This week’s “Cogill Wine & Film, A Perfect Pairing” Podcast, we celebrate strong women with the release of the latest superhero film from Marvel Comics, Captain Marvel. To pair with our former fighter pilot turned superhero leading lady, ALUVÉ Wines from former fighter pilot for the US Air Force, Kelly Minozzi and her husband, JJ. More on both from Gary and me below.

To listen to the show, click here, or listen through your favorite podcast site, including Spotify, iTunes, IHeartRadio or Google Play. Cheers and Aloha!

The Film: “Captain Marvel”

The message from “Captain Marvel” is a good one.
Believe in yourself, stop apologizing, and when you are ready, unleash the power within you because there is a good chance you are much stronger than you think.

Oscar-winner Brie Larson (Room, Trainwreck) plays the latest Marvel superhero with a flippant sense of humor and a lifetime of insecurity. No wonder, she has been “mansplained” to most of her life, and that continues with Jude Law instructing her on how to handle her newfound assignment. Wouldn’t you know it, he is not what he appears in the film, and it’s only a matter of time before Brie throws back what she has been taking. When the bulb finally goes off, it’s a critical time for her and the audience.

Co-writer, directors Ann Boden and Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson) have created a Marvel movie in the middle with much of the standard, “stand there while I destroy you with my power,” moments that still bore me to tears, but followed by a good sense of humor and fine performances including Shield agent, Samuel L. Jackson. There is confidence knowing that the lead characters know what they are doing and how to do it.

Is “Captain Marvel,” remarkable or groundbreaking like “Wonder Woman,” or “Black Panther? No, but it fits nicely into the canon of Marvel films. An origin story that is rarely meaty but always fun. A good film, but never great.

The Wine: ALUVÉ Wine

To pair with our former fighter pilot turned superhero, the wines from ALUVÉ in Wallas Walla started almost ten years ago when Kelly Minozzi and her husband JJ purchased 10 acres of land in Walla Walla, Washington. The place was to create not only a home for when they retired, but also to become vintners and winemakers, jumping into a new career in wine with as much passion and dedication as their first careers did. They liked the peace and tranquility of the place as their day job at the time, as fighter pilots in the United States Air Force, brought a little more stress and danger. The couple had met at while at the Air Force Academy and spent their careers flying jets as fighter pilots.

In 2015, With the excitement of becoming vintners and winemakers at hand, they jumped full fledge into the process, taking classes, learning from their vineyard management team and working with their neighbors to become both better winemakers, and a part of the community.

Their first release, a Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, and Merlot, called Primo Volo (Italian for first flight) won the gold medal and best of class at the 2016 Walla Walla Valley Wine Competition

ALUVÉ is a fanciful combination of the Italian words meaning Winged Grape, the name ALUVÉ symbolizes the connection between two passions, flying for our country and sharing great wine.