Wine Film Review- "Blood into Wine"
Wine
Film Review- “Blood into Wine”
“Blood
into wine is a very interesting documentary about an unexpected successful wine
maker Maynard James Keenan who was the former member and lead singer of Tool
and Puscifer. The other main
actor is Eric Glomski, winemaking partner and born in Arizona. Maynard meets Eric and was really
inspired by him, his visions, views, and feelings on wine and knew they would
be partners on the mission of brining life to the desert like mountain slopes. They
make the Caduceus Cellars and Merkins Vineyards. The plot carries through the whole vineyard creation and
maintaining process as well as the meaning and emotions that go along with
owning and working a vineyard. It follows Maynard and Eric through the
planting, harvesting, bottling process, as well as the emotions behind it and
work, actually planting it by hand and harvesting by hand, of what it takes to
make a vineyard a reality. The majority of the setting takes place
in the mountainside plains of the Jerome Region in Northern Arizona. It looked like a very
underdeveloped area with clearly starry nights, very dry. Arizona’s Verde Valley, location
of the vineyard has the classic dessert like conditions, hot days, cold nights,
dryer soils, etc. This geography according to Maynard is not desirable to most
wine growers, however that is one of the things that really gave Maynard his
mark on the wine world.
The
main impression and key theme of this movie that felt was that wine is an
expression of what home truly means.
It is an expression of what that earth is, who is growing the grapes, and
what the wine brings to the drinker.
One of Eric Glomski quotes really sums it up “helps humans get closer to
earth.” Eric really emphasized in
the movie that wine growing, making, and drinking was not just for the alcohol
it was to work with and create something that was nature and to have a respect
and understanding of the world around him from root to grape to wine. Maynard did not give as much as a “hippie”
vibe as Eric, however he too was really seemed to one with the wine and all
aspects about it as well.
The
part of this movie that really stood out to me was Maynard’s love, emotions
for, and how he connected with his mother through the vineyard. His mother died at a pretty young age
of 59 from a brain aneurysm.
Maynard preceded to spread her ashes over the entire vineyard and made
his first wine with grapes that grew in the soil with the ashes. The grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon and
the bottled wine is called “Nagual de Judith.” This wine is solely to honor her memory, I really cannot
express the love Maynard has for his mother and how the wine was embodied her
memory left on the earth. He kept
his mothers soul part of the earth and the wine really is a physical memory of
the love and meaning of family to Maynard.
On a lighter note
the movie focused on the beginning and early running of the vineyard. Some of the grapes popular in these
wines are Syrah, Malvasia Blanca, Cabernet Sauvignon, etc. Early wines made at the vineyard
were Primer Paso, Nagual de la Naga, and Nagual del Sensei. The Primer Paso
wine actually sold out. From the
documentary Maynard stated that they did not bottle much wine ever year, large
production was not the style of this winery the product was more important than
the amount. I believe of the
wine he produced in honor of his mother only 100 or so were bottled in that
year. Not a large amount
comparable to most wines.
Maynard cultural impressions of wine could really be summed up when he
was asked, “why do people like to drink wine?” His answer; “complexes from fermentation of grapes to wine
is much more complex and has so much more history than other fruits and that’s
why we love it and embrace it” Hippe Explanation Young crowd “ drink it and get
drunk.” The quote really sums up Maynards cultural views on the wine. Young drinkers are normally drinking
the wine for the 8-16 percent alcohol it may contain but as one matures the
wine becomes more complex in its own way, each palate to his own.
In summary this
movie was really better than its appearance. Yes, it is about another celebrity who had enough money for
a hobby, however once you watch it your perspective will change. I highly recommend this movie to anyone
who likes wine, or wants to learn about the wine making process, and for those
who really want to gain an appreciation and emotional connection of wine and
what wine means to others. Wine
making is really the markers sweat and own blood in the soil, the ingredients
used to grow the grapes, those still there through the process that are
bottled. A wine bottled from a
vineyard like Maynard’s is a bottle of his own “blood” his own emotions, love,
feelings, and connection to the earth, really what the title says “Blood into
Wine.”
Note to grader, I am sorry this is very sloppy. I did not leave enough time to re watch the movie then write a decent paper at all. The next wine film reports will be more to expected par as I hope you see in my other papers. Again I am sorry for the sloppiness of this paper.
Sources:
No comments:
Post a Comment