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We're taking a dark turn for today's wine and movie pairing. For the last film featuring Johnny Depp, I was originally going to choose Secret Window. It's one of my personal favorites as a psychological thriller and it was a no-brainer that it would pair perfectly with red wine. However, I really wanted to continue this streak of watching movies that I haven't actually seen yet. So I researched all of his movies and came across The Ninth Gate. I was immediately intrigued by the historical, mythological and supernatural elements that it very clearly had. Dark, thrilling and mysterious, this was a perfect match for a 2010 Merlot that has been waiting to be opened for a while.

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The Ninth Gate is a film about a book collector and finder who is given a job to find the other two versions of a very old book that supposedly holds the key to open the gates of hell. Intrigued yet? Here I am, the skeptic of all skeptics saying, it's all in their heads. These people are crazy. Johnny Depp's character, Dean Corso, takes on much more than he bargained for with this job. It takes him to Spain, Portugal and France where he meets several interesting people, all of whom end up dead. The film was directed by Roman Polanski, the same person who did Rosemary's Baby so if you're expecting a light-hearted, easy to figure out film, you're in for a rude awakening. I wouldn't say I enjoyed this movie because you enjoy a comedy. I was really pulled in though. I sort of had it figured out but not really and I just wanted to know what the big deal was about these books. What was so great about them that people felt the need to kill for them? I still honestly don't see why you'd want to open the gates of hell but I guess curiosity is just too tempting for some people. In this case, I think Dean was mainly interested in finding out if the three copies were actually authentic and why they each had discrepancies but in the end, the bad guys were just too tempting for him to come out on the good side. Completely confused by this paragraph? Go watch the movie. It will all make sense and your brain will get taken on a wild ride if nothing else.

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The wine of choice for this pairing was a 2010 Merlot that has been sitting around patiently in the basement for a while. Simply chosen to drink before it went bad, Merlot is not my favorite red wine by any means. I actually despise it so this bottle had no chance with me. It consists of "complex jammy berry, cocoa, sandalwood and spice aromas with a silky fruity-yet-dry medium-to-full body and a long, juicy, seamless finish with soft tannins. A seductive style, with lots of smooth, creamy vanilla-scented oak, polished currant, black cherry and berry flavors, finishing long and supple." According to the website, it pairs well with aged cheese, grilled beef steak, pasta with tomato base, pork roast or chops, roast beef, grilled or sauteed vegetables and ham. So basically, everything. I was able to get hints of vanilla, plum, blackberry and dried fruits on the nose and I tasted plum, blackberry, raisins and cherry on the tongue. Papa Coffee loves Merlot and I bet he'll be thrilled when I pour him a glass or two. My aunt also enjoys Merlot and she said it was pretty good. I on the other hand think it tastes like cough syrup and will stick to my bottle of bubbly in the fridge that I'm slowly polishing off. We all have our likes and dislikes, yes?

Make sure you check out my other Wine & Movie Pairing posts!

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