Latest news with #ChâteauMargaux
Evening Standard
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Evening Standard
John Banville: The year in London that changed my life
After more desultory talk and a few more generous splashes of gin, we took ourselves off to lunch at Au Jardin des Gourmets in Greek Street. First off we had a Pimm's, for refreshment, and David related more of his adventures in and out of the publishing trade. He was cheerfully non-intellectual, but he had a sharp eye for a winner — he liked a flutter on the horses, too — and at the time he was betting on a novel due out in October, The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury, a writer I had never heard of. When we were done and the bill arrived I managed to get a look at it, bleared though I was from the gin, the Pimm's and the subsequent bottle of Château Margaux; the total made my eyes water. 'David,' I slurred, 'next time could I just have the money?' He twinkled at me. 'Ah but then, dear boy, I wouldn't get my lunch, would I?'
The Guardian
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Tasting review – French midlife romcom takes its leads guzzling fine winen
Chateau average? There's not much complexity to this romantic comedy about love in middle-age, set in the medieval city of Troyes in France's Champagne region. It's easy-going but lacking a bit of oomph, and the comedy never properly fizzes. Isabelle Carré and Bernard Campan give warm, likable performances as a couple meeting in their 40s; he owns a wine shop, she's a midwife. But the real star is Troyes itself, with its cobbled alleyways, surrounded by vineyards. You might find yourself planning a mini-break during the slower bits. Carré plays midwife Hortense as an interesting and believable contradiction of eager-to-please and spiky – though there's something a bit off in the script's depiction of her as single woman desperately filling up her spare time: choir practice, church on Sundays, volunteering at a homeless shelter. Hortense meets grumpy Jacques when she buys a bottle of wine in his shop and invites herself along to a tasting; Jacques has had to quit drinking after a health scare. (In the most French line of the film he protests to his doctor: 'But I only drink fine wines. Wine isn't alcohol.') There's a spark between Hortense and Jacques but their lives are already complicated enough. In truth, some of the comedy around Hortense's sadness at being childless feels clumsy and a bit cliched, and for a supposedly grownup romcom there's a fair few ooh-er gags (including one about spitting v swallowing at a wine tasting). But the film gets by on the performances; in a smallish role, Mounir Amamra is a joy as Jacques' workshy young assistant Steve. The movie ends with Hortense's homeless friends quaffing a bottle of fancy Château Margaux. Unlike vintage plonk, this is not a experience that will linger. The Tasting is in UK cinemas from 31 January.
