Film and Wine Pairings

Sonoma Valley Film Festival Provides Expert Advice

(SONOMA VALLEY, CA) – They think he is the only one of his kind – an Official Film Festival Sommelier. If you think about it though, it's pretty natural. The Sonoma Valley Film Festival (coming up on its 10 th year) boasts this unique and expected tie-in to the region's celebrated product.

Christopher Sawyer is an intense student of the Sonoma Valley wine culture, and in wine in general. He is well known as a wine journalist and critic, beyond his sommelier duties for the Film Festival and at Carneros Bistro & Wine Bar (located at The Lodge at Sonoma and Renaissance Resort and Spa.

He seamlessly moves among the family of winemakers that have settled in Sonoma Valley: discussing with them their winemaking techniques, farming challenges, and bottled successes. He, the winemakers, and the film festival are part of an interesting and closely knit fabric of aficionados that populate the Valley of the Moon.

Christopher matches his knowledge of Sonoma Valley wines with stellar independent films – frequently developed for the love of the project and without the blockbuster budgets. He pulls nuances from the visual experiences and works to enhance it with the choice of wine. A one-two punch for an evening's entertainment.

Besides Christopher's unique position and distinctive pairing skill, it is worth mentioning the level of interested participation that the area's winemakers give to this event. It goes beyond the simple donation of wine for a night's film, or wine-tasting event. Many of the wineries themselves host film showings, or underwrite venues for the film festival.

Journalists were recently given a tour of several of the participating wineries and were shown a world where family farmers exude as much enthusiasm for the efforts to provide unique entertainment and educational experiences as they do the efforts to make world-class wines.

This attitude was embodied by a comment made by Chris Benziger, who decried the “soulless” winemaking that only exalts itself, and evangelized sustainable ecosystems – from the natural to the cultural.

The 10th anniversary of the Sonoma Valley Film Festival will be held April 11 to 15, 2007. The festival was recently named one of America's “Top Ten Best Vacation Film Festivals.” For information on upcoming events and programs, check www.sonomafilmfest.org.

Read ML Hilton's blog on last year's event.