Perhaps "Bottle Shock" should have been called "The Grapes of Froth" because it tells such a happy story: how the vintners of Napa Valley won the blind tasting known as the "Judgment of Paris" in 1976 and put their little piece of California paradise on the world wine stage for all time. Whatta movie: booze, Alan Rickman and really cool pickup trucks.

Rickman plays Steven Spurrier, a Brit wine merchant in Paris who is prevailed upon to sponsor, arrange and produce the judgment, which alas compels him to visit the Colonies, where his snobbery gets a comeuppance, Yank-style.

The director, Randall Miller, uses the tasting as the spine of the story and at the same time gets at other dramatic issues. It chronicles a generational conflict between the Barrett boys, as dad Jim (Bill Pullman) tries to get son Bo (Chris Pine) to knuckle down and take some responsibility while they attempt to turn out the perfect chardonnay in California's dustiest valley.

A triangular love affair involving Jim, an intern (Rachel Taylor) and another would-be vintner Gustavo (Freddy Rodriguez), gobbles a few minutes without much payoff, as does the parallel generations tale involving Gustavo and his father, played by the distinguished Miguel Sandoval. But the central narrative stays with the English aristo wandering about the rustic valley and getting an education in a lot of astonishing areas but most important, the excellence of American wine craft.

What makes "Bottle Shock" so rewarding, however, is something subtler. Everyone in it simply loves wine, as drink, as science, as art, as culture, as civilized delight.

The movie builds steadily toward its invocation of the tasting, where a gaggle of Frenchies prepares to crush the rustic upstarts and their primitive grape juices. The movie, though not itself great, offers a lot of fun for those of us who like our wine cold, our Rickman tart and our pickups rusted out.

-- Stephen Hunter (Aug. 6, 2008)

Contains brief strong language, some sexual content and a scene of drug use.