TASTING
Doug & Emily go to a wine store and stop by to do a wine tasting with a too-honest salesperson.
Ever been to a wine-tasting? My most memorable thus far, the sparkling wine tour at chez La Maison Mumm in Reims, France. I’d go there again in a heartbeat. But until COVID restrictions ease up, here’s an alternative digital tour.
In his comedic short Tasting, writer Joey Pelletier guides us into a chic wine shop, where knowledgeable wine steward and sales rep Sarah awaits clientele.
Noticing a couple passing by, she invites them over. Customers Emily and Doug accept.
After pouring more than a few drops of the Chardonnay, Sarah discusses food pairings. Doug jokingly inquires about the inevitable next day’s headache. Demonstrating a shocking unfiltered love of truth, Sarah confesses the hangover this Chard produces is “truly awful. You’re going to wish you were dead.”
Before there’s time to invoke Paul Giamatti’s Sideways, the pair are holding empty wine glasses, and Sarah’s moving on to Phase Two: a Cabernet. With its hints of chocolate and coffee, Sarah confides, the wine is guaranteed to make you “wake up next to someone you’ve never met before, and really regret.”
The conversation spirals down from there, into ever more absurd – and hilarious - depths.
What pairs best with a given meal: embarrassing drunken fights at weddings, bad driving decisions, marital infidelity, or something else? And: will Emily and Doug ultimately choose the Reisling, the Pinot Grigio… or escape?
Sample Tasting (responsibly) yourself and find out!
“ A loaf of bread, a jug of wine and thou.” – Omar Khayyam