Mondovino

They're 40-50 meters high, right?

Right.

Can you make wine from coconuts?

No. Only juice.

These words... You'd think we have just discovered them:

LOVE and PLEASURE...

But love and pleasure have always made the world go round.

At least they should.

At 75, I'm overwhelmed with...

with a need to share pleasure, to exchange, to meet people.

My husband had a real love affair with journalism.

At the Liberation, some newspapers

were seized for collaborating.

He was in the Resistance, and when he came back...

See how he's dressed? With his drooping pants...

He died at 62.

I had so much fun with him.

That's when I planted vines. And I have an exchange...

- When did you plant them? - When my husband died.

He died J uly 5th, 1985.

I was in a fog for 6 months.

From J uly to December. Then I woke up and I planted vines.

Ever since then, all this love inside me,

I give it to the vines.

I talk to them.

I have an exchange with them.

Our Malvasia is protected

by "Vinest",

a conservation project for endangered wines.

Because Malvasia of Bosa is endangered?

Yeah, it's unknown.

And each winemaker makes a different style.

We went to his restaurant by accident.

We drank this astonishing wine.

We talked.

Five minutes later,

here we are.

It never used to be for sale.

If you wanted to drink it, you had to come to Bosa.

It was a communal wine.

The people of Bosa offered Malvasia as a gift,

like others invite you for tea.

Who did they give Malvasia di Bosa to?

To friends. To visitors.

The first time we met...

was in J une of '58.

And what did you think of your husband when you met?

Was it love at first sight?

I'm not a very decisive person, really.

I have to be convinced.

But it didn't take long.

Right, Battista?

It's very difficult to keep vines alive.

But it's not just the rich who should be able to do it.

Poor people also have the right.

Before, these hills were covered with small plots.

Everyone cultivated them.

There were vines everywhere.

There were vines everywhere.

Now, people have become lazy,

carried away by consumerism.

They've lost their identity.

They don't know where they come from,

or where they're going. Often hurting themselves.

We've become reduced to the level of animals.

But animals at least choose what they eat.

We've lost our dignity.

In cultivating the Malvasia di Bosa,

there's a kind of ethical commitment.

A savoir-vivre , as the French say.

Really, it was great. They were both there!

There was Gérard Depardieu and Charles Aznavour.

He'll remember that one.

But these journalists, if you don't hit them on the head,

they can't remember a thing.

I started working around here. And little by little,

I became what I am now: A "flying winemaker".

I think if I'd dared to dream, I would've dreamt of what I do now.

But I wouldn't have dared.

In my work you can't ask for more. I make wine in 12 countries.

I work with the wine world's greatest international superstars.

I really have a privileged position.

Who's that, Thierry? I'll take it.

Yeah, go ahead.

You've got to micro-oxy genate.

We won't be long here, don't worry.

- And where are we? - Château Le Gay.

Here you go: Catherine Peyré-Vergé, owner of Château Le Gay.

- Hello, Mr Rolland. - How's it goin'?

Let's micro-oxy genate that barrel.

What's micro-oxy genation?

Know what I think? Best not explain it at all.

You never go in for consultations?

I have to take calls.

But ma'am, do you understand micro-oxy genation?

- No. But she doesn't give a damn. - Really?

If she understood everything, she wouldn't need me.

And if I say: "micro-oxy genate", she micro-oxy genates.

- If it doesn't work, she fires me. - Really?

That's how it works.

Leave it to the expert, I say.

Listen, the goal's simple: Make things better.

You don't need to ask why.

If it doesn't make it better, we don't do it.

Not everyone shares your ideas about what makes a wine better.

Yeah. It's called diversity.

That's why there are so many bad wines.

Wine is dead.

Wine is dead.

Let's be clear, wine is dead.

Not just wine: Cheeses. And fruits.

- Is her name "Vanille"? - Fanny.

I said wine is dead.

So let me clarify:

What is wine?

For millennia,

wine has been a nearly religious relationship between man,

essentially around the Mediterranean...

It's a religious relationship between man and nature.

With the earth, of course, the live earth

free of synthetic products. And with the weather.

J ust micro-oxy genate. As much as you can.

As long as...

Listen, we'll keep in touch.

- You're just like a doctor. - That's right.

- Doctor or psychiatrist? - I'm both!

Can you sit tight 5 minutes?

The wines that make you dream transcend time.

They bring youth instead of wrinkles and death.

That's 1% of the world's wines.

Among those great wines, Bordeaux has been supreme.

Obviously, that chapter is closed.

Today, Bordeaux worships only money.

A great wine springs from love, humility,

a communion with the spiritual...

With the earth and time.

It takes a poet to make a great wine.

That's been replaced by wine consultants.

Brilliant and seductive.

Like Mr Rolland, for example.

It's a whole other species.

So I'm in Hungary, Italy...

France...

Take it, Thierry.

Spain, Portugal, Morocco...

South Africa...

Argentina, Chile...

Mexico...

the US...

I forgot one over there...

India!

I only hope they plant vines on the moon,

so I can be the first consultant there.

- Michel Rolland... - He works for Mondavi.

Yes, I know. Whom doesn't he work for?

I heard him once. In Tokyo.

He spoke at a conference for hundreds of Japanese.

It's fantastic. Exhilarating!

A guy who wins clients

so elegantly, just by laughing...

He's always laughing. You have to like him.

He's always got a smile.

"Gentlemen, let's not fool ourselves.

"Great wines can be made anywhere."

There's only one rule to follow: Consult Mr Rolland.

It's fantastic! J ust fantastic!

I happen to often work

with important people in the wine world.

The Mondavis are important people.

Who in the wine world doesn't know Mondavi?

If you don't, you're not in the wine world!

See those hills?

They were going to raze them flat with bulldozers.

So they could put up huge billboards marked "Mondavi".

Big enough to see from the coast.

It was a great idea to make a buck...

and cause 20 deaths at the first flood.

Like at Sommières.

There are idiots who still think

it's a shame Mondavi was stopped.

You know, people can be really stupid.

Aimé Guibert is the one who led the fight against Mondavi.

He led the fight against them, on a political level,

stirring up ignorant people: Peasants, bumpkins, hicks.

Did you follow the Mondavi Affair?

No comment.

Why not?

J ust because.

Did you follow the Mondavi Affair?

Here, the vine is all-important.

In Paris, it may be factories and all that,

but here it's the vine.

Do you know who'll give us the real scoop on Aniane?

Yeah...

Mrs Gay.

Hello, Dog.

He's not a mean dog.

Without getting into politics

or cheap anti-Americanism,

we would've done the same with Depardieu, who's here now.