Wine and Movie Pairing: Mickey, Mickey... Mickey?
"What's it feel like to die?"
Sometimes you just need to get weird. Today’s wine and movie pairing plays with people’s preconceived notions on great filmmaking (and great winemaking) by taking a look at two pieces of art that have solid structure and personalities all their own: Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 (2025) and La Petite Mort’s “VMR Qvevri” orange wine.
Mickey 17 (2025) is the long-awaited follow up to Bong Joon Ho’s Best Picture Oscar winner, Parasite (2019). While some themes carry over from the previous film, the tonal shift (not to mention the language change) is palpably different. Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) finds himself in a tricky situation with his trusted confidante, Timo (Steven Yeun). The two friends/business partners find a way out of the situation: joining the space colony championed by corrupt politician Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo), his wife Ylfa (Toni Collette), and their red hat-wearing fans. Timo weasels his way onto the ship by signing up as a pilot (he only got a learner’s permit), leaving Mickey to fend for himself and get onto the ship any way he can… which he does by registering as an expendable.
“You read through the whole application, right?”
As an expendable, Mickey permits himself to be killed off intentionally and “reprinted” by a machine that makes a carbon copy of his body, complete with all previous memories. And oh boy does he see his fair share of dramatic deaths. By the time Mickey 17 rolls around, Mickey has been in a habit of dying, and is shocked to find himself alive at the bottom of a cave covered in ice. Somehow, Mickey 17 finds a way of getting back to the ship in one piece… only to find that Mickey 18 has already been printed, and is starting to put the moves on his girlfriend, Nasha (Naomi Ackie).
The rest of the movie explores some prescient themes about class warfare and who we choose to trust, but the script feels well paced, revealing stakes and new character traits at an even pace. Part of the reason why this zany concept works so well on the big screen is due to its ensemble cast, down to play and try all sorts of things in this free-for-all world. Robert Pattinson is at his weirdo best as all forms of the titular Mickey, from the accent to the “bologna boy” physical comedy. The clear delineation between Mickey 17 and Mickey 18 is due in large part to Pattinson’s dialed in stature for both (17 lives in a hunched over state, while 18 stands up taller and looks down his nose at people more).
As Nasha, Naomi Ackie is the constant grounding force that the Mickeys rely on, but she’s also down to get silly and go for the zany choice when the stakes need to be raised. Steven Yeun proves that he’s just as comfortable handling comedy as the meaty dramas he’s more known for (Beef, Minari), and I’m convinced that Timo is a role that future Best Supporting Actor nominee
would absolutely love to play. The refreshing surprise for me was Romanian actress Anamaria Vartolomei as Kai, the prickly agent who ends up as a rival for Mickey 17’s affections. Her no-nonsense role is necessary from an ensemble point of view, but Vartolomei does a lot to warm up the character even through the rigidity.Is it off-the-wall, and probably not a movie for everyone? Sure. But it is also an engaging and downright fun movie as an audience member, and a highlight in the vaulted filmography of Bong Joon Ho.
What kind of wine is willing to get weird, but still maintain a lot of structure with its out-there elements? This one. I’m so happy to introduce one of my all-time favorite wines to you: La Petite Mort’s “VMR Qvevri”, an orange wine from Queensland, Australia that lives in a category all its own.
La Petite Mort started as an experimental project when Glen Robert and his business partner, Robert Richter, came across a great plot of land in Queensland that would be a prime viticultural site. When Glen met Andrew Scott, an MW student who happened to dabble in some winemaking, the two hit it off, and La Petite Mort had their winemaker. LPM is known for their affinity for Georgian winemaking techniques - almost all of their wines are made using Georgian qvevri (pronounced kuh-VEV-ree), clay pots buried underground that allow the wines to develop an incredible amount of structure and grip.
Because Georgia is known for their amber wines (white grapes that sit on the skins in qvevri long enough to develop an amber hue and enough tannin to rival a new Napa Cab), La Petite Mort wanted to incorporate their own take on the style with some white grapes that grew well in the area. Using a blend of Viognier, Marsanne, and Roussanne, “VMR Qvevri” is a powerful orange wine that is not shy about its floral aromatics or its formidable heft. This wine sits on its skins for 161 days(!), which provides a lot of structure and salty preserved lemon and dried apricot notes on the palate. Accompanied by that signature Viognier nose and Marsanne/Roussanne marzipan fruit, this is a vexing, complex wine that offers a new personality with every sip. That, and La Petite Mort literally translates to “a little death”, but is also a euphemism for an orgasm (a cheeky sense of humor that would fit in nicely with a Bong Joon Ho comedy).
Fair warning: I’m not sure how well the “VMR Qvevri” will pair with “the grey stuff” that’s slopped onto plates in the movie, but if you get your hands on it, make sure to stay within your assigned calorie limits. Since I’m enjoying the wine here on earth and not on a spaceship, I’ll be pouring it alongside salmon nigiri (though it would be great with a sake don or poke bowl, too), uni pasta, tahdig, and pomegranate chicken.
La Petite Mort’s “VMR Qvevri” is available at your local independent wine store. Check WineSearcher for details on stockists near you. Thank you for supporting small businesses!
Mickey 17 (2025) is now playing in movie theaters. Thank you for supporting your local independent movie theater!