Everyone knows that wine and food pair well together, and we’ve also even talked about pairing wine and cigars, but what about wine and movies?
Wine and movies may not pair together in the traditional sense, but sitting down to watch a great movie while enjoying a glass of wine can take your relaxation to the next level. And what can make that experience even better? Finding that perfect bottle of wine based on the movie you’re watching.
In some cases, this may be as simple as enjoying the same bottle of wine that the characters in the movie are enjoying or it could be some totally random connection to a certain movie that just seems to work. Think of it like watching a Fast and Furious movie while drinking a corona or watching Beerfest while enjoying a nice German beer.
There really is no right or wrong answer when it comes to pairing your favorite movie with a delicious bottle of wine, but the examples below can help you add another layer to your movie watching experience.
Pairing Wine with Movies
Wine Country
“Wine Country” is a Netflix movie that came out in 2019 and stars Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer and more as a group of friends that meet up in Napa Valley for a birthday wine tasting weekend.
If you’re able to get your hands on any of the wines from the wineries where this movie was filmed, you’ll have an instant pairing on your hands. Artesa, Baldacci Family Estate Vineyards, and Quintessa are the three wineries and vineyards that this movie was filmed at, and all of them have excellent wines to choose from.
If you can’t find a bottle of wine from these vineyards in your area, then a nice glass of champagne or rose will pair very well with this movie. It’s light, funny, and easy going, the perfect wine to drink with your friends while enjoying a great comedy about friendship.
Sideways
“Sideways” is another quintessential wine movie that was popular back in 2004. This movie follows two men in the 40’s who take a week-long trip to Santa Barbara Wine Country to celebrate one of their upcoming wedding. It was nominated for for a number of awards and was acclaimed by critics.
As for which wines to pair with this movie, we suggest anything other than merlot! Within the movie there is a famous line that goes “No, if anyone orders merlot, I’m leaving”. This actually caused a drop in the sales of merlot for a while which was known as The Sideways Effect.
If you’re looking for a true pairing though, we would suggest a bottle of your favorite pinot noir. This movie had the opposite effect on sales of pinot noir, leading to a sales increase of around 16% after the movie’s release.
Jaws
Yes, that “Jaws”!
While the other two films on our list have revolved around wine and/or wine country, this one seems like the complete opposite. “Jaws” is about a killer shark that terrorizes a popular beach town during the summer.
So which wine would pair well with this movie you ask? Well, a nice deep red wine of course!
This wine pairing would actually work for any classic horror movie as well, typically one that features a lot of blood… vampire movies will also pair very well with a deep red wine.
The deep red wine will help take your mind off of the blood that appears on screen. It might even trick your mind into thinking that what you’re seeing on screen is actually just wine and the the devastating effects of a shark.
The Godfather
“The Godfather” is a classic Italian-American gangster movie that follows the Corleone family as they try to navigate the dangerous world of the mob.
Similar to our suggestion above for “Jaws”, these wine suggestions would go well with most mob/mafia/gangster movies that focus on Italian-Americans.
We recommend a delicious Italian red wine when watching this cinema masterpiece. A nice bottle of Dolcetto d’Alba’ will pair very nicely with this movie. This wine is a dry red wine with low acidity and mild tannins.
While we don’t know which specific wine is being consumed in “The Godfather” due to the fact that none of the bottles have labels, we do know that it is red wine and most likely is an Italian based wine.
Any Italian red wine would go great with this movie and will help transport you into the world of Don Corleone and his family.
Wine Goes Great with a Good Movie
There’s nothing more relaxing that sitting down on the couch at the end of a long day, enjoying a nice bottle of wine and a movie or tv show.
Even if the movie you’re watching doesn’t revolve around wine, or have anyone drinking wine in it, there is always going to be some sort of wine that can relate to the type of movie or the characters in the movie.
And if you can’t find any direct connection between a movie and a bottle of wine, just grab your favorite brand, curl up with your blanket, and just enjoy the flick with a relaxing glass.