Bottle Shock

Pop Matters has posted an article about 'Bottle Shock'. Directed by Randall Miller, the film is based on real events. In 1976 there was a blind taste test conducted with the Americans against the French. When the American wines beat out the French, California became a respectable area for wine enthusiasts. The article interviews several surving members of the families that competed and people involved n making the film.

“...When she suggested it in 2001, I was not certain a bunch of snooty French people sipping and spitting would be that interesting. At one point I thought about trying to work a murder mystery into the story...”

Read the full article here. 

The Orlando Sentinel has posted a review of Randall Miller's 'Bottle Shock' . The film follows the true story of an upstart band of wine makers and their dream of winning the historical 1976 blind wine tasting in Paris. Roger Moore gives the film 4 out of 5 stars.

"...The great pleasures of this small-scale dramedy include Napa scenery and the way Alan Rickman savors it as he chews it up. His plummy way with a line has rarely been put to better use. The man's demeanor says "snob," never more so than when he's diving into his first bucket of KFC..."

Read the full review here.

Flick Filosopher has posted a review of 'Bottle Shock'. The film, about Napa valley wines that took on French wines in a 1976 blind tasting is directed by Randall Miller. The review praises Alan Rickman's performance as Steven Spurrier.

"...he does tend to steal a film, and he’s never stolen a movie like he does this one. Yet everything about Bottle Shock is a treat. Bill Pullman (You Kill Me, The Grudge) as Jim Barrett, the owner of the vineyard Chateau Montelena and the foil for Spurrier, is stretching into a role a little different for him. Barrett is like Spurrier, actually, in some ways, just California-casual in his trappings about it..."

Read the full review here.  

UPI has posted an interview with 'Bottle Shock' star Alan Rickman. Directed by Randall Miller, the film revolves around a wine boom in California in the seventies and the events that led to a blind tasting in France. Rickman says that he was in contact with the real life person his character is based on.

"...I had met him, but neither of us was particularly aware of it about five years ago and I have spoken to him subsequently," Rickman told reporters in New York recently. "When I knew I was going to do it, I kind of tracked him down and said, 'What do you think about this?'..."

Read the full interview here.

eFlux Media has posted areview of the film 'Bottle Shock'. The film, created by husband and wife Randall Miller and Jody Savin, tells the true story of an upstart band of wine makers and their dream of winning the historical 1976 blind wine tasting in Paris.

"...the film’s loopy and eccentric spirit and scenery depict a complex and multifaceted world, which, though out-of-the-way, becomes more than catchy and likable..."

Read the full review here.