Review of Mondovino (2004) by James R — 11 Feb 2008

This movie was spectacular but is obviously not intended for people with short attention spans. If you are cool buying your vino in a box at the W store, you won't find interviews with some of the most honored small business people in the world very captivating. However, if you've ever tasted Mas Daumas Gassac or been lucky enough to taste H. Montille's wines (before his son took over) you will relish every word and be touched by the emotional connection that exists in the world where wine is made with honor, dignity and a sense of committment to the future, not for profit margins and by pencil pushers.

I'd say open up one of the great red Syrah blends from the Languedoc while watching this movie the first time and go for a baby Beaune the second time you watch it. By the 3rd time, you'll want a glass of Champagne (from a small grower not anything from the L. Vuitton stable) or a lovely Limoux and a notepad to jot down some of the quotes.

My favorite?

[b][font=Times New Roman][color=#000000]?The wines that make you dream, that transcend time? they bring youth instead of wrinkles. For millennia, wine has been a nearly religious relationship between man and nature, with the earth, the live earth ? free of synthetic products- and the weather. A great wine springs from love, humility; a communion with the spiritual ? with earth and time. It takes a poet to make a great wine?. Aime? Goubert[/color][/font][/b].