Well hello there! Guess what's back? Wine & Movie Pairings! This series fell through the cracks in February but it's back and revived with new movies and lots of tasty, delicious wine. We are officially on our fourth round of pairings so please tell me in the comments below what you love/hate about this series. If you have any brands or varietals you'd like to see more of, tell me. If you have movie ideas, tell me. I want to hear it all. This week we have a crisp white with a rather depressing, but phenomenal movie.
The Last Five Years stars Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan, two of my favorite people and the wine is a 2012 Pinot Grigio from Luna Vineyards I picked up at our local WineStyles.
The 2012 Pinot Grigio from Luna Vineyards is made from a blend of Pinot Grigio (94.4%), Chardonnay (4.6%) and Albarino (1%) grapes. It's a pale straw color with aromas of ripe pear, guava and honeysuckle while carrying a flavor of green apple pastries to finish refreshing and balanced. According to Luna, the 2012 vintage was a perfect growing year due to idyllic weather conditions: pleasantly warm, with no heat spikes or rainy days providing a complex and balanced flavor. The vineyard is located in Napa Valley. The juice was fermented in stainless steel tanks at cool temperatures, none was barrel fermented or subject to malolactic fermentation. It was blended and bottled in March 2012. (full information here)
The Last Five Years is a musical drama based off the Broadway production of the same name. Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan star as the main characters Cathy and Jamie. The movie takes us through their relationship over the course of 5 years from the beginning when everything was perfect to the end when everything fell apart. The messy bits in the middle were painful to watch. Jamie's writing career takes off while he's still in college and Cathy's performing career never really goes anywhere. At first, you think Jamie is to blame for everything that goes wrong but as the film progresses, you realize Cathy is just as much at fault. Jamie is so ego-centric and can't take responsibility for doing anything wrong. Cathy doesn't express herself enough leading to bottled up feelings coming out in catastrophic bursts. She also has trouble believing in herself and what she's capable of leading her to let it control her life. There are many great moments that Jamie and Cathy have which we see throughout the film but the bad moments are awful. By the end, Jamie is cheating and Cathy has retreated into herself. It's obvious that these two love each other deeply but sometimes what you think is right is actually wrong for you.
I give this movie four out of five stars. I really did like it and I thought Anna and Jeremy portrayed the characters perfectly. the music was incredible, their vocals outstanding. The soundtrack is something I definitely have on my wishlist. I can't help but feel I was left wanting at the end though. It felt so abrupt when it ended. It's not that I wanted a happy ending, even though it would have been nice, but I wanted a little bit more closure. I'm not sure in an ideal world if this movie was made for this wine but it worked for me. I feel this could have used a bitter red because that would have represented the characters brilliantly. As for the wine, it wasn't too bad. It wasn't my favorite Pinot Grigio but it had a nice crisp flavor. It was nice and light with a tart finish.
Have you see The Last Five Years? What did you think? How do you feel about the pairing?
