Allguns Allguns
Director Jason Wise brings once again a glance in the wine universe with the "sequel(?)" to his 2012's feature debut, "Somm".But after all, what does "SOMM: Into The Bottle" bring to the table? In the last two decades, in the whole world, there's been a Boom of the wine culture in its many aspects. Knowing wine became the cool, classy, charming thing. With that, naturally, many documentaries about wine, drinks, cooking and sommeliers popped-out all over the place, and some were fine, some were shameless propaganda, still, all of 'em had some input, some valuable information to the non-initiated in the subject. So, what does "Into The Bottles" have to offer?"Well. To start from the very beginning of the movie, a question, and the first controversy. What the hell is a sommelier? (I'm paraphrasing, of course). Different opinions but not the imposition of it. After all, everyone got its own perception of reality. And that is the first thing that the second statement of the "Somm Franchise(?)" delivers. Isn't a exposition, isn't a lecture, isn't a disguised infomercial, is a discussion. In the sidelines of divergent insights about a couple other subjects, the movie explores wine, from the making, to the drinking of a vintage wine, in the year it was made or 10, 20, 50 years later. At some point is shown a tasting of a wine from the 1800's. It approaches every aspect of it. The history, the work, "the alchemy", the business, the art of drinking. Ten chapters, ten stories about wine, ten precious vintage wines. People changing the international panorama for wine by making what, where and how no one else did or would do at that time. Inovating to improve the product, the perpetuation of that craft-work in the family, through generations. The celebration of a special occasion.In resume, the director made a nice work of explaining wine. The movie goes into the bottle, and shows the essence of what wine is, beyond the spirit. Delivers information in many levels, and still is able to engage the most alienated viewer, for being a good movie. The authenticity of the experts interviewed was also a plus. They were having a good time, and giving their sincere opinion about the stuff, not marketing some product.Again, if fall into the propaganda topic. I really hate to sit through any kind of truth preaching propaganda, that wants to be right by all means and tries to shove that idea into my mind with every word in the script. As a documentary, "Into the Bottle" give me information, thrills me with stories and opinions. And great inputs, like "Sometimes you just need to drink a $5 bottle of wine" or "Wine is to drink, wine isn't just culture, it is also food" and many other quotable moments.To finish, a little more technical, I thought that the photograph was just delightful, great shots of the vineyards, awesome transition shots with those drawings. And the edition also deserves a big compliment, 'cause none of the old footage felt forced or out-placed, and the transition were smooth, natural. If all the documentaries in the world were a little bit more like it, people would watch more documentaries. If you know a lot about wine, you will really like it, if you only like to drinkin' it and passing out after the third bottle, you might like it as well, but try not to pass out during the film, you might loose some nice information.
TxMike
I came across this documentary on Netflix streaming. I found it to be superb and a presentation every wine lover should see.Wine has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. When I was a small boy growing up my dad would let me drink wine mixed with 7- UP every year for Thanksgiving. When I got to be a teenager I would make my own wine from wild grapes I found in the woods. More recently I have made wine from Elderberries and Blackberries I pick near where I live.But my introduction to really good wine came in the late 1970s in the New Orleans area when a group of us formed a wine-tasting group that met every month. We did blind tastings, usually a different varietal each month, and at the end compared notes and discussed why we liked certain bottles better. It changed my life forever, regarding wine. In fact at least once a week we grill a nice steak just so we can have an excuse to open one of our favorite red wines.This documentary has only a slight focus on the Sommeliers, trained wine experts. A number of them participate and not all of them have the same opinions. But they are used to bring the focus to the real topic, the wines themselves, the history and what is going on in different parts of the world. We drink red wine (that is our preference) daily and our everyday wine is about $3 to $4 a bottle. Really good Shiraz or Malbec from South America or Australia. How can a good wine be made and sold so cheaply? Good agriculture and lots of automation, plus skipping the aging in new Oak barrels. But we see that premium wines sell more like $30 to $100 a bottle, and the most expensive French wines will sell for upwards of $5000 per bottle upon release. Is it that much better than the $4 wine? Or is much of the markup simple supply and demand? The documentary answers that and a whole host of other topics.
Timothy Gemelli
Fantastic film! I just attended a screening of "Into the Bottle" in Manhattan with a group of other Sommeliers and wine industry professionals and was blown away. Jason and Geoff have hit the mark once more with this incredible film taking us on a journey around the world to discover more about wine. Interviews with Sommeliers, industry professionals, and winemakers bring us the history, politics and everyday BS that go into bringing wine from the vineyard to our tables. Funny, touching and educational all at the same time. I recommend this movie to anyone who loves wine, or would like to de-mystify the magic of fermenting grape juice. EXCELLENT!!!
