Here is a great posting for all you Oscar lovers from the Women and Wine Blog

Februrary 2009

We're always torn at our house whether to join a group of friends to "watch the Oscars" which here on the West Coast means being ready starting at 3 p.m. You can't really watch as seriously with a group of LA movie fans - everyone's busy sharing their gossip, etc.

On the years that we do stay home, we pull out some champagne or make mimosas with some sparkly and load up on the accoutrement's of making a great bagel and lox sandwiches (farmers market tomatoes being the key ingredient). This year we're assuming that everyone is looking for an excuse to make a fun night out of staying home – so PICK you choice for the BEST PICTURE and follow the links for the Movies and Menus suggestions on how to create an experience that will make watching fun. And if you're getting together with a group and want to be really ambitious, try having a potluck with each of the pairings and vote on which you think are the BEST! If you're rooting for:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Getting older (or younger as the case may be) isn't a bad thing when you a contemplating an aged Bordeaux to go with your burger and fries. Wines of Bordeaux are some of our favorites for this pairing. Consider these vintages that are actually better buys right now 2001, 2003, 1999. If you're impatient, like Benjamin, try one from St. Emilion for a best price bet. And while the 2005s are still a little young for my palate, there's a lot to choose from in every price range. To see the Movies and Menus pairing for this film, click here.

Frost Nixon
Around the time of this interview Richard Sanford was hard at work in the Santa Ynez Valley – more specifically the now famous 'Sideways Trail' – with his Sanford Winery and put this area on the map. Richard has moved on from that operation and many new wanna be's are trying to make their mark in this area but his new Alma Rosa Winery has been winning accolades - try the Chardonnay at $18 or one of the fab Pinot Noirs. And if you want to feel like David Frost, drink some Veuve Clicquot or other 'retro' champagne or whip up a 70s cocktail like a Mai Tai. To see the Movies and Menus pairing for this film, click here.

The Reader
I loved this movie (although I'm not picking it as my Best Picture) and enjoy having a dialog with film buffs about whether the Ralph Fiennes character is paying back Kate Winslet at the end for the hurt she caused him or whether it's just closure. Set in 1995 Berlin, the movie flashes back to 1958 and whet my appetite for re-reading the Odyssey, Huck Finn and The Lady with the Dog. Whet your appetite with some well priced wines from Germany – they are readily available nationally and to see the Movies and Menus pairing for this film, click here.

Slumdog Millionaire
We all think this is the shoe-in for Best Picture and is of our absolute favorites of the season. Whether we'll rely on our favorite Indian for take-out – or attempt to make some at home – remains to be seen. And while the Indian wine industry is really starting to gain momentum, I don't think that most of us will find any selections in our local store so we're going with some Indian beers or some of the fabulous new 2007 Sauvignon Blanc selections to "cool the heat". To see the Movies and Menus pairing, click here.

Milk

MSNBC predicted that this film had a 1% chance of winning so don't rule it out as the big surprise of the night. Set in the early 70's in San Francisco, this was the time of the birth of the California Food and Wine Movement with folks like Jeremy Tower and Alice Waters emerging on the scene. Our lives wouldn't be the same without them – much the same as the gay movement really wouldn't have come into it's own without Harvey Milk. And while I was still drinking things like Franz Weber May Wine and Mateus in that era, let us not forget that the infamous Judgment of Paris (where CA wines beat out French ones) was taking place putting CA wine officially on the map. Brands like Freemark Abby, Heitz, Chateau Montelena, Chapellet, Silver Oak, Caymus and Beaulieu come to mind as the perfect way to "go back" to those times. For our Movies and Menus ideas, click here.

The Movie Music Connection What makes the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire so great is how integral it is to the film. Even when heard out of context, the A.R. Rahmen score has the ability to bring you right back to this standout film, and the feeling the film evoked upon first viewing. This is the type of movie soundtrack we really love, with music that is so connected to the film that it's impossible to think about one without the other.

In the spirit of this type of movie music, we want to turn the spotlight on some scores from the past that are integral to the movies they come from. Alan Rudolph's The Moderns is a revisionist look at 1920's Paris, and the soundtrack composed by Mark Isham does a great job of bringing you back to that time. Ennio Morricone composed the music for a number of classics, including The Mission, Once Upon a Time in America, and a number of spaghetti westerns. Morricone's music really takes you into the movies. For a comprehensive compilation, we recommend Ennio Morricone's Film Music, Vol. 2. It's hard to think of the great Federico Fellini films without thinking of regular Fellini score composer Nino Rota. It really is impossible to separate Fellini from Rota music. We suggest checking out Fellini Rota: Music from the Classic Films of Federico Fellini.

Of course, classical composers aren't the only ones who can create music that connects the audience with a film. Who can think of The Graduate without thinking of Simon and Garfunkel? "Mrs. Robinson" wasn't the only song from the 1960's folk-rock act - their songs were heard throughout the film. The Weitz Brothers-directed About a Boy was punctuated with the music of singer-songwriter Badly Drawn Boy (aka Damon Gough). Finally, who can think of Purple Rain without immediately thinking of Prince? Although the film may not be considered a classic, the Prince and the Revolution soundtrack that was heard throughout the film most certainly is.

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Enjoy the Oscars!
Julie