Wine and Movie Pairing: Florèz Wines and Flower Moons
Can you find the wolves in this picture?
Ready for a treat? This week’s Wine and Movie Pairing features a likely Best Picture contender and an equally thought-provoking wine. Let’s take a look at Killers of the Flower Moon with the 2021 “Romulus” Syrah from Florèz Wines.
Adapted for the screen from David Grann’s book by the same name, Killers of the Flower Moon explores the plight of the Osage Nation during the Reign of Terror in the early 20th Century. Where the source material examines the story through FBI agent Tom White, the screenplay focuses its attention on Ernest and Mollie Burkhart (played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone), which naturally puts the details of the horrific true story into the context of the Burkhart’s love story. Further plot reveals would spoil the movie for those that haven’t seen it, so be sure to see the movie for a gripping story that provides a fresh perspective on an undertold story.
For a movie that clocks in at 3 hours and 26 minutes of running time (yes, it’s the same size, length, and scope as a Wagnerian opera), Killers of the Flower Moon has solid timing and exceptional craftsmanship. The late Robbie Robertson, who hailed from Mohawk ancestry and grew up on the Six Nations reservation near Toronto, propels the movie forward with his percussive score that melds together Indigenous rhythms with more contemporary instruments. Thelma Schoonmaker has tightly edited together some gorgeous shots from cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, but it is Martin Scorsese who hits a new career high with his sweeping vision and thoughtful screenplay.
The talent in front of the camera is remarkable. Of course, when talent like Academy Award winners Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro are involved, the bar is set high. The movie belongs to Lily Gladstone, who not only holds her own with two intimidatingly talented co-stars, but turns in a subtle, grounded performance that is thrilling from start to finish. I would love to acknowledge the ensemble here as well - Tantoo Cardinal serves as the matriarch for Lily Gladstone’s character and her three sisters, played by Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, and Jillian Dion. The hiring and cultivating of Native actors led to an abrupt script change in the middle of production, and the tone of the movie drastically changed, due in large part to the feedback provided by the ensemble.
There’s a moment in the movie when Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) is flipping through an illustrated book and asks the audience, “Can you find the wolves in this picture?” The question, of course, is both literal and metaphorical, seeing that the wolves are everywhere in the film. That was one of my big inspiration points for the wine pairing, the 2021 Florèz Wines “Romulus” Syrah.
Florèz Wines was founded in 2017 by winemaker James Jelks. A California kid at heart, James Jelks was born in Santa Cruz and grew up in Davis. After attending the fabled winemaking program at UC Davis and doing internships everywhere from Burgundy to Clare Valley, Jelks wanted to return to Santa Cruz and establish his own label that focused on Santa Cruz terroir expressed through low intervention winemaking techniques. Jelks finds inspiration everywhere, with a fair amount of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in his lineup accompanied by Picpoul and a modern twist on Merlot.
In 2021, Florèz Wines produced two varietal Syrahs from the Santa Cruz Mountains, aptly named “Romulus” and “Remus”. These two bottlings of Syrah were grown in two different vineyards located a mile from each other, and each wine is distinctly different from the other. This study in terroir reveals a lighter, expressive Syrah from sandstone soils in Hidden Hills Vineyard (“Remus”), but it is the heartier, warmer Syrah from Alaya Vineyard a mile further inland that produces a wine so powerful that it could conquer the world (“Romulus”). Can you find the wolves in this picture?
The 2021 Romulus is dark and brooding, with layers of ripe red, black, and blue fruit accompanied by delicate black peppercorn, a little evergreen pine, and dried violets. It’s a full bodied wine with a ripe attack and a long finish, almost as if the wine wanted to live in memory forever. There’s a lot of Northern Rhône influence with the complexity of aromas, but at the end of the day, this could only be a California Syrah. The longevity and the bold gut punch remind me of the same qualities in Killers of the Flower Moon, and both wine and movie are deserving of meditative consumption and thought-provoking discussion.
The 2021 Florèz Wines “Romulus” Syrah can be found at your local wine store for approximately $33. Check the Florèz Wines website for more updates on direct to consumer wine sales.
Killers of the Flower Moon is now available to stream on Apple TV.
Further Reading
This feature article on the behind-the-scenes story of Killers of the Flower Moon explains how much the movie changed from pre-production to eventual release. Read more in Big Issue here.
Sydney Love wrote a feature article on four young winemakers in Santa Cruz and their mutual affinity for low intervention winemaking techniques. Read more about Florez winemaker James Jelks, with colleagues Ryan Stirm, Megan Bell, and Brent Mayeaux, here.