Wine for the Confused is
a wine documentary written and hosted by John Cleese. It is a great
introduction to wine for beginner wine drinkers. This is a really informative film is for people that like wine and
want to get into wine, but don’t really know how.
The film begins by John Cleese explaining that wine can be scary.
This is exacerbated by some people who are very familiar with wine often acting
in a snobbish manner and not fully helping a new wine drinker gain the
knowledge which is important for them to decipher which types of wines they
enjoy and which wines they do not. He stressed the point to not let someone
else dictate what type of wine you like. Instead of letting someone tell you
that you will like a particular style, a person can use key words that are
common throughout wines that they have enjoyed. These key words will allow for
a sommelier or anyone else to be able to find a wine, which will suit their
particular palate.
In terms of varieties John first hits on the big 3
whites: Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. He gives brief background on
Riesling how it became less popular during the 80s and 90s and how now there is
a renewed interest in Riesling and trying a "dry" Riesling. We look
at some of the manipulations with fermentation. John really simplifies
fermentation simple process of sugar into alcohol and to stop it sooner you
have a sweet more sugary wine. The second white is Sauvignon Blanc we learn how
its typically almost always acidic and how its dryer that Riesling. He
describes it as fresh and "really wakes the pallet up" and it’s good
to have before you eat. He talks about the small concentrated grapes and how
they are manipulated during the growing via snipping
off excess bunches and not watering regularly. Lastly for the white,
John discusses Chardonnay by visiting Barrow Winery. He uses words like rich
and lush and creamy and buttery which are descriptors of the texture and the
aromatics. He talked about the oak barrels and the 2nd fermentation
"malolactic fermentation."
The
documentary then went on to discuss the three common red wine grapes, starting
with Pinot Noir. This wine is a very deep color with a peppery taste. The
particular wine maker which John Cleese talked to told us that this wine grape
is one of the most difficult grapes to grow but when it is done right it is
fantastic.
The
next red wine grape was Merlot. The particular Merlot John Cleese tried was
from the Australian Outback. This wine had a plum and cherry flavor. The word “vintage”
appeared during this discussion. Again, a box defining what “vintage” is
appeared on the screen to reiterate what the documentary had already said about
it being how you taste the weather in the wine and every year is different for
this agricultural product.
The
final red wine grape tried was Cabernet Sauvignon. This came from the Foxen
winery. This wine has lots of tannins, which allow the Cabernet Sauvignon to
have a long life. The term “terroir” came up while discussing this particular
wine and how the soil can drastically affect the flavor of the wine.
After
talking about the particular wine variety John talks about money price does it
matter? How to not get ripped off in a restaurant and how restaurants really
run up their price. He encourages you to really shop around you don’t have to
strain your wallet! He does a test on the wine tastes to taste, expensive vs.
inexpensive. Everyone seems to have trouble telling the difference, thus
supporting the key theme that the importance is that you judge on your own
taste because everyone is different. Lastly he talks about storing and serving.
Wine is stored at around 60 degrees; white-chilled and red-room temperature.
Touches the basics and a using different shaped glasses but its okay to use an
all-purpose wine glass
This
is really a good movie for people who have started dabbling in wine, but are
unsure of what they need to know about wine. John does an elemental break down
of the largest produced grapes and the fermentation methods and the handling
and storage of the finished product. I would recommend this film to
someone who is just starting to get into wine and feels clueless and
intimidated. Someone who has already been in wine a while wouldn't really gain
that much from this film. It was cute and very simply which was really
comforting. In conclusion this short film taught a lot about wine in a simple way.
