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Today is the first of THREE PARTS (well, two main parts + a bonus companion "Vinterview"!)

In this episode we cover the Alphs of Coppola's career, THE GODFATHER (1972).

In PART TWO we'll cover the Omega, MEGALOPOLIS (2024). And then taste two well-aged Coppola wines and say which wine pairs best with which film.

Along the way, we'll also chronicle the rise and fall of Coppola's wine empire, from its humble beginnings in Napa, to it's almost dissolution in the early 90's, to its massive expansion to Sonoma and Oregon in the 2000's, to its sale in 2021 in order to finance his lifelong ambition - to film his 40-years-in-the-making Megalopolis. And then take stock of what still exists today.

Then in our companion Vinterview, we'll be interviewing one of the actresses from the Megalopolis movie! And whoever you think it might be - no, it's not her. (It's gonna be a wacky surprise.)

LINKS TO THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

How Dracula (1992) Rescued Coppola's Winery - Our own article about how Coppola almost lost it all in the early 90's, only to have his Bram Stoker's Dracula film turn it all around. There would have been nothing to sell to finance Megalopolis if there had been no Dracula.

What Went Wrong (Podcast) - Our fave movie podcast that has 2-part chronicle of how The Godfather was made, and it's the best version of this story out there in podcast form. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Winebid - The site where we snagged our well-aged Niebaum-Coppola wines! One for $60 and the other for an astounding $25 (!!!) This is a treasure trove for wines if you look for stuff collectors don't care (too much) about.

Curated Wine Shop - The shop we drank the wines at, met the Megalopolis Production Designer in, and got connected to the actress we'll be interviewing later! If you live in LA, you gotta check this place out. We love them.

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More behind-the-scenes details about this episode and more at:
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Also known as Houdini & Company, The Robbery, The Incident, and (our favorite) Shag-O-Rama.

The Linguini Incident was the directorial debut of Richard Shepard, the man who would finally get out of “movie jail” when he made 2004’s Matador (starring Pierce Brosnan), then went on to make The Hunting Party (starring Richard Gere), Dom Hemingway (starring Jude Law), and The Perfection (starring Allison Williams).

It was a low budget film by a first time director that somehow snagged the INSANE cast of:

• David Bowie
• Rosanna Arquette
• Ezster Balint
• Marlee Matlin (already an Oscar-winner!)
• Buck Henry
• Andre Gregory

The final edit was taken away from the director, different cuts were released in different countries, and it’s main theatrical release was in Los Angeles in 1992…during the LA riots. When there was a curfew.

30 years later, the co-producer and director got the rights back, sourced the longest 35mm print they could find (an epic story in its own right!) and release this Director’s Cut - 8 minutes shorter than the shortest of the previous cuts!

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More behind-the-scenes details about this episode and more at:
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This week we tackle the latest album of a band that's been blazing a trail through the music scene for 2 decades now. Combining boroque British folk, a prog rock structure, and Americana (blues, country, American folk) the band has been featured on the sitcoms THE OFFICE and PARKS AND REC and had their 2015 THE KING IS DEAD top the Billboard 200 upon release.

Yet somehow neither of us had listened to them until this latest album. And folks, it's bloody great.

Paired with some unique wines (to match the unique music!) including this one which can only be found at the below link:

DEAR NATIVE GRAPES HUDSON VALLEY HEIRLOOM GRAPE SERIES LE COLONEL (only 72 bottles made!)

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More behind-the-scenes details about this episode and more at:
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What's that? Y'all are deep into Season 3 already? Yeah, yeah, we slow.

BUT, we are finally on this White Lotus train thanks to our special guest, BETH LISOGORSKY of Beth's Film and TV Recommendations fame!

