A Year in Burgundy

Swiss online wine magazine Vinifera-Mundi wrote about A Year in Burgudy for their February issue.

“For wine lovers it proves to be profound, touching and really radiant.”

Ever since the premiere of the film Sideways (2004), the American film industry has been creating intelligent, information-rich, and sensitive films and documentaries about the wine world over again, including A Good Year with Russell Crowe (2006).

The new film A Year in Burgundy was first screened mid September 2012 in London. For wine lovers it proves to be profound, touching and really radiant. It reflects the story of the encounter between two fascinating
characters: one is David Kennard, who for years has been making excellent documentaries for the BBC and others, and has developed an enviable reputation in this field; and secondly Martine Saunier, a famous wine importer, born in Burgundy, but living in America. Together, they describe and portray the lives of seven
internationally recognized winemakers and their families, sometimes even four generations (if the two-year Céleste Morey-Coffinet is counted). Saunier, who has sold wine for 40 years, knows the seven wine families personally.

The result is a sophisticated, even poetic film about these wineries: Domaine Leroy, Morey-Coffinet, Denis Mortet, Perrot-Minot, Bruno Clavelier, Michel Gay et Fils and Dominique Cornin. The film is not about
showing how wine is produced industrially. Instead, the duo wanted to show how winemakers’ lives unfold, working every day in the vineyard, in the cellar, and in private life. David Kennard likes to say “I wanted to make a film for the Americans, I mean for sensitive, erudite Americans. I wanted to explain French culture as well as the wine itself. Actually, there are two points of view in this film: one looks at the wine and the other looks at family traditions and craftsmanship. This is a film about a whole culture.”

Swiss wine lovers will be seduced by this film. First of all, because it humanizes Burgundy. The vintner Lalou Bize-Leroy impresses every wine lover. A winemaker as important as Christophe Perrot-Minot explains the quality of his grapes. But within the few minutes, during which they appear in the film, it reveals their
extraordinary humanity. A Year in Burgundy demystifies the region and shows that a Burgundy wine is a testament to the culture, a testimony of its thousand-year history, and not least a fabulous human story.

Download the original (German language) version.

Vinifera-Mundi web site