In class on Thursday,
March 7, a film was played for us to enjoy. The film picked out was Wine for the Confused, which features
the celebrity John Cleese. I actually had not seen John Cleese in a fairly long
time; so, this wine film was interesting in order to get used to his unique
style. This film is a very short documentary meant for people who want to get
into wine but may be scared by the overwhelming number of different wines. Wine for the Confused gave the basics on
three types of white wines and three types of red wines and offered basic facts
and definitions of common words used in the wine industry. Overall, this
documentary simplified a majority of the information which I had already
learned in Geography of Wine.
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.
John Cleese next goes
into talking about three common white wine grapes. The first white wine grape
John discussed was Riesling. In the past, it was believed that all Rieslings were
sweet. This caused this particular variety of wine to lose popularity in the
80s and 90s. However, due to manipulating the fermentation process when
creating the wines, Rieslings can be “dry”. A “dry” wine simply means that it
has no residual sugar left within it. Wine
for the Confused helped those who were not familiar with the term “dry” by
inserting a definition within a box on the documentary. While this was almost
elementary for me, since I already knew what a “dry” wine was, I realized that
this would be imperative for a person who is just starting out in wine and does
not have the educational background which I have gained from Geography of
Wine.
The next white wine
grape which the documentary discussed was Sauvignon Blanc. The documentary stressed
how this variety is almost always acidic and more dry than a Riesling. However,
due to the fruity flavor, many wine drinkers perceive the Sauvignon Blanc as
having a sweetness to it. The particular wine maker, which John Cleese toured at,
went into talking about the small concentrated grapes which are used to
make this type of wine. These grape bunches are further manipulated by not
watering the vines regularly and snipping off excess bunches.
The third white wine
grape shown in Wine for the Confused was
Chardonnay. John Cleese went out to Barrow Winery in order to learn more about
this particular variety. I really did enjoy John Cleese going out to different
vineyards since I felt it would allow someone who has never seen a wine
vineyard to gain more knowledge on what they actually look like and how the wine
makers proceed in creating these varieties of wine. For the particular
Chardonnay which was tried in the documentary, it had the descriptors of round,
rich, lush, and creamy. These descriptors are often found from a Chardonnary
which has undergone a second fermentation called “malolactic fermentation”.
Again, Wine for the Confused put up a
box with a definition for “malolactic fermentation”.
In between talking about
the three common white wine grapes and the three common red wine grapes, the
documentary went back to the outdoor party. John Cleese performed an experiment
to see if wine drinkers could tell if they were drinking a red wine or white
wine just by taste. I found this extremely interesting since the results showed
that it almost could not be detected by regular wine drinkers whether they were
having a red wine or a white wine.
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.
Next, Wine for the Confused moved into a
restaurant setting in order to explain how to order a wine off of a menu. John
Cleese told us that wine prices are often marked up 2 ½ times their wholesale
price. Also, John Cleese did an experiment at an outdoor party to show that to
some people a $5 bottle of wine can taste like at $200 bottle; so, once again,
wine drinkers must trust their own palates. John Cleese ends the documentary by
briefly going over wine storage. Wine should be at a constant temperature (less
than 60 degrees), avoid sunlight, and avoid vibration. There are various wine
glasses, but an all-purpose wine glass usually works just fine.
Overall, I felt this was
a fairly good documentary for people who are just getting into wines. Since I
had already learned most of the information from Geography of Wine, I felt
like it was almost a “wine for dummies” documentary. I would recommend this documentary
to people who do not have any wine knowledge so that they can feel less
intimated by the vast majority of wines out there.
