Burgundy First Look Action Review
Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw have uncorked the most guarded secrets of France’s Burgundy, revealing an intoxicating portrait of a gastronomic institute grappling with the relentless passage of time.
The narrative dives into a wine region where the very earth seems to be rewriting its ancient rules. While other luxury regions struggle with surplus barrels and shifting consumer tastes, the elite estates of Burgundy face a starker challenge: meagre harvests increasingly attributed to climate change reshaping the delicate concept of terroir. Even the grandest producers are forced into theatrical interventions—using more pesticide to ward off fungal decay or adding sugar to half-empty barrels to artificially kickstart fermentation. Today, wines that still bear the name of Burgundy often feel less like a legacy and more like a strained memory of its former grandeur.
This tension—the exquisite, fragile tradition against brutal modern reality—creates a fertile ground for observation. It is this sense that something is slightly rotten in the state of the Côte d’Or that makes the region the perfect, ripe subject for Dweck and Kershaw’s journey. Having previously explored the niche worlds of stock car racing, truffle hunting, and gaucho culture, the filmmakers now sink their teeth into this sheltered gourmand haven, finding an octet of characters who perfectly embody the constant shifting of the baton across generations.
At the heart of this dynamic lies the dichotomy between the old guard and the new blood. The timeless majesty of Burgundy is personified by octogenarian Bertrand, the heir to a 160-year-old family business, who is consumed by the monumental task of passing the vineyard on. The obvious successor, his grandson Melchior, seems more captivated by the fast pace of the financial sector’s nouveau riche than by the slow, parochial confines of the estate.
Enter Enzo, one of Bertrand’s ambitious blue-collar workers, who serves as the perfect synthesis of the past and present. Enzo is a handsome twenty-something obsessed with classical aesthetics, adorned with an Alain Delon necklace and enamored with French cinematic icons. While the older stewards—a nostalgic wine critic and a three-star maître d’—prepare for their departure, Enzo embodies the fresh, high-spirited energy injected into this time-worn terrain.
The story deepens through the budding relationship between Enzo and aspiring sommelier Céleste, allowing the region to imbibe from a fountain of youth. This interplay between the Proustian reveries of the elders and the subjective, vibrant expressions of the new generation forms the emotional core of the documentary.
The resulting mosaic is an easily digestible yet profoundly existential portrait of a community still tethered to its soil. The film brilliantly captures the synesthesia of this gastronomic paradise, attempting to capture its euphoric sensuality. While the vignettes are steeped in genuine ritual, the romanticized imagery—especially the nouvelle vague-inspired footage of Enzo and Céleste—can sometimes feel a little overcooked, distracting from the intoxicating journey through this garden of earthly delights. It is a film that manages to be both utterly passionate and deeply reflective, capturing the beautiful, often contradictory, reality of the world that produces its finest wine.
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