This week on our “Cogill Wine & Film, A Perfect Pairing” Podcast on reVolver Podcasts we pair the film Gary says is right now the best of the year, with wines from an edgy, innovative Loire Valley star, “Baby Driver” and the wines of Thierry Germain.
Listen to the show here, clicking “Episode 52.” Or listen through iTunes, Spotify, IHeartRadio or Google Play Music.
For the first 90 minutes, “Baby Driver,” is the best film I have seen so far this year. A musical adaptation of violence, belonging, romance, broken families, and crime, all centered around a young man with a sad past who listens to glorious music through his headphones while driving an escape car for bank robbers.
He is a messed up, talented, kid who meets a girl and hopes to pull off one last heist and head out of town. Ansel Elgort is just right as the troubled young man who would fit nicely into “La La Land,” and so is Lily James as the equally troubled girl who works at the local diner.
Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey runs the crime circuit, Jamie Foxx plays his best role since winning the Academy Award for “Ray,” Jon Bernthal will scare the daylights out of you, and Jon Hamm is perfectly creepy partnered with Eiza Gonzales as something lifted out of “Pulp Fiction.”
Writer-director Edgar Wright is a master at comedy and violence (Shawn Of The Dead, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Hot Fuzz) but he has taken “Baby Driver” to the next level and filled it with honest emotions that dig deeper than a zombie apocalypse.
His movie is so original, so filled with life and nuance it hurts when things don’t work out.
“Baby Driver” is tough stuff because these are bad people doing bad things and during the viewing experience you begin to feel sickened by the cop killing and random acts of violence that permeate Baby’s chosen profession.
It’s a weird ensemble of coolness and killing that runs the entire length of “Baby Driver,” and the final 30 minutes can be off-putting or disjointed from the rest of this brilliant, complicated movie.
And then there’s the music, and the Oscar-worthy sound editing that never misses a beat and always makes a point.
When a film get’s this much attention. There is a reason. Run to the theater to see “Baby Driver.” It will scare you and thrill you at the same time.
Winemaker Thierry Germain
The Wine: Domaine des Roches Nueve from Thierry Germain
Bigger than life, passionate beyond belief, dedicated to the earth and his surroundings, and intensely determined, Thierry Germain is a producing some of the most exciting wines in the Loire Valley today. I had a chance to meet him several years ago while traveling through the region. His dedicated determination is contagious and his wines are simply stellar representations of the terroir, and his viewpoint.
His winery, Domaine des Roches Neuves vineyards are planted in the Saumur (Blanc) and Saumur-Champigny (Rouge) in middle Loire Valley farming with a focus on the earth with a dedication to site-specific wines produced from Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc. Today he has created one of the greatest examples of high achievement in biodynamic vine growing in France. Listening and observing his plants, allowing them to guide him, harvesting on the relatively early side to preserve fresh, vibrant fruit.
His goal is to produce Cabernet Franc with purity, finesse, and drinkability while avoiding rusticity, vegetal character, and hard tannins. When it comes to his Chenin, he makes bone dry, high acid, mineral intense, racy wines. Beautiful, luscious, drinkable wines from one of the most dedicated in the region.
Cogill Wine & Film 