Somm: Into the Bottle – a wine-centric film review

“Can there be any other business where there is so much bullshit?”

Three years ago, Somm, a film about the American Master Sommelier Diploma, instantly became a cult classic. The story of four geeky sommeliers striving for the highest possible achievement in their wine careers. Their obsessive tunnel vision is fascinating and, at the same time, bizarre to watch. And now there is the follow-up: Somm: Into The Bottle. This documentary explores everything that was not covered in the first film. What actually is wine, and why is so much fuss made about it?

Wine is simple, it’s about everything
The film consists of ten chapters – actually ten separate mini-films – each revealing a specific aspect of the world of wine. From the winemaker to the wine cellar. From the distant past, with wine-trading Phoenicians, to today’s all-powerful wine critics.

Precisely at the moment he is about to sip one of the most expensive wines on earth.

The rather American approach of the sommeliers interviewed – incidentally, the faces we still know from Somm – is thankfully more than compensated for by the Old World passion of the French, Italian and German winemakers. Frédéric Panaiotis of Ruinart Champagne for example, drinks a glass of ‘bottled history’ among the mould in his impressive wine cellars. When he takes a sip of a sabred bottle of Ruinart from ’69 – one of the last 19 bottles in the cellar – he laughs like a mischievous little boy.

Living legend

And then there is winemaker Aubert de Villaine: the living legend of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in the Côte de Nuits. The most famous producer in Burgundy and perhaps even in the entire world. He too takes us into his cellars, where he casually opens his favourite bottle of Echezeaux Grand Cru from 2004. According to Wine-Searcher, a wine that averages around € 900. We simply have to accept the fact that this world-famous wine house is referred to by those same American sommeliers with the toe-curlingly popular abbreviation DRC (Dee-Arr-See).

Each chapter once again unravels a glimpse of the magic surrounding the contents of a bottle of wine.

“Can there be any other business where there is so much bullshit?”
It is wonderfully illuminating when Carole Meredith (grape geneticist) rightly observes: “Can there be any other business where there is so much bullshit?” Because wine is indeed far too often approached as a luxury art form, barely accessible or understandable to ordinary people. And then – together with customer-unfriendly wine lists – it is experienced as something intimidating and frightening. The fact that it is simply meant to be drunk and enjoyed is amusingly emphasised in the film by the owner of Dee-Arr-See. Precisely at the moment he is about to sip one of the most expensive wines on earth.

Secret visits

And yet that is actually the best part. The documentary takes you on a fantastic wine adventure around the world. You get a unique behind-the-scenes look. The beautiful images and the almost clandestine visits to the world’s greatest wine estates make the film a real page-turner. Each chapter once again unravels a glimpse of the magic surrounding the contents of a bottle of wine. You are captivated by the rich history, the passion of the winemakers and the development of an individual grape. You see the ups and downs of a vintage. And above all, you learn that you can simply enjoy wine without necessarily having to know anything about it.

Into the Bottle certainly quenches your thirst for wine knowledge. Sit back and open a nice bottle of wine. Because watching an hour and a half of all this beauty without tasting anything simply isn’t an option.

SOMM: Into the Bottle is available via iTunes (€ 11.99) or via Amazon.com ($ 19.95)

Text: Romy Kooij – Miss WineLane
Image: Shutterstock