Cassavetes, Claude Akins, Norman Fell - it's easy to see why people still like it, despite the violence. Or maybe it's because of the violence.

The story revolves around a robbery, a handful of killings, a double-cross, some brutal mistreatment of Dickinson's character and a suitcase full of missing money. If you can stomach it, it's a killer film.

Killer Drop wine owes more to surfing and snowboarding than actual killing, but let's pop a cork. The northern California Grenache, Syrah and Petite Sirah blend sounds like a killer combination. 

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Rosé From - Where Else? - The South Of France

Chateau des Sarrins took its name from the Saracens, who ran this part of southern France in ancient times. A Saracen big shot is said to have died on what is now this estate. They say that somewhere on the property he is buried in his gold suit of armor. 

The 2021 Les Sarrins Rosé is made from grapes that were, maybe, grown right next to that burial site. It makes a nice backstory idea, at least. The grapes in this wine are 60% Grenache, 25% Cinsault, 10% Rolle (Vermentino) and 5% Mourvèdre. It is imported by Terlato Wines, hits 13% abv and retails for $25.

This product of Provence delivers as expected from the region. The light pink color gives way to a nose of strawberries and cherries with a hint of lemon peel also showing up. The palate shows all the ripe red fruit, citrus minerality and a damn fine acidity. Salads for sure, but get some oysters for this one. 

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Blood Of The Vines - Stooges, Three And Otherwise

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 wine pairings for stooge movies, two of which would be better served by a seltzer bottle.

I'll warn you ahead of time - this trio of movies is held together with the flimsiest thread - two films from the Three Stooges and one about The Stooges, the punk outfit from Michigan which blew the doors off of rock'n'roll in the late 1960s. I'm certain that somewhere, sometime, someone had to have written about these Stooges and the comedic threesome in the same article, maybe in Impossible Matches Monthly or Non Sequitur Weekly. We, however, have wine pairings to go along with them.

We'll start with the outlier, Gimme Danger, the 2016 Jim Jarmusch film about the musical Stooges. Jarmusch was Iggy Pop's choice as director if a film was made about the band, and I suppose that was all Jarmusch needed to hear. If you are a fan of punk rock, this movie pays tribute to the band who laid the groundwork for the genre. Conversely, if you hate punk rock, this film shows you who to blame. Something for everybody.

A punk rock type of movie calls for a punk rock type of winemaker. Booker Wines' Eric Jensen fits the bill - at least he curses a lot, which may be a habit he picked up as a concert promoter. His Ripper Grenache comes in a magnum bottle - the better for fighting with once it's empty - for close to $200. 

In 1962's The Three Stooges Meet Hercules, the Stooges - Moe Howard, Larry Fine and "Curly" Joe DeRita - the team appeared in their third and most successful full-length feature, following decades of short films. The plot has them employed at a drug store - why not? Someone should compile a list of jobs held by the Three Stooges over the years for which they were completely unsuitable. In this film, they help a neighbor build a time machine in their spare time - again, why not?

Stumbling through time, they find themselves in ancient Greece, where they somehow manage to overthrow the mean King Odius. The Three Stooges were no strangers to lending a hand to the unfortunate and unlucky, while finding a way to fix the wagon of the bad guy. The slapstick is rampant here. In fact, the slap stuck a bit harder than expected during filming when heavyweight DeRita fell on top of Fine, knocking him out cold.

Hercules is the name of a Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon blend from Jason's Vineyard on New York's Long Island. Strong and brawny? Not exactly. It's sweet and relatively cheap. Kinda like Three Stooges movies.

The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze came along the following year, 1963, with the same post-fifties stooge lineup. This time around, they are servants of Phileas Fogg III, a descendant of the round-the-world traveler in the Jules Verne classic. There is danger at every turn, avoided by the bumbling of the comedy trio. They even escape a Communist brainwashing in Asia by not having a "brainee" to "washee." That line played a lot funnier before everybody got woke.

It's not really a spoiler alert to say that in the end the good guy wins, the bad guy loses and a perfectly good balloon gets wrecked.

If you want to take a trip to the Eiffel Tower and dine at Le Jules Verne, you'll have your pick of France's finest offerings - Grand Cru Champagne, Premier Cru Burgundy, Chablis and more. Or you can crack open whatever is left over from your Bastille Day celebration.

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Chinon Cabernet Franc Wine

Les Luthines Chinon 2019 is a 100% Cabernet Franc from the French region of Chinon, which is so closely associated with that grape. The grapes are grown in the clay and sandy soils of the vineyard near the Loire River. 

The destemmed grapes are fermented in stainless steel tanks, and no sulfites are used. Alcohol is 13.5% abv and this bottle cost about $18 at my neighborhood Whole Foods Market. 

The wine has a dark purple color and a fruity nose laden with black currant and plums. There is a sense of roasted vegetables as well. On the palate, the fruit stands out and a thrilling brace of acidity and tannins makes the mouth water. The peppery finish is a delight. Give it a chill, especially if you're having it for outdoor sipping or a barbecue. It pairs great with chicken or pork and it lifted my pasta sauce to another level. 

