Terroir, by Christopher McGilvray, is a wonderful film about Ridge Vineyard's master winemaker Paul Draper. It talks of his early days, a bit about his philosophy, and about the history of the wine he has taken control of. I had heard of Draper, but he is not the reason this has moved me so thoroughly. Well, he is A reason, but when you watch Terroir it is an experience akin to drinking a glass of the Santa Cruz Mountains, where I happen to make my home. It is a visual experience, both over-powering and subtle. It is beautiful, but it is not the kind of one-note documentary that trades entirely off of its visuals, nor off the single interview; it plays between them, each lending elements to the overall experience that made both stronger, more robust, sensual.
On an unrelated, though strange note of my personal coincidence, the founders of Ridge Vineyards, were SRI engineers, including the designer of Shakey the Robot and the All-Magnetic Logic Computer, both of which we have at the Computer History Museum. I'll have to write that up someday...
Terroir screens as a part of DocuNation on March 1st at 415, March 5th at 615, and March 12 at 415 at the Century Theatres in Redwood City, and on March 7th at 345 at the Hammer Theatre in Downtown San Jose.