Wine and Movie Pairing: Bob Started Out on Burgundy
"Are you God, Bob?"
It’s the first wine and movie pairing since Academy Award nominees were released yesterday, and we’ve got a fantastic pairing to celebrate one of the movies high on the nominations leaderboard! Let’s take a look at A Complete Unknown with some delicious Côte du Py Beaujolais.
A Complete Unknown (2024) is based on the book Dylan Goes Electric! Dylan, Seeger, Newport, and the Night that Split the Sixties, covering the earliest years of Bob Dylan’s career from a 19-year-old aspiring songwriter to a bonafide folk artist who caused a ruckus at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) arrives in New York City with few possessions other than his guitar, harmonica, and a newspaper clipping of Woody Guthrie. When he goes to visit Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) in the hospital, he also meets Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), another formidable figure in folk who offers the young Dylan a place to crash and a few performance outlets. Along the way, Dylan starts gaining wider acclaim, often running into folk legend Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) as he struggles to define himself as an artist and a person.
Going into the movie, my expectations were low just based on the cartoony, out-of-place clips strung together for the trailer. Like others, though, I was pleasantly surprised to see a musical biopic with focus, equal parts criticism and affection for the subject, and something to say to modern audiences. Director and co-writer James Mangold (Ford v. Ferrari, Walk The Line) gives us a movie with a solid framework, both on camera and in the screenplay. Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael’s expert way of gravitating towards light in the darkest of shots is a feat of incredible craftsmanship. The attention to period details in the production design and costume design are impeccable, and combined with a more lived-in, “acoustic” feeling camera aesthetic, 1960s New York and its creatures come to life here.
For a movie centered around one character’s journey, there’s a lot to examine with the acting performances from the entire ensemble. Timothée Chalamet brings his intellectual side out to play as Bob Dylan, finding moments of tension between Dylan’s full-throated desire to be a career musician and his yearning to experience real human life. As his foil, Monica Barbaro shines as Joan Baez - whip smart, grounded, with full knowledge in how she is perceived by others. Edward Norton delivers as Pete Seeger, an alternative father figure vacillating between pride, jealousy, resentment, and joy in every interaction with Bob Dylan. The featured cast, including the three aforementioned actors, Scoot McNairy, and the enigmatic Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash, are nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards (the acting equivalent of a Best Picture nomination).
There’s quite a bit of booze in the film, and Budweiser is one of the lead sponsors of the movie (right alongside Levi’s Jeans), but I decided to tap into Bob Dylan’s oenophile side and select a wine pairing that felt old and new at the same time, but still accessible to drink as a table wine for a folk star on the rise. Dylan famously crushes his fair share of Burgundy and Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and his love affair with French wine started around the same time the movie takes place. An excellent Cru Beaujolais from arguably the most storied site in Morgon felt about right.
Domaine Jean-Marc Burgaud began in 1989 with a dream, an aunt’s cellar, and a Beaujolais-Village. Now having expanded to various plots around Morgon, including the flagship Côte du Py holdings, Burgaud is starting to be recognized more for exporting some muscular, site-specific wines that show what each Morgon climat can do. Production is still fairly small, but about 65% of all cases are exported around the world, meaning there’s a better chance of actually getting to taste the wines (as opposed to just reading about them). Burgaud is adamant that his personal touch gives people their money’s worth when his name is on the bottle, and that attention to detail is present whether he’s dealing with a single vineyard wine or a Beaujolais-Village blend (still made in the same château where he started over 35 years ago).
Morgon’s Côte du Py is known for its eroded volcanic soil, which gives all the wines a little more heft and an additional black salt characteristic. Jean-Marc Burgaud is a whole cluster house, too, which adds to that grippy feel of the wine. At the end of the day, though, we’re still dealing with Gamay, so this is a medium bodied wine with ample tart red fruits that can pair with just about anything. Wild strawberry, red cherry, and freshly forested raspberries go hand in hand with brooding cigarette smoke on the nose and that black volcanic salt on the palate. The first sip is easygoing, but each subsequent sip is meditative and complex on the long finish (and well afterwards). This is a wine for both contemplation and enjoyment - a folk poet’s dream.
Drink this wine alone, or pair it with just about any takeout. There’s a lot of Chinese food featured in the movie, so try it with your favorite American Chinese classics - chicken chow mein with mushrooms, broccoli beef, or even mapo tofu. Or, if inspiration strikes, a slice of New York-style thin crust cheese pizza.
The 2023 vintage of the Jean-Marc Burgaud Morgon Côte du Py is available at your local independent wine store. You can also check WineSearcher for details on stockists near you. Thank you for supporting small businesses!
A Complete Unknown (2024) is now playing in theaters.