Noirish

Pairing‌‌‌ ‌‌‌wine‌‌‌ ‌‌‌with‌‌‌ ‌‌‌movies!‌‌‌ ‌‌‌See‌‌‌ ‌‌‌the‌‌‌ ‌‌‌trailers‌‌‌ ‌‌‌and‌‌‌ ‌‌‌hear‌‌‌ ‌‌‌the‌‌‌ ‌‌‌fascinating‌‌‌ ‌‌‌commentary‌‌‌ ‌‌‌for‌‌‌ ‌‌‌these‌‌‌ ‌‌‌‌‌movies‌,‌‌ ‌‌‌and‌‌‌ ‌‌‌many‌‌‌ ‌‌‌more‌,‌‌ ‌‌‌at‌‌‌ ‌‌‌Trailers‌‌‌ ‌‌‌From‌‌‌ ‌‌‌Hell.‌‌‌ This week, we go to the dark side for a platter of film noir. Some wine pairings will help wash down the bitter little pills.

In my younger days, oh so long ago, I would occasionally have people over to my humble home to enjoy a fine beverage and some music. There would inevitably come a time when I was ready for them to leave. When that time came, I would grab my VHS copy (oh so long ago) of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and say, “Have you seen this? It’s great!” Rarely would my guests feel that way about Metropolis, and I would be left alone, as I wished. By the way, the fine beverage back then was usually a PBR or MGD. Now I know better. I have wine. And friends who like Metropolis.

While the City Sleeps was directed by Mr. Lang in 1956, and nobody had better get up and leave in the middle. Lang had a wealth of talent to direct in this one. Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Howard Duff, Vincent Price, John Drew Barrymore, and Ida Lupino are among the luminaries who staffed this dark little number.

More than a crime drama, While the City Sleeps lifts the societal carpet and looks at the dirt beneath it. A media family is the focal point, only it’s Kyne, not Kane this time. The parts played by them and their media outlets are central to the story as a serial killer runs free.

The movie is set in New York City, but shot in Los Angeles. That gives some screen time to the old Red Car trolleys, standing in for NYC subway cars. It’s always nice to see public transit get a lead role.

Noir Wines makes sparkling Pinot Noir rosé, sold in cans, four for $48. The grapes come from the Sta. Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County and are harvested at night, while the city sleeps.
https://drinknoir.com/

Border Incident is a film noir from 1949, in the golden age of the genre. Ricardo Montalbán and George Murphy star, along with Howard Da Silva, in a tale of two undercover agents trying to stop the smuggling of migrant workers from Mexico into California. It was done on a shoestring budget, and it shows in the lighting. So many shadows! Oh, I’m being told that cinematographer John Alton shot it that way on purpose. So that’s where the noir comes in.

Montalbán, from Mexico by the way, said this was one of the few movies he made in which he was allowed to portray a Mexican. The narration that opens and closes the picture gets a bit jingoistic, but if you can get past that, the rewards are there with a story that is before its time, a visual presence that is stunning and acting that surpasses what might have been expected from MGM’s tight purse strings.

Mexico’s L.A. Cetto Winery offers a wide range of wines from the Valle de Guadalupe, just across the border. They make a nice Nebbiolo that sells for around $20 and is readily available in the U.S.
https://web.lacetto.mx/wp/en/boutique-valle-de-guadalupe-2/

Who doesn’t like to take in a day at the track and get sloshed while tearing up tickets? Well, I’ve never done it. When I lose my shirt gambling on sports, I prefer to do my drinking afterward. I drown my bad luck with free house wine in the casino while staring at a video poker machine, a waste of time that’s almost as boring as keno.

I suppose seeing your money disappear in person has a certain allure. But in The Killing, the Stanley Kubrick classic starring Sterling Hayden, everybody’s money disappears when a clown-masked robber rips off the gate. Okay, so now the whole grandstand is sorry they put Aunt Martha’s farm on the horse that couldn’t get around the first turn.

The late California wine legend Jess Jackson was also a mover and shaker in the thoroughbred horse industry. So, for The Killing, let’s go with his hallmark, Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay. They make a zillion cases a year and it’s always lauded as a reliably good wine from vintage to vintage. Twelve dollars out of the gate at the supermarket can get you a wine that will feel right at home down the stretch.
https://www.kj.com/

Randy Fuller

NowAnd Zin Wine – www.nowandzin.com
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