Movie Review - "Wine for the Confused"

            Wine for the Confused was a documentary for novice wine drinkers, staring and hosted by John Cleese and directed by David Kennard.  Cleese guides viewers through the basics of wine, including, but not limited to, wine making, wine tasting, wine terminology, the grape varieties and how to buy and store wine.  Cleese teaches beginning wine viewers about the world of wine by interviewing wine experts, visiting wineries and even hosting a wine dinner party.  This documentary is perfect for beginner wine lovers to learn the ins and outs of everything you need to know about wine. 

            John Cleese, a famous British actor and producer, is most notably known for his appearances in the Monty Python films.  He is a light-hearted host, whom uses his dry British comedy and wit to make this documentary enjoyable.  This film begins by addressing the common stereotypes about wine culture and discusses people’s opinions on wine.  One of the biggest problems is people are often afraid of the wine culture because they feel their knowledge of wine does not measure up to wine experts, or as some people call them “wine snobs.”  Cleese persuades the viewers to become knowledgeable about wine and form your own opinions on the tastes of wines.  We learned in wine class that everyone has different taste palates, and therefore, different opinions when it comes to wine.  Cleese further emphasizes that everyone must make their own judgment on whether they like a wine or not, and do not like wine critics tell you which wines to prefer over others.

            In order for wine novices to become accustomed to wine culture, Cleese recommends becoming familiar with descriptor words.  Descriptor words can be used to describe the smell and taste of a wine.  Cleese collaborates with a wine expert to discuss common wine descriptors.  One can use wine descriptors to describe a favorable or less than favorable wine, according to ones own opinion.  Among popular wine descriptors are words like: dry, acidic, sweet, bitter, tannins etc.  These words are helpful when trying to describe a wine to a friend, or figuring out which wine is complimentary to your palate.  As we learned in class, you must create you own opinions about wine, rather than taking the opinion of a wine expert as absolute fact.

            Cleese takes film viewers to a couple different vineyards in order to get a taste of the viticulture of the wine world.  Wine is grown absolutely everywhere in the world and a variety of grapes are used, reds and whites.  Cleese focuses on what he thinks are the 3 most popular white grapes: Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, and the 3 most popular red grapes: Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.  He discusses how these white wines and red wines were made, including their differences in acidity, tannins, color and tastes.  As discussed, it is important to know basic descriptions such as these in order to pick which wine to buy at the store when you have never tasted it before.

            One of the most interesting parts of the film, in my opinion, was when Cleese instructed viewers on what to think about when ordering wine at a restaurant.  He met with a sommelier and chef of a restaurant.  The sommelier recommends that you should tell the server what characteristics of wine you like and what you don’t like.  He suggests that expensive wine is not always the best wine, and that some servers might try to push you to order the expensive stuff.  The chef instructs Cleese on how to pair your wine with your food, and gives some interesting facts on how to compliment flavors.  This part of the film was very useful and informative for future wine/dinner pairings. 

            Throughout the film, Cleese hosts a wine tasting party, attended by a variety of people, including actor Brendan Fraser.  He had the guests describe the wines they tasted.  Most of them have had no instruction or education on wine, and therefore, their answers were often funny or confusing.  Towards the end, the guests do a blind wine tasting.  This was probably the most entertaining part of the movie, in my opinion.  Cleese had the guests taste a red and a white wine, and asked them to tell the difference.  For this blind tasting most of them got it right.  However, for the other tasting, Cleese has guests taste a variety of wines with different prices, ranging from really cheap to really expensive.  Guest had a harder time telling which wines were cheap and which were expensive.  This was entertaining to see their reactions when they found out the expensive wine was no better than the cheap wine to some people’s taste palates.  Once again, this reinforces the fact that everyone has their own tastes and opinions when it comes to their

wine preferences.

            I definitely recommend this Wine for the Confused to wine beginners, and anyone interested in knowing the basic wine concepts.  It’s an easy film to follow, and although it could get a little boring at times, there was comedic relief from Cleese.  This wine documentary definitely makes wine concepts and terms easier to understand and follow.  John Cleese was a great host, and he made wine concepts enjoyable and relatable to a wine novice in this laid-back documentary.