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Google guy gets grapey, theater near you to experience Bottle Shock, and a horse and a dog each get their day

Posted: Wednesday, January 23, 2008

• Unfiltered was happy to hear that one of Google's founders—it isn't yet known which one—has found a way to pursue world conquest without antagonizing antitrust authorities. Apparently, either Sergey Brin or Larry Page, who started their company while students at Stanford University, is now looking toward the southern hemisphere to invest in New Zealand winery Mebus Estate. The 113-acre property, which is located in Wairarapa on the southern tip of the North Island, produces a Merlot blend, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. News of the prospective deal was reported early this week in Wellington newspaper the Dominion Post, but estate owner Michael Mebus would not identify which of the Internet behemoths was eyeing his vineyard. Frankly, we are a little surprised by the relatively modest scope of the investment. Considering that both guys have an estimated net worth topping $18 billion, either Brin or Page could buy any winery in New Zealand with their pocket change. Then again, they could also just buy the entire North Island.

• Unfiltered probably wouldn't be let into the Sundance Film Festival if we were accompanied by Robert Redford himself, but we have to admit, we were curious to hear about the recent premiere there of the film Bottle Shock. This is the first of two highly anticipated films about the famous 1976 Paris Tasting in which California Cabernets and Chardonnays beat out French wines in a blind tasting. This film covers wine merchant Steven Spurrier's search through California for a Chardonnay that could compete in the tasting (the script for the second film, based on George Taber's book, Judgment of Paris, is still being written). So far, the reviews have been mixed, and from the trailer on YouTube.com, it looks like a movie that's as much about '70s teenagers learning the birds and the bees as it is about wine. Then again, a bottle of wine helped Unfiltered learn about the birds and the bees, so we're willing to give the movie a chance. Especially if Chateau Montelena wines are served during all showings in theaters ... the Chardonnay would probably go great with the buttery popcorn.

Now that he’s won, Curlin will be sprinting to Disneyland.

• It's official: Curlin, the wonder horse part owned by Kendall-Jackson winery founder Jess Jackson and his wife, Barbara Banke, has been named the Eclipse Awards 2007 Horse of the Year (that's basically the Oscar for Best Actor if you're a thoroughbred). The award really came as no surprise as the chestnut colt had already won the Preakness Stakes in record time, took third at the Kentucky Derby in May, placed a close second at the Belmont Stakes in June and won the Breeders' Cup Classic in October. While you might think a year of work like that would earn Curlin the right to a long life at stud, Jackson said in a press release that they would bring Curlin back to the track in 2008, "where he's happiest." (Unfiltered, too, is always happiest with a 110-pound whip-equipped Cajun strapped to our back.) The press release also reports that some people have called Jackson "the man who invented Chardonnay." Unfiltered can only assume there aren't too many Burgundy fans hanging out at the OTB.

Bob has a somewhat wet and cold nose, with hints of bone, kibble and rubber chew-toy.

• Bordeaux appellation Côtes de Bourg's mascot Bob the Beagle has learned a new trick: He now has his very own box wine. Marketed by the Côtes-de-Bourg Winegrowers Association, the 5-liter box of Bob—which actually stands for "Best of Bourg"—is predominantly Malbec, and retails for about $35. Originally, the box was designed with a picture of the beagle holding up a glass of wine, but a London-based marketing consultant who worked on the project said his fellow countrymen preferred the idea of Bob bringing home the grapes. Apparently it was the right call, since Bob has become somewhat of a hit among foreign tourists and local British expats who've visited the appellation's centralized tasting room, where all the producers' wines are sold. "The brand hasn't been conceived as a money spinner but rather as a way of making some noise about our appellation," said Côtes de Bourg Winegrowers Association president Denis Levraud. That's probably the right way to look at it. After all, if making a critter-label, box wine in Bordeaux doesn't make noise, we're not sure what would.

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