Weekend Cooking: A Year in Burgundy (Film)

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This week I'm sharing another interesting foodie documentary I found while checking out my streaming services. A Year in Burgundy, written and directed by David Kennard, lets us visit a handful of wine-making families in the beautiful French countryside.

The year is 2011 and the spring is unusually warm, which means the vines are growing faster than normal. By summer, the growers are worried about drought, and at harvest time, there is the threat of hail. Each family has a different approach and attitude when it comes to growing grapes and turning it into some of the world's most expensive and treasured wine.

Here are some things I learned:

• Burgundy is the native region for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes.
• Wine has been made in Burgundy for over 2000 years.
• According to law and tradition, the vineyards in Burgundy cannot be watered or irrigated.
• The French are crazy controlling when it comes to who can be hired for picking grapes.
• Some of the wine makers are crazy controlling when it comes to picking and sorting their grapes.
• The wine from one field can taste different from the wine grown in the field across the lane.

Although this movie isn't a diary of the daily routine of growing grapes and making wine, it does give us an idea of what life's like for the people who are following the generations-long traditions of their individual families. Plus the filming and scenery are simply gorgeous!

Take a look at the trailer and see what you think. By the way, most of the film has an English-speaking narrator, so there isn't an exhausting amount of subtitle reading.