Bottle Shock Details

Pleasantly suprising

Saw this on a journey in a plane, and wasn't initially expecting much out of it; Instead, I was pleasantly surprised and found a film that kept me fixed on the channel, entertained, happy, and had some memorable moments.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Fruity film

Bottle Shock is about wine. Grapes. If you don’t like wine, don’t watch it. If you are a fan, you’d enjoy this one. It is about French arrogance, manifested by no other than a British gentleman. Is it possible? Not only is it possible. This is based on a true story.The film chronicles the events leading up to the famous 'Judgment of Paris' wine tastings, told through the lives of father and son, Jim and Bo Barrett. A former real estate attorney, Jim gave up his law partnership to pursue his dream of creating the perfect hand-crafted chardonnay. His business, Chateau Montelena Winery, however, is struggling, and he's fighting off the creditors.

Meanwhile in Paris, unwitting British wine shop owner, Steven Spurrier (played marvelously by Alan Rickman) hopes to revive his own failing business by sponsoring a wine competition which will pit the traditional French powerhouse against the California upstarts. Chateau Montelena became a brand name not only in Napa but in the entire world.

Unforgettable line: “Why don’t I like you?” , the suspicious Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman) asks the snobbish Steven Spurrier.

“Because you think I’m an ass,” Spurrier replies haughtily. “And I’m not really. It’s just that I’m British and you’re not.”