Enzian Theater is opening a new documentary about wine and winemakers this Friday called Mondovino. It sounds interesting for anyone interested in wine. From the Enzian web site, here’s a description of the film.
MONDOVINO focuses on the international wine trade, traveling to France, California, Italy, and New York, speaking with winemakers both great and small. While old-timer Aime Guibert, of tiny Mas de Daumas-Gassac, pronounces that wine must be made by a poet, high-powered consultant Michel Rolland circles the globe ensuring that wineries make lots of money.
Director Jonathan Nossiter meets the Mondavi family, one of the wine world’s largest conglomerates; the de Montille family of Burgundy, in which a daughter has chosen not to work with her father and brother but instead with a competitor; the Staglins, who financed their own high-priced vineyard in the Napa Valley; and critics James Suckling and Robert Parker, whose words can make or break a vintage. Nossiter also visits with New York wine importer Neal Rosenthal, Christie’s wine director Michael Broadbent, and Chateau Mouton-Rothschild CEOs Patrick Leon and Xavier de Eizaguirre to get even further perspectives.
Although Nossiter set out merely to find the characters behind the wine industry, he ended up with a poignant look at some important issues, including deforestation, the corporation versus the independent company, and even communism. The result is an entertaining inside examination of a world very few people see, a fascinating exploration of wine and the families who produce it.
Showtimes:
Friday (5/6) through Sunday (5/8): 3:15, 6:30, 9:30
Monday (5/9) through Thursday (5/12): 7:00