The Wine Movie – Blog A Three Crows film

Old world wine stories

When you’re working a full-time job and making an independent movie, you sometimes forget that real life also has to happen. After a few weeks of shooting I suddenly found myself in the midst of a family vacation/reunion in Germany and Italy. Because people, like grapes, love beautiful landscapes, it turns out that our entire trip found us surrounded by vineyards. All the best travel destinations are a stone’s throw from good wine.

The vineyards near Geisenheim produce some surprising red varieties in addition to the classic Rieslings

And when you’re immersed in vineyards, you know you’re also surrounded by great wine stories. I brought the 7D, and though I was tempted, I opted not to pull it out and pin a lapel mic to every winemaker we saw. But we had great conversations with several winemakers. No matter where you are in the world, it seems that wine people share a common passion. Susanne and Holger Daniel own and operate a winery on the slopes overlooking the Rhine Valley in Geisenheim. Though their winery has been in the family for generations, Holger only returned to it in recent years after spending time in the corporate world. They scaled back and simplified their operation, and they’re careful not to allow growth to cloud their vision of what a family winery should be. Their four-year-old son Noah is already helping with the operation. Like many of the American winemakers, they came to winemaking after exploring other careers. Coming from a winegrowing family made it easier for them to take this leap, but they have all of the intrepid passion that our interview subjects in the States share. And Weingut Daniel also makes some amazing wines, including their base dry Riesling, which is a phenomenal bargain at under 6 Euros. They also make a Pinot Noir blend (he wouldn’t tell me the other two red varieties in the mix) that had great fruit. It’s a good example of the quality reds that come out of this region that you just can’t find in the States. And you won’t be able to get Daniel wine any time soon…he sells only through word of mouth. Despite his modern tasting room and tastefully designed packaging (they do everything themselves), they do no marketing or exporting. They don’t have to.

The Le Miccine wine estate is owned by an American couple and features a Canadian winemaker

Another great wine story is Le Miccene in Gaiole in Chianti, Tuscany. Not only did they make fantastic and very traditional Chianti Classico, but the estate is owned by Americans Clifford and Donna Meneghetti Weaver, and the winemaker is Canadian by birth. Like the winery owners in our film, she made a life-changing decision to pursue her interest in wine and found herself in the Tuscan countryside. You don’t have to dig very deep in the wine business to find great stories.

But sorting through these stories and putting them together into a coherent and watchable narrative is another story altogether. That’s what we’re working on now. It’ll be a big challenge, but we’ve got a talented team assembled and I can’t wait to see it come together over the next few years.

Vacation’s over, and it’s time to get back to work.

The Way of Wine: a new film from Spain

Here’s a wine movie due out this year that looks fantastic, The Way of Wine, about famous sommelier Charlie Artuarola. We’ll be watching this one move forward, and we wish the filmmakers a lot of success.

El Camino del Vino Trailer 2010 Español from Subterranea Films on Vimeo.

The God of Wine

Took a much needed vacation, and while we were touring the wine country of Tuscany and the Rhine, we swung through Rome and visited the Vatican Museum to see the coolest of the old time gods.

Announcing “Vino Veritas”

When we were filming a sunset at Airlie Winery in the Willamette Valley, we arrived at the official name for our latest film project. The Wine Movie will now be called, “Vino Veritas: an American wine movie.”

“In Vino Veritas” is an ancient Roman phrase that means, “in wine there is truth.” This phrase certainly rings true with the winemakers and wine business folks we’ve talked to so far. For them, making wine is part philosophy, art, science, agriculture and passion. It’s not just a job, but a connection to deeper truths in their own nature.

I’m not sure where this whole project is going to lead. It’s kind of like connecting the dots. But we already know that we’re going to capture a variety of attitudes, philosophies and deep and complex obsessions with grapes and wine. We’re calling this part of our process “prospecting,” or seeking those stories and characters that we’re going to follow for the next couple of years. We don’t even know what all of those stories are going to be. But at least we have a title.