By Adrianna Zampieri
Most everyone knows the late Alan Rickman for his role as the mysterious Severus Snape in the “Harry Potter” film franchise, but his talent exceeds far past the boundaries of J. K. Rowling’s Wizarding World.
In “Bottle Shock,” a movie loosely based off of the historic 1967 Paris wine-tasting contest, Alan Rickman plays Steven Spurrier, a Paris-based wine merchant who plans a blind battle of the wines, pitting the refined French against the wild-card Americans. His journey to find the finest wine in America takes him to Napa Valley, California where he meets the owner of Chateau Montelena, a winery struggling to make ends meet. What happens when these two collide is, as they say, history.
Casting Alan Rickman as a wine snob was brilliant. Rickman’s signature British drawl is right at home in “Bottle Shock,” equal parts haughty and impressed, and although the plot lags in quite a few places, Rickman steals your attention the moment he’s on screen. That alone is enough of a reason to watch this movie.
As a side note, Chris Pine is another noteworthy actor in “Bottle Shock,” but the long, blonde wig he wears definitely needs to be introduced to a hairbrush.
