Details from IMDB:
SOMM: Into the Bottle
- 2015
- 1h 30m
- The history, politics, pleasure, and BS of wine are told through opening ten very different bottles.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars:
- Silvia Altare
- Brian Carmody
- Ian Cauble
Initial Thoughts:
After watching the first movie, Somm, which concentrated on the process of taking the Master Sommelier, I was curious to see what they did in the sequel, and I always enjoy a good documentary, so this morning I got some popcorn and fired up Prime Video to watch this.
Main Points:
This is much more the movie I wanted, an in-depth study of wine, its history, culture, vintages, what food to pair them with and lots of other related topics. It’s great that we know a lot of the same people from the first movie, as they are all either Sommeliers or Master Sommeliers; they certainly are wine experts. Wine is a living thing, and it has so much complexity that I was eager to see what they could highlight here, and I was not disappointed.
When you buy wine, you don’t usually think about where it comes from, how it was made or aged, or whether it was made in a factory quickly for profit or painstakingly slowly with tradition and patience in mind. Imagine making a wine and then saying you can’t drink it for 10-15 years! This was the way it was done at a winery and caused a rift between father and son. Think about a wine that has been made in the same place, with the same methods, for 12 generations in Italy or France; is that better than a wine from Napa Valley from a vineyard that’s only been around 50 years or less? Should wine be paired with popcorn, or is food pairing just a waste of time? How much should you spend on a good bottle of wine? Some of the most expensive bottles go for 10K each! The film is dated, as one of the Sommeliers says you have to spend $20 or more on a good bottle; I would triple that now. Does a rating scale matter to you? How much emphasis does a winery have to put on profitability without sacrificing quality? There are answers to all these questions, but ultimately it’s left up to the viewer to decide; wine is just a personal experience. I never knew, for example, that white wine, as it ages, gains colour, becomes darker, whereas red wine does the opposite and becomes clearer. I also loved how this film goes all over the world and interviews winemakers and vineyard owners, showing how many different methods and traditions go into making wine, and I loved hearing their different methods/attitudes toward wine and its production.
Final Thoughts:
I loved this movie; I thought it was a lot more interesting than the first one. There is also such a long and rich history to wine, going right back to the Romans, and I loved how they talked about how when you open a bottle, you are experiencing history right there. As the movie said, you can delve deep into the study of wine, or you can just focus on the most important part: is this delicious, and did the bottle make for a wonderful date night with your special someone? Wine is meant to be celebrated and enjoyed. I really loved the story about how a restaurant opened a bottle from 1870 when Bin Laden was caught; it would certainly have made the night more special. I give this a very strong 8.5 out of 10 and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys wine and is curious about knowing more. One of my only real complaints is that I wanted more. The film is just 1.5 hours, and I could have watched lots more. Thankfully, there are two more sequels. A little bit of coarse language here, ages 13+.