Bottle Shock – a wine movie for you?

Bottle Shock, the new “wine film” based on the actual “Judgment of Paris” 1976 Tasting, has hit movie theaters across America. The New York Times gives it a mixed review explaining that it's a fascinating story that the filmmakers try to force into a specific screen genre. As a result, the movie flops around between madcap comedy and rousing drama. Using wine parlance, one could say it lacks structure. Read what Steven Spurrier told us about it.

Steven Spurrier on whose Paris tasting the movie is based, told Sommelier India this - "The Bottle Shock movie is fiction from start to finish. The only true elements are the names of the Barretts, of Montelena, the vintage of their wine, the year of the Paris Tasting, my name and the names of Caves de la Madeleine and l’Academie du Vin. That is all. Apparently the Paris tasting of 1976 is in the Public Domain and can therefore be fictionalized."

When asked whether he was involved in another movie on the subject, he said, "Yes, I am involved in a movie on the true story, based on George Taber’s book Judgement of Paris. A script has been written by a very well-known writer named Robert Kamen, who also owns a winery in Sonoma County. However, Bottle Shock got there first and I wouldn’t say that our movie has more than a 50-50 chance of being made."