More wine on film

The shot heard 'round the winey world was fired in Paris in 1976 when a group of elite Napa Valley wines beat their French counterparts in a blind tasting. The event generated credibility for New World wine in general, not just California, and it emboldened winemakers everywhere to shoot for the moon.

Now the story is coming to a big screen near you in not one but two films taking up the subject. The first, scheduled for August release, is Bottle Shock starring the redoubtable Alan Rickman as Steven Spurrier, the Brit who organized the fateful contest. According to the blurb on the film's website claims the French never knew what hit them -- a sentiment that should resonate with Americans who think SOMETHING should hit the French, even if it's just a glass of over-priced cabernet.

The second film is titled Judgment of Paris, as the blind tasting has come to be known. This film will have the imprimatur of the only journalist to actually witness the events described in the film -- that would be George M. Taber, then of Time magazine, who wrote the book the film is based on. There doesn't seem to be much information available about this film which is said to be in post-production.

Napa should brace itself for an influx of newbies such as they have never seen.