Wine and Movie Pairing: Dinner At Dorsia?
“I'm into, uh, well, murders and executions, mostly.”
As we inch closer and closer to Oscar Sunday, I’ve been thinking about movies that were snubbed by the Academy, but had a long life after its release. Today’s wine and movie pairing resonates a little too well in 2025 America, and is absolutely worth enjoying for the first time or the millionth time in the wake of The Substance’s Best Picture nomination. Behold: American Psycho (2000), paired with a brooding, surprising Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages.
American Psycho (2000) is an adaptation of the satirical 1991 Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name. Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is a Wall Street muckity muck who spends his days yukking it up with like-minded suits and their identical business cards at the best reservations that they can find in Manhattan. By night, Bateman’s proclivity for bloodlust is activated, and he becomes a serial killer with a meticulous wardrobe and alibi after alibi. When the suit with the best business card, Paul Allen (Jared Leto), mysteriously goes missing on a trip to London, Bateman uses any means possible to cover his tracks and avoid suspicion from Detective Donald Kimball (Willem Dafoe), his fiancée Evelyn (Reese Witherspoon), his assistant Jean (Chloë Sevigny), other guys at work… you get the picture.
This is undoubtedly a very stylish film with a satirical tone that is emphasized throughout the screenplay. Upon the film’s release in 2000, there were a few members of the media that quipped, “this is an adaptation of a novel by a misogynist directed by a feminist”, and director/co-writer Mary Harron’s pointed criticism of machismo culture comes across more clearly in 2025 than it did at the time the movie was made. Coralie Fargeat references American Psycho once or twice in her film The Substance, and it’s refreshing to see horror now fully embraced as an awards-worthy medium that owes a lot of its classic moments to female directors and writers taking on decidedly feminist themes in their horror movies.
While the movie boasts an ensemble cast of Young Hollywood from the early 2000s - including Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas, Reese Witherspoon, and Chloë Sevigny - the script relies on the enigmatic Christian Bale to give Patrick Bateman the manipulative and chilling personification that keeps audiences watching well after the point that he’s morally unhinged. Casting associates had gone through a list of actors about 20 long before re-committing to Bale after 9 months, but Bale’s affinity for the role translated into his work on screen. Even when the audience knows what’s about to happen in the plot, Bale’s performance is the very definition of commitment. From elaborate skin care routines to unceremoniously placed bodies in Jean Paul Gaultier bags, the movie’s success rests squarely on Christian Bale’s muscular shoulders, and he runs with it towards a career breakout performance and the beginning of many transformational roles.
For those who need another dose of food-as-blood-on-camera through the critical lens of a visionary director, American Psycho is worth revisiting after you’ve seen The Substance on loop.
There is so much to play with when it comes to a wine pairing for this movie! While there’s a lot of Chardonnay consumed and referenced on screen (Bateman never drinks red on screen because it would stain his pristine eggshell apartment), I was more inspired by the opening title sequence that features blood drops dissolving into various red foods and sauces, which leads into an über pretentious restaurant scene. Red fruit dominated, evokes a sanguine/iron-rich feel, and could probably be poured as a Châteauneuf-du-Pape dupe if an astute sommelier wanted to hoodwink Patrick Bateman? This is a job for a Côtes-du-Rhône that punches above its price point!
Domaine du Séminaire is an old school label, currently run by fourth generation vintners Hervé and Mathilde Pouizin. This estate is so old school (how old school is it?) that the concrete tanks used for fermentation have been around since 1938, and the most “modern” vineyard update has been a conversion to organic viticulture. The 250 hectare Provençal estate is surrounded by olive and truffle oak trees, lavender, and dense forest, and all those deep, dark aromatics find their way into the wines.
The Valréas Rouge (also known as “Ravel”) is a formidable Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages that starts off bright toned and light, then develops into something more fascinating as it rests in the glass. The 2022 vintage features 80% Grenache, 10% Syrah, and 10% Mourvèdre, featuring fresh Bing cherries and pomegranate arils on the nose, but slowly descending into madness as aromas of black raspberry, rosemary, garrigue, iron, black olive, and eucalyptus unfurl. On the palate, the Grenache base provides a medium bodied weight that is easy to sip through the night, but once it hits the tongue, the sturdy Syrah and velvet Mourvèdre duke it out over who gets to say the last word. Sounds an awful lot like a misogynist novel in the hands of a feminist director to me.
Play with pairing this wine with just about anything you could imagine - from steak at Smith & Wollensky to swordfish meatloaf, there’s something to love about this wine no matter what happens to be served alongside it. I’ll be keeping it in the house for black bean “mud” soup during the winter.
The 2022 vintage of Domaine du Séminaire’s Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages Valréas Rouge is available at your local independent wine store. Check WineSearcher for details on stockists near you. Thank you for supporting small businesses!
American Psycho (2023) is currently streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime, and is available on PVOD, DVD, and Blu-Ray.