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We had an absolute blast chatting with special guest
this week about the latest Nicole Holofcener film, YOU HURT My FEELINGS starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tobias Menzies.When Charlotte threw this selection at us, I quickly realized it was the only Holofcener film I’d ever seen, so also made sure to take in a few more, including her very first from 1996 WALKING AND TALKING (which was produced by
, don’cha know?)So we take a look at the ideas, themes, and creative elements that run through Holofcener’s entire body of work, in what ways YOU HURT MY FEELINGS is nevertheless an evolution in term of her technical and structural skills, and of course pair the film with a bevvy of beverages - a GSM, a Greek semi-sweet semi-sparkler, and a GAL (Green Tea, Apple Juice, and Lime Juice aka a “Green Mamba” but we like the GAL acronym because, as Charlotte points out, this is such a chick flick.)
If you love thoughtful movie Criticism with a capital-C, make sure you follow Charlotte at her own Substack:
WINE TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK
This week we're asking our readers/listeners:
Last week we featured a wine that was a blend of over 20+ grapes, both red and white, in fact a 50/50 blend of red and white, all picked from a single vineyard and co-fermented together into a single wine.
**Vote above, then scroll down to the end of this post for the answer!**
The Wines
Dallas’ Wine
2017 The Others Blend, Department 66, Maury, Côtes Catalanes, France
The current project of superstar winemaker, Dave Phinney, the man behind wineries such as Orin Swift Cellars, The Prisoner, Our Lady of Guadalupe Locations, and Savage & Cooke, he was also named Winemaker of the Year in 2019 by Wine Enthusiast magazine.
Department 66 is his latest project, nestled in France’s “Department number 66” aka the Pyrénées-Orientales, in the specific subregion of Maury, these are classic Rhone style wines, made from the “GSM blend” of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre as well as some Carignan and Lladoner.
18 months in French oak, 30% new, then another 5 months in bottle before release - this is a “big” 15.2% abv Rhone red yet balanced and approachable, much like the movie.
Dave’s Wine
2022 Domaine Glinavos "Paleokerisio", Ioannina, Greece
97% Debina (white) and 3% Vlahiko (red)
A semi-sparkling, semi-sweet (off dry) orange wine that revives a traditional style from the Grecian city of Ioannina, the capital of Epirus.
Cognac in color, with flavors like a slightly sweetened apple tart: honey, apple, cinnamon, vanilla. This is a wine that is “old-fashioned” (literally the meaning of “Paleokerisio”) in style, and a matter of compromises rather than rigid philosophy. It’s minimal intervention but not outright “Natural”, it’s not “Zero Zero Zero” or anything so extreme. Miniaml oxidation is allowed to enhance the flavor. Minimal sulfites are added when bottled. Minimal residual sugar is left behind to, again, enhance the flavor.
These are all things generally frowned upon by the fine wine world, but here it makes for the better wine! Its sligth sweetness, richness, and sparkling playfulness had it a perfect match for the tone of the movie, which thematically is all about the compromises we accept to make each other’s lives better.
Charlotte’s Mocktail
The G.A.L. (Green Tea, Apple Juice, Lime Juice; aka the “Green Mamba”)
This is properly called a “Green Mamba”, but since the movie is so much of a chick flick / girlie movie (Charlotte’s words, not mine!) the GAL acronym is so much more fitting! She also came up with it spontaneously during recording so folks, it’s the drink’s new name.
I actually could not find this version of the drink (it’s usually alcoholic) online, and Charlotte had it served to her at a gay bar, so she wouldn’t know the recipe, etiher. Play around with the 3 ingredients to taste! But it should have the bitterness of the green tea + sweetness of the apple juice + zing of the lime juice - essentially the flavor profile of this movie.
Wine Trivia Answer of the Week
The answer is…
D. FIELD BLEND
A. Monopole - This is a French term that dentes an area controlled by a single winery / wine company, and can be as small as a named vineyard (lieu-dit) or as large as an entire appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC). Frequently this is mentioned on the label as it is rare for only one winery to produce all the wine from an area entitled to a certain name. So, essentially, a monopole could be a field blend, but not every field blend is a monopole and vice versa.
B. Hodgepodge - Not a thing in wine. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.
C. Solera Blend - This is a style of blend where you mix different vintages of wine together, continually adding the newest year’s vintage to all the older years’, while siphoning off some of each year’s final blend to bottle, while leaving the rest behind to mix with yet the next year’s vintage. Most famously used for Sherry production.
D. Field Blend - The correct answer! It’s when you pick an entire “field” or vineyard and make a single wine out of everything that grows there. These days, the grapes that grow together are carefully selected to make a well-balanced field blend, though in the past growers would simply pick whatever they had - in many cases they weren’t even sure which varieties they were growing - and que sera sera.
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