The film Blood Into Wine is a documentary about
the lead singer from the band Tool, Maynerd Keenan, and his mentor/business
partner Eric Glomski and their production of wine in Arizona. It takes place in
Jerome, Arizona, located in the Verde Valley, where the three wineries they own
are located. These wineries include Arizona Stronghold, Caduceus, and Page
Springs. This documentary tells about how and why they decided to plant grapes
in Arizona as well as the struggles and triumphs they have faced. Some of these
struggles include the local government, loss of vines to winter, expenses to
plant grapes, humidity, mid-summer monsoons, and animals and pests. It also
goes through the steps to produce their wines and which season each step occurs
at. When each step is discussed, Maynerd and Eric are shown doing the work
required to perform the step.
The
location Maynerd and Eric decided to grow grapes it not a location you would
have expected to be able to grow grapes. The wineries are located in the desert
where it is hot and rocky. Most are also located on a sloping hill. The grapes
are southeasterly facing one a valley that use to be a lake bed. This gives the
wines flavor. However, the location in Arizona they chose does get snow and
frost. Both Eric and Maynerd plant a variety of grapes. Some of these grapes
include Cabernet Sauvginon, Merlot, Sangiovese, Syrah, Chenin Blanc, and
Chardonnay. The majority of their wines are red wines or blends. Maynerd
believes that his wines have a left bank Bourdeax style. This is because the
soil closely resembles that of the soil in the left bank area of Bourdeax
causes the wines to have similar tastes.
Wine is
becoming such a popular commodity that people are trying to grow grapes all
over the place. Regions that were not originally thought of as suitable for
grape growing are now producing wine. This documentary is proof that grapes can
be grown in locations that are not in the big wine regions of the United
States. Even the driest regions of the United States have areas that provide
the necessary climate requirements to make wine. It proves that in order to be
successful at growing grapes and making wine, you need to find a location that
works for what you are trying to plant. It also requires a lot of research into
where you would like to plant the grapes.
One of the
major aspects of this documentary is the process of growing of grapes and
production of wine. Some of the terms used that related to this are planting,
pruning, veraison, harvest, fermentation, and bottling. All of these terms are
steps in the winemaking process. Planting refers to the planting of the roots
in order to get the growing started. Pruning begins in the late winter or early
spring. This consists of trimming the vines to make sure the yield desired can
occur. Veraison occurs in late summer and is the transition from growth to
ripening of the grapes. As the vines get older, the green berries left at the
end of this process disappear. The harvest occurs in late summer or early fall.
The grapes are cut off the vines by hand in order to prevent the berries to be
smashed and juice to leak out. Fermentation is the process of turning the grape
juice into wine. Yeast is added to the grape juice in order for this process to
occur. Bottling is the last step of the process. It is usually done by
machines.
There were
several things about wine that I learned from this documentary. I did not know
that pruning was part of the wine process. I had heard about all the other
steps in it just not that one. I also did not know that during fermentation, if
you press on the grape juice and skins, it would foam. I thought that was kinda
cool. I was also shocked to learn that a vineyard used an eighth of the water a
household used. I had always thought the vineyard would use a lot of water.
Along the same lines, I did not realize that grapes were such a deep rooted
plant and could find the water tables below them. Another thing I learned was
how hands on the winemaking process is for the winemaker. I did not realize
that 90% of winemaking is labor and how much the winemaker is involved
throughout the whole process.
I thought
the film Blood Into Wine was a good
documentary. I usually find documentaries super boring but I really enjoyed
this one. I thought that it was very informative on the winemaking process and
all the little things that go into it. I also enjoyed learning about how
Maynerd and Eric got into the wine business. I would recommend this film to
wine drinkers and those that do not drink wine. I think it gives a lot of knowledge
about wine that would be helpful to young or non-wine drinkers as well as new
information for more experienced wine drinkers. Overall, I thought this was a
great film and would recommend others to watch it.
Name: Monte Aman
