Mendoza, the next Hollywood?
Lights, camera, grapes! Grapes? The bodegas of Mendoza have made it to the limelight in the form of a major motion picture from Argentina. El Camino Del Vino is a docudrama that will tell the story of the real Charlie Arturaola having a fictional crisis of wine. Only a few of Mendoza’s many wineries will be featured, and it is no accident that Domaine Jean Bousquet will be one of them.
Regular readers may remember the story of how I came to be at Jean Bousquet, for the rest of you let’s just say it was fate that brought me to the foot of the Andes. The very first thing to cross my path as the newly minted Director of Hospitality was this movie. It would seem that fate was not quite done with me yet.
Nicolas and Sabastian Carreras had a vision of a movie that would not only highlight the amazing bodegas of Mendoza but would be entertaining in its own right. They cast the world renown sommelier Charlie Arturaola to star and convinced other notables such as the world’s best known wine consultant Michel Rolland to play themselves.
The plot revolves around Charlie loosing his palate during the Masters of Food & Wine event here in Mendoza. In a panic Charlie realizes that the only way to regain his ability to taste and discern the nuances of wine is to reconnect with the passion that originally inspired him. It is with this goal that Charlie ventures forth on the Wine Roads in search for that allusive quality that took him to the pinnacle of his profession, only to abandon him cruelly and publicly. Fortunately for Charlie this is all a bit of fiction.
When I first heard about the project I knew that Domaine Jean Bousquet would be the perfect fit. Visually it was ideal, with the majestic views of the Andes at their best in the Tupungato region and the quaint family owned organic vineyards and rustic bodega as a backdrop. Add to this the incredible story of Jean leaving France after a successful career as a winemaker, in search for the ideal conditions that only Argentina could offer. The movie people didn’t know it yet, but they were dreaming of a location like ours.
It almost didn’t happen. The offer to talk to the producer and pitch our winery had been put on the back burner and forgotten about. I happened upon it and fervently set out to make a pitch for our part in the project. My passion came through on both ends and soon I had the Bousquets and the producer of the movie as excited as I was.
After a few preliminary site inspections the day came at last to film our portion of the movie. It was early March, and every morning prior to filming had been typically cloudy with no sign of the looming mountain peaks. Whoever is in charge of the weather was obviously in favor of our endeavor, because the morning could not have been more perfect. Tupungato and the other peaks rose into the crystal blue sky, commanding attention. It was almost as if they knew the importance of their part in the show and like any seasoned veteran were ready and able to play their rolls on demand.
The film crew spent time with Charlie against the backdrop of the Andes and got plenty of footage with the whole Bousquet clan. They filmed Jean sharing his story with Charlie and even got Anne Bousquet and her husband Labid to pick some grapes and interact with the plot. I had my moment of fame, but I would not be at all surprised if my two-seconds ends up on the cutting room floor. All told it was exciting and a great deal of fun, with the crew becoming part of our extended family, as so many visitors to the winery do.
Principal photography is now over, and the hard work of editing and post production looms, but there is plenty of incentive to get it right. The most prestigious film festival of them all, Cannes, has already accepted the movie as one of its selections. This is just the beginning of the festival tour the movie will attend, as it makes its way from one continent to the next before finally being released to the public some time around November 2010.
The film Sideways always comes up when talking about wine movies, as well as it should. Sideways single handedly changed the drinking habit of millions of wine lovers and it put one of my favorite regions, Santa Maria, on the map. El Camino Del Vino has the potential to do the same for Argentina, Mendoza, Tupungato and especially Domaine Jean Bousquet.
Regular readers may remember the story of how I came to be at Jean Bousquet, for the rest of you let’s just say it was fate that brought me to the foot of the Andes. The very first thing to cross my path as the newly minted Director of Hospitality was this movie. It would seem that fate was not quite done with me yet.
Nicolas and Sabastian Carreras had a vision of a movie that would not only highlight the amazing bodegas of Mendoza but would be entertaining in its own right. They cast the world renown sommelier Charlie Arturaola to star and convinced other notables such as the world’s best known wine consultant Michel Rolland to play themselves.
The plot revolves around Charlie loosing his palate during the Masters of Food & Wine event here in Mendoza. In a panic Charlie realizes that the only way to regain his ability to taste and discern the nuances of wine is to reconnect with the passion that originally inspired him. It is with this goal that Charlie ventures forth on the Wine Roads in search for that allusive quality that took him to the pinnacle of his profession, only to abandon him cruelly and publicly. Fortunately for Charlie this is all a bit of fiction.
When I first heard about the project I knew that Domaine Jean Bousquet would be the perfect fit. Visually it was ideal, with the majestic views of the Andes at their best in the Tupungato region and the quaint family owned organic vineyards and rustic bodega as a backdrop. Add to this the incredible story of Jean leaving France after a successful career as a winemaker, in search for the ideal conditions that only Argentina could offer. The movie people didn’t know it yet, but they were dreaming of a location like ours.
It almost didn’t happen. The offer to talk to the producer and pitch our winery had been put on the back burner and forgotten about. I happened upon it and fervently set out to make a pitch for our part in the project. My passion came through on both ends and soon I had the Bousquets and the producer of the movie as excited as I was.
After a few preliminary site inspections the day came at last to film our portion of the movie. It was early March, and every morning prior to filming had been typically cloudy with no sign of the looming mountain peaks. Whoever is in charge of the weather was obviously in favor of our endeavor, because the morning could not have been more perfect. Tupungato and the other peaks rose into the crystal blue sky, commanding attention. It was almost as if they knew the importance of their part in the show and like any seasoned veteran were ready and able to play their rolls on demand.
The film crew spent time with Charlie against the backdrop of the Andes and got plenty of footage with the whole Bousquet clan. They filmed Jean sharing his story with Charlie and even got Anne Bousquet and her husband Labid to pick some grapes and interact with the plot. I had my moment of fame, but I would not be at all surprised if my two-seconds ends up on the cutting room floor. All told it was exciting and a great deal of fun, with the crew becoming part of our extended family, as so many visitors to the winery do.
Principal photography is now over, and the hard work of editing and post production looms, but there is plenty of incentive to get it right. The most prestigious film festival of them all, Cannes, has already accepted the movie as one of its selections. This is just the beginning of the festival tour the movie will attend, as it makes its way from one continent to the next before finally being released to the public some time around November 2010.
The film Sideways always comes up when talking about wine movies, as well as it should. Sideways single handedly changed the drinking habit of millions of wine lovers and it put one of my favorite regions, Santa Maria, on the map. El Camino Del Vino has the potential to do the same for Argentina, Mendoza, Tupungato and especially Domaine Jean Bousquet.
posted by Wineguy at 4:48 AM
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