Details from IMDB:
SOMM 3
- 2018
- 1h 18m
Three of the greatest legends in wine meet to drink the rarest bottles of their careers, while the best blind tasters of today gather to settle an age-old argument. The results could change the world of wine forever.
- Director
- Stars
Initial Thoughts:
After watching parts 1 and 2, there was never any doubt that I would see this film. I quite enjoy documentaries, lately more than regular movies, and I have been drinking wine for about 30 years, so it was certainly of interest to me as well. As is my usual Sunday tradition, I got some popcorn, a drink and a banana and fired up Prime Video to watch this.
Main Points:
I’d impressive how they keep coming up with different ways to do a movie about wine. This one focuses on Sommeliers, Master Sommeliers, other wine experts and the idea of a blind-taste test. There is history as we learn about the most famous wine tasting called “The Judgement of Paris”, it became such an important event as for the first time these wine conseinurs choice two American wines as the best over French ones, thus ending French dominance over wine and opening up the field.
A lot of the film is about how people who are experts in wine are the best ones to give an idea of what makes a great wine, and therefore what you buy. While it’s certainly true that someone who has been their life drinking wine, learning about it and refinding their palate is certainly someone who has authority to talk about what makes a great wine, it’s still a very individual experience. The film does a good job of bringing home this latter point, as at the end, three experts all pick different wines as the best, including two American ones. They also discuss a point system and say that while it’s useful, it’s still ultimately only a rough guide. What I really like about documentaries is how you always learn something, like this film shows that while the field is dominated by men, women are better blind-tasters of wine. On the MS, Fred Dame also makes the great point that many people will never get to try a truly great wine because of the buy-a-bottle, drink it, get another mindset that has been hammered into their head for so long. It is just the nature of consumerism for most people in North America.
Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed this film, but I found that I liked all the interviews and history of wine parts more than the actual tastings. Yes, it’s incredible how someone can smell/taste a wine and tell you exactly the vintage/where it was made/type and many other factors, but I think like most people I ultimately only care about how much it costs and my enjoyment level, i.e. bang for your buck. I do give this a 7.5 out of 10 and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys and/or is interested in wine. It is the shortest film of the three, running under one hour and twenty minutes. A little bit of coarse language means ages 13+. I will finish the series with part 4, and I once again thank Rob, from Geekshow, for recommending “Somm” during the After Party last year.