Beth is a film and TV analyst and pop culture critic. She’s written for PopMatters, Valleywag (part of Gawker media), The Boston Globe, and The Jerusalem Post. And she watches ALL the TV and film (or seemingly, anyway) and let's you know what's worth watching and what's not on her Substack bethlisogorsky.substack.com

Beth selected WHITE LOTUS Season 1 to chat with us about. Yes, yes, y’all are deep into Season 3 already. But trust us: a revisit to Season 1 is something you want to do. We chat about the show’s history, it’s themes, it’s characters, it’s enormous strngths, its occassional weaknesses, and what changed for Beth between her original viewing of Season 1 and this revisit.

And as we learn in the show: you need to drink something special to survive rich peope. Or you could mainline cocaine like Armond. Do you.

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More behind-the-scenes details about this episode and more at:
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From corner bars to Michelin stars, Liz Mendez hails from the Midwest and over the years has developed a portfolio career in wine, tech, and radio, spending three decades immersed in the restaurant industry. She is an award-winning sommelier and a previous owner of a Chicago wine bar, though she hit the reset button when she began working in hospitality technology with American Express and their platform "Resy".

Liz is passionate about the immense opportunities within the zero-proof world and inclusive hospitality, which she writes about in her newsletter, The Luncheonette - which you can find at luncheonette.substack.com (link below in the description of this episode.)

Liz is also the founder of Aldea Hospitality + Productions, an agency that works with businesses, retail, and restaurants to reimagine the power, reach, and impact of hospitality as a community-driven art and craft.

And Liz is here to talk to us today about her ideas involving Innovation and Technology within the Wine space, a subject we bonded on over at Substack, and we have a lot to talk about.

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When superstar Rick James passed away in 2004, an autobiography was rushed out to the public. But biographer David Ritz was never satisfied with that edition, and many years later releaed this definitivie edition, GLOW: The Autobiography of Rick James.

Cobbled together from numerous letters and diary entries that James had written in prison and after, mixed with stories told by Ritz in James' voice, GLOW tells the story of an impulsive musical prodigy who witnessed the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.

We listened to the entirety of James' discography while reading this book, and paired wines we think are perfect to match the book AND James' music!

DALLAS' WINE PAIRING:

Las Jaras 2024 Slipper Sipper Nouveau - 49% Zinfandel | 33% Carignan | 16% Petite Sirah | 7% Vermentino

DAVE'S WINE PAIRING:

2022 The Prisoner Red Blend - Zinfandel with the unlikely mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Syrah, and Charbono.

Read a more robust write up on both wines here: https://vintertainmentstudios.com

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Yes, we have a new name!

This episode is a recap of who we are, where we came from, where this podcast came from, what this podcast will be going forward, and a shout-out to our favorite eisodes of the past, so you can cherry pick previous episodes before OBVIOUSLY following us into the future.

FIND ALL THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE HERE.

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More behind-the-scenes details about this episode and more at:
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Joe Kelly is best known for his charater-defining run on DEADPOOL - the movies are heavily based on the comics that bear his name, and no other writer has truly strayed rom Kelly's rendition. He also made a spash with the creator-owned Image Comics series I KILL GIANTS with artist Ken Nimura, which was later made into the feature film of the same name starring Madison Wolfe, Imogen Poots, Zoe Saldana, and directed by Anders Walter, Academy Award winner for best live action short film in 2013 (HELIUM).

The duo then came back with IMMORTAL SERGEANT. This is, according to Kelly, a story that took him many years to write. At its core is a personal tale of Kelly's relationship with his own father, who was a lifelong police officer. Accordingly, the comic follows the retirement of Sergeant Jim Sargent, who desperately needs to close one last cold case before he shuffles off into the sunset. But he's going to have to accomplish this while his estranged extended family gathers for both his retirement celebration and his son's birthday.

DAVE'S WINE PAIRING

2020 Quintas de Melgaço Super Reserva Sparkling Alvarinho, Vinho Verde DOC

If you're in North America, the best place to nab this is from Diniz Cellars, an importer of Portuguese wine who can sell direct to the public!

DALLAS' "WINE" PAIRING

Samuel Smith's Old Bull Brewery, Tadcaster Oatmeal Stout

Support the show

More behind-the-scenes details about this episode and more at:
vintertainmentstudios.com

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