By Rick Riozza
For the 36th time, Palm Springs is honored to host the annual Palm Springs International Film Festival from January 2-13, 2025. So, we are again so glad and happy that this world-class film festival brings together a sophisticated and diverse audience, including industry, film aficionados from across the country and filmmakers from around our cinematic planet! This season, films from over 60 countries will be screening in venues across Palm Springs and Cathedral City. www.psfilmfest.org.
And all you loyal readers may remember that this Vino Voice column was one of the first Southern California wine columns to do movie & wine pairing articles. From 2013 to 2016, with titles such as “Wine Cuddling at the Movies, “Last Picture Show Wine Pairing” & “Sipping on a ‘Reel’ Wine”, we played the imaginary scenario of recommending world class wines to sit and sip on while catching some of the films being showcased at the PS Film Fest.
Back then, we really got into it: “As we like to say, the Arts mix well: the art of film, the art of wine—it’s a natural. And you readers already know, as with food & wine pairings where one teams the different combinations of flavors, densities, touch, and nuance of the meal to the flavor points and counterpoints of a designated wine, movies offer us the same if not a broader matrix of jump-off points: Film origins, story lines, titles, geography and even character names can imaginatively take us to a myriad of wines around the world.”
But time marched on—movie theaters took our recommendations and did indeed bring on the wine to serve at their venues for the clientele to sip & watch & enjoy. And we promised to end our wacky wine and movie pairings. Fortunately, we did not swear to end our coverage. So for the last time—for sure, certainly, and we’ll even swear to it, this will be our last wine & picture show.
For instance, the movie Conclave—the story review states: “Following the death of the Pope, Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with overseeing the election of a new one. As the Catholic Church’s most powerful men gather on his watch, Lawrence uncovers a trail of deep secrets left in the dead Pope’s wake, secrets which could shake the foundations of the Church.” The Vatican is located in Rome, and this causes us to say something about “Roman wine”.
Most folks can tell you about a “Tuscan” wine; or offer a few “Piemontese wines, and even some Sicilian wines, but ask them to recall a wine produced in or around the Eternal city, they balked.
The Rome wine region also known as Lazio, makes some delicious white and sparkling wines from wonderful grapes varieties that get you to pronounce in a dramatic Italian accent: Bellone, Bombino Bianco, Greco, Malvasia.
Perhaps a wine name you may recognize is Frascati, a white wine known for its fresh, fruity flavor, typically dry to off-dry, is very popular for aperitifs. It is light and refreshing, and can be enjoyed before a meal or during a movie to help stimulate the appetite. It generally shows notes of peach, apricot, and citrus. Frascati is a versatile wine that can be enjoyed on its own or paired with a variety of foods. The grapes are grown on volcanic soils, give the wine its distinctive minerality
Another interesting film fest movie is Auction: “While investigating a painting owned by a working-class family from the provinces, a hotshot Parisian art broker quickly realizes it’s a genuine Egon Schiele masterpiece looted by the Nazis in 1939. This thrilling drama is filled with deceit, surprises, and double dealings.”
Of course the “auction” that comes to mind is the time the Forbes family, in 1985, purchased Thomas Jefferson’s 1787 Château Lafite Bordeaux wine. They beat all bids at around $160,00. I even made a bid for a client of around $40,000 (his wife wouldn’t let me offer any more).
The irony of the story is that the Forbes displayed the bottle in glass casing with a tiny light above the wine for a dramatic showing. Even such a tiny light would sooner or later desiccate the old old cork—and it did. The cork slipped into the wine and the old wine became new vinegar!
The price for a current 2022 release of Château Lafite Rothschild is around $750. So what’s in your wallet?
The film, the Hungarian Dressmaker is “set in the nationalistic, Nazi-allied wartime Slovak state, this powerfully visual tale follows Marika, a widowed dressmaker from the Hungarian minority, who loses her job in Bratislava. Back in her late husband’s village home, she hides a young Jewish boy.”
Of course here, we are to be sipping on Hungary’s most famous sweet wine Tokaji Aszú also known as the “King of wines”. Along with the French Sauternes, such as the Château d’Yquem and the German Trockenbeerenauslese, Tokaji is made from desiccated grapes that have gone “rotten”—known as “noble rote”.
World-class Tokaji has about every fruit & dessert flavor imaginable with a nose of orange peel, figs and cinnamon. The sugar on the palate is well-balanced by the fine acidity, leading to a clean, refreshing finish.
And finally, the easiest wine & movie pairing is: Rioja, Land of a Thousand Wines: This sumptuous documentary invites viewers to savor the artistry of winemaking in La Rioja, showcasing stunning imagery and insights from winemakers, sommeliers, and award-winning enologists.
Discover the rich variety of Spain’s most celebrated wines and the hidden secrets behind them. When you first taste a Spanish Tempranillo/Red Rioja you’ll get hit with the flavor of leather along with cherries, plums, tobacco, vanilla and clove. The finish is mild, smooth and lingers with light tannins throughout. It’s medium-bodied like a balanced Pinot Noir—which means it’s really food friendly. Another way of describing the flavor is to imagine a Chianti mixing it up with a Cabernet Sauvignon.
See you at the movies! Cheers!
