Movies & Wine

December 2008



Vino plays a supporting role in some of the silver screen’s most memorable moments. We asked wine experts to tell us which scenes stayed with them long after the theatres went dark.

“Here’s looking at you kid.” Even if you haven’t seen Casablanca, you’ve likely heard that toast. And if you have seen the movie, you know that not long after Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman clink glasses, the Germans come marching into Paris and change their lives forever. Here, noted wine experts recall equally vivid movie moments where wine is firmly in the frame.


David Lebovitz, chef and author of The Great Book of Chocolate

My favorite moment is in Babette’s Feast, after she makes this enormous repast, which she spends several days preparing. At the end, when she’s completely exhausted, she brings a small glass of wine to her lips and takes a small sip. Anyone who’s worked in a restaurant or in food service knows how important that sip of wine is at the end of a hectic evening. And that gesture said it all to me.


Natalie MacLean, wine writer and author of Red, White, and Drunk All Over

In the movie Sideways… I love when Virginia Madsen’s character, Maya, talks about the wine she and Miles are drinking and all the people who helped make it. She reflects on the care and energy they invested…how it is a piece of living history. That’s what makes wine special for me, too - its connections to history, art, culture … and so many other facets of life.


Jane A. Nickles, Certified Specialist of Wine, author and wine educator at the Texas Culinary Academy

One of my favorite wine moments is in the film French Kiss, starring Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline. Among my favorite scenes is one about a homemade wine “aroma kit” and romantic leads Kate and Luc have the following dialogue:

Luc: First you must take some wine. Can you describe it, the taste?

Kate: It’s a nice red wine.

Luc: I think you can do better.

Kate: A bold wine with a hint of sophistication and lacking in pretension.

Actually I was just talking about myself.


Anne Moses, cofounder of Patz & Hall winery, Sonoma, California

I love the moment in The Jerk when Steve Martin asks for the new wine because he doesn’t want old wine. I am afraid to say that when that movie came out in 1979, I was in high school and someone had to explain to me why the line was funny.


Mario Batali, chef, author and TV personality

My most favorite wine scene in a movie is from Babette’s Feast – the scene with the quail in [a pastry] sarcophagus. It is the most passionate wine moment ever.




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