Thank you to everyone who joined us for It's a Wonderful Life with Wine, we had a wonderfully festive time in your company!
Wonderful Wines
Graham Beck Brut, South Africa - Waitrose £16.49
The perfect Christmas curtain raiser, Graham Beck Cap Classique wines are renowned South African sparkling wines made in the traditional method, just like Champagne but at a fraction of the price. Link to buy.
Cave de Lugny 'Les Pierres Blanches' Mâcon-Villages, France - Majestic Wines £14.99
Cave de Lugny are the biggest Chardonnay producer in Burgundy, but they don’t rest on their laurels. Their mission is to make standout white Burgundy which is affordable and delicious. This wine is made using grapes from 30-year-old vines. Older vines produce more intensely-flavoured grapes and the team dial up this fruitiness by leaving it unoaked.
A perfect foil to cranberry sauce, pigs in blankets, turkey, veggies and rich gravy.
Oliver Dubois 'Cuvee Prestige' Pinot Noir, Loire Valley, France - Majestic Wines £11.29
For Pinot lovers, this region is a real insider secret. It’s best known for its whites, but it’s also a great source of underrated Pinot Noir. Here, the Pinots tend to boast vibrant fruit flavours. Light and fruity, with a spicy finish. This is the red to pair with your turkey dinner. Like French Burgundy but better value. Link to buy.
Novas Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, Maule Valley, Chile - online £11.95
Enjoying beef or goose on Christmas Day? .. this is the one. Classic fruit driven Cab sourced from some of the only organic vineyards in the Maule Valley.
Ruby red in colour. The nose is intense, with a pronounced presence of blackcurrant backed up with notes of cherries and strawberries as well as a hint of chocolate. Medium bodied and well balanced with ripe black fruits, smooth tannins and refreshing acidity. Link to buy
Krohn Tawny Port, Porto, Portugal - £14.95 online
Founded in 1865 by Norwegians Weise and Krohn, this wonderful port is a perfect match for Christmas pudding, mince pies or cheese.
Wonderful Gallery
Wonderful Trivia
Some highlights from our movie trivia ...
Originally called The Greatest Gift, and written by Philip Van Doren Stern. No publishers were interested so Philip sent the story as a 21 page Christmas card to friends. An RKO Pictures producer saw a copy and bought the rights for $10k.
Cary Grant was to star but project went through ups and downs - RKO sold the movie concept to Frank Capra and he recruited Jimmy Stewart.
However Jimmy needed convincing by Lionel Barymore (Potter) as he felt the movie was too soon after WW2.
This is Capra, Reed and Stewart's favourite movie. It was also Donna Reed’s first starring role.
The movie bombed at box office, costing $3.7mill to produce and losing $0.4.
It wasn't until the copyright lapsed in 74 that the movie became free to show on tv for 20 yrs which drove its popularity. The ability to show it for free ended in '94 by which time it had become a much loved classic.
Bedford Falls was one of most elaborate sets ever, spread over 4 acres with 75 stores, 20 fully grown oak trees, factories, residential areas and a 300 yard main street.
The town was based on Seneca Falls in New York State where they hold Wonderful Life themed events each year.
The gym and pool is real and at a school in Beverly Hills that is currently being restored.
The film was shot during a heat wave of Summer 46. Look out for Jimmy Stewart sweating. Filming had to be stopped due to the insane heat.
They developed a new kind of snow for filming as traditionally they would use painted cornflakes. Unfortunately, these affected the audio so they used fire extinguisher foam with sugar and water.
Bert and Ernie are NOT the inspiration for the Sesame Street pair :(
The FBI didn’t like the film which was on a communist watch list for portraying the Capitalist banker as a corrupt scrooge.
Capra was hugely surprised at the movie’s success, he said:
“It’s the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen,"
"The film has a life of its own now and I can look at it like I had nothing to do with it. I’m like a parent whose kid grows up to be president. I’m proud… but it’s the kid who did the work.
I didn’t even think of it as a Christmas story when I first ran across it. I just liked the idea.”
Thank you!
We look forward to welcoming you back to another of our events very soon but why not check out our website or sign up to our monthly mailing list to find out about new events first:
Merry Christmas from Tony and the Wine Events Co Crew
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