by Administrator
29. August 2008 05:46
Okay, so I have just returned from my outing to see the recently released "Bottle Shock". For those who are unaware, it's a movie based on a famous 1976 tasting in which a bunch of American wines competed against some French powerhouses and defeated them soundly. I should mention that I read the book written by the journalist who was the catalyst for the event, "The Judgement of Paris". While I enjoyed the read a bit more, the movie was quite entertaining, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it to even the most novice wine enthusiast.
The marketing effects of the movie were immediately apparent. I almost instantly sold out of all of my Chateau Montelena chardonnay (one of the stars of the '76 tasting), which had for all intents and purposes been a relative unknown on my shelf prior to the movie release. Requests for Stag's Leap and Freemark Abbey are also on a significant upswing. It reminds me of the INSTANT impact that "Sideways" had on the pinot and merlot markets-killing one and completely bolstering another. For two years post, Merlot was all but dead to most wine drinking Americans, while Pinot Noir was all the rage. That has now started to achieve a bit of balance, but it's hard to deny the massive and urgent marketing potential of Hollywood.
It really is a great phenomenon for me. Now if I could just get someone to make a movie about how vineandtable.com (and its dashing and irresistably charming wine director) saves the world millions of dollars on wine, eventually solving all of its economic problems........
