Wine Calling

For the French, winemaking is an obsessive and unpredictable love affair. After harvesting fresh grapes from the vine, squeezing the juice by foot or machine, then fermenting it in vats, each irreplicable bottle tells a unique story. Fueled by a punk-rock soundtrack, Wine Calling takes us through the terroirs of southern France near the border of the Iberian peninsula, where a countercultural wine movement is underway. As viticulturist of Domaine des Foulards Rouges, Jean-Francois Nicq's methods have influenced his fellow front-runners in the natural-vinification movement, keen to the damaging environmental and health effects of chemicals in vineyards and sulfites in wine bottles. Instead of mechanically administered insecticide dispersal, they observe their vines and opt for controlled doses of natural volcanic sulfur to ward off fruit flies. Michael Georget of Le Temps Retrouve uses a horse rather than tractors to navigate his terroir, advocating for the animal's adaptability and friendly presence. Feeding off one another's creative energy and the teachings of expert oenologists such as Max Leglise, Jules Chauvet, and Jacques Neauport, together they lead a new generation of winemakers, whose confidence is distilled in the relentless pursuit of wine quality rather than official appellations. (Seattle International Film Festival)