Opening this week, in limited release, is “Bottle Shock.” The film played at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and it’s the story of what happened to the wine industry in 1976.

Although any store you go into nowadays stocks a huge selection of

California wines, there was a time when the world didn’t think much of wine produced in the United States. It was the same time that wine produced anywhere but France was considered subpar.

But what happened in 1976 changed all that.

It was the year that a small American winery bested the French wines of the time and sent the wine industry into a tizzy – putting California wines on the map for good.


Based on that true story, "Bottle Shock" chronicles the events leading up to the famous ‘Judgment of Paris’ tastings, told through the lives of father and son, Jim and Bo Barrett. A former real estate attorney, Jim (Bill Pullman) sacrificed everything to realize his dream of creating the perfect hand-crafted chardonnay. His business, however, is struggling, and he’s not only trying to overcome differences with his slacker son (Chris Pine), but is also fighting off the creditors.

Meanwhile in Paris, unwitting British wine shop owner Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) hopes to revive his own failing business by sponsoring a competition which will pit the traditional French powerhouse against the California upstarts. Little did Steven and Jim realize that they were both on course to change the history of wine forever.

Anyway, to help promote the film I recently sat down with most of the cast and the interview below is with Freddy Rodriguez and Rachael Taylor. As usual, I listed what we talked about above the interview.

Finally, if you’d like to watch some movie clips from “Bottle Shock,” click here.

Freddy Rodriguez and Rachael Taylor

  • When you’re going to be filming in Napa Valley and drinking a lot of wine, is it hard to say yes to a project….

  • What kind of research did they have to do

  • They talk about their characters and the film

  • I ask about their Sundance experience

  • They talk about what they have coming up

  • I ask about working with Alan Rickman