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Blood Of The Vines - Trippin' Out

Pairing‌‌‌ ‌‌‌wine‌‌‌ ‌‌‌with‌‌‌ ‌‌‌movies!‌‌‌ ‌‌‌See‌‌‌ ‌‌‌the‌‌‌ ‌‌‌trailers‌‌‌ ‌‌‌and‌‌‌ ‌‌‌hear‌‌‌ ‌‌‌the‌‌‌ ‌‌‌fascinating‌‌‌ ‌‌‌commentary‌‌‌ ‌‌‌for‌‌‌ ‌‌‌these‌‌‌ ‌‌‌‌‌movies‌,‌‌ ‌‌‌and‌‌‌ ‌‌‌many‌‌‌ ‌‌‌more‌,‌‌ ‌‌‌at‌‌‌ ‌‌‌Trailers‌‌‌ ‌‌‌From‌‌‌ ‌‌‌Hell.‌‌‌ This week, trip out with some movies that might mess with your head, with wine pairings for each.

If you remember the TV series Then Came Bronson, you may also remember the Mad Magazine parody of it. Bronson is sitting astride his motorcycle at a traffic light when the driver of the car in the next lane asks, "Takin' a trip?" He replies, "No, this is a regular cigarette I'm smoking." With that in mind, and with no apologies to Dick Dale, let's go trippin'.

The 1978 horror film, Blue Sunshine, does for LSD what Reefer Madness did for pot - sensationalizes it, fictionalizes its effects and builds a weird story into a sort of cautionary tale. Past users of a brand of LSD known as Blue Sunshine suddenly start turning up with psychotic breaks from reality which sends them into a homicidal rage. 

As the body count mounts, one guy seems to find himself at the center of the killings and has to prove that he is innocent. How is that gonna sound down at headquarters? "So, like, it was years ago and a guy gave us all some Blue Sunshine and now we’re all going bald and killing dudes…" Your cell is right this way, sir.

The movie landed with a thud in the '70s but has become a bit of a cult item, with a legion of fans, including TFH head guru Joe Dante.

Skip the Blue Nun and pair a blue California sparkler with Blue Sunshine. Blanc de Bleu is really blue, and really sweet, so they say. There's a pic on the website which shows a group of youngstahs drinking the stuff out of blue Solo cups. Proceed with caution.

Any compilation of movies about hallucinogens has to include 1967's The Trip. Written by Jack Nicholson, directed by Roger Corman and featuring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, the movie delivers exactly what one might expect from that group, at that time. In addition to Corman's, er, trippy direction you get some nice 1960s views of L.A. locales like Laurel Canyon and the Sunset Strip.

Fonda plays a guy who drops acid for the first time after a divorce. What could go wrong? The trip turns a bit sour as he envisions hooded figures chasing him along the Pacific shore. I'll paraphrase Diner here and say, "I’ve been to Malibu a hundred times and never saw death walkin' a beach."

Australian producer St. John’s Road makes a Barossa blend called LSD. It does not stand for lysergic acid diethylamide, by the way. The letters are for the grapes - Lagrein, Shiraz and Durif. We call Durif Petite Sirah, but LSPS clearly does not have the same ring to it.

Nicholson was busy the following year with Psych-Out, a 1968 movie that had him billed with Dean Stockwell and Bruce Dern. The psychedelic cash-in was produced by Dick Clark, who, as the square-in-residence, insisted on the film's anti-drug message.

The story centers on a deaf runaway in San Francisco. The Haight-Ashbury setting perfectly captures the squalid nonchalance of the hippie lifestyle there. There is a search for a lost brother, helpful hippies, live music, a freak-out and a good trip turned bad - all the ingredients for late '60s psychedelia wrapped up in an 82-minute ball of celluloid.

For Psych-Out, let's try a Washington state wine, from Sleight of Hand Cellars. Psychedelic Syrah is such an alliterative delight it's a wonder no one had thought of it before. Critics like the wine, too.

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Muscadet From France's Loire Valley

The Jardin d'Edouard winery is located in Château-Thébaud, France, a short drive south of Nantes. Their website explains that vines have been cultivated on the property for well over a century. They produce a full range of wines, but are known for their three styles of Muscadet, which are aged in glass-lined tanks for anywhere from seven to 72 months. 

The Melon de Bourgogne grapes for the 2017 La Roche Aux Loups were grown in the Muscadet Sèvre et Maine area, which lies in the Loire Valley between the Sèvre Nantaise and Maine rivers. The grape is sometimes known simply as Melon. My bottle shows 12% abv and cost $22 at the French market near my home.

This white wine is five years old now and is showing some wonderful signs of its age. The fruitiness of its youth is becoming more complex and savory. Aromas of wet sidewalk, citrus and salinity come forward on the nose, while the palate is driven by minerals and earth. Muscadet wines are universally thought to be good pairings with oysters, shellfish or any sort of seafood, and this is certainly no exception. 

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Offbeat Champagne

The Monthuys Pére et Fils Rèserve Brut Champagne is an unusual blend of Champagne varieties - 40% Chardonnay and 60% Pinot Meunier grapes - gives this sparkler a special nose and palate. Maybe this Marne Valley product isn't for everyone. My wife's judgment: "I hate it." Me, I like wine that is a bit offbeat, so it's right in my wheelhouse.

The Baron family owns the estate, relative newcomers in the Champagne biz. They've been at it for only a couple of decades, according to the website translator. Alcohol rests at 12.5% abv and the wine retails for less than $30.

This wine's golden hue owes something, no doubt, to the three years of bottle aging it underwent. Its nose is rather brash, probably owing to the Meunier-heavy blend. Apricot aromas dominate, with apple and toast following. Apple comes across strongest on the palate, with an earthy sensibility layered over it. The finish returns the apricot flavor. 

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