TheSuck: In The AltoAdige

Seems like James Suckling has a documentary movie out:
TheMiracleOfTheAltoAdige

In a first, maybe he has a video that I’d like to watch. It’s a spectacularly beautiful area and I gather there’s a lot of aerial footage that would be worth viewing…if’n you can put up w/ the cravat/the hairdo/the affected accent.

Tom

Thanks for posting Tom. I was able to watch this without a subscription to the Suckling site by following the link in the article.

Beautiful scenery and film work and pleasant introductions to a handful of winemakers and owners who appear very dedicated. I watched this with a baseline knowledge of zero and learned a few things. But it wasn’t very information-rich in terms of tecniques and other geeky details. More of a promotional introduction to the region.

Funny thing is that in person he doesn’t go with that weird accent, although his elocution still has that flat weird style. I think he wanted to be a rock star all his life and now he’s come up with something that substitutes - a big-time wine personality. Of all the critics, he seems to have figured it out. Only guy who had done it in the past was Gary V but he moved on.

Parker’s leaving the scene got people wondering who would replace him. But the answer was nobody. It’s a different world now and the time for one big critic has passed. Suckling is more a cheerleader or promoter or impresario than critic. Hence those big scores on everything. But he’s developed a huge following. Not the folks on this board, who are a small part of the public, but with the random public that has maybe a passing interest in wine. His documentaries are to show those people that he’s got some kind of deeper knowledge that will encourage them to respect him enough to attend his events. Not full of complex information though.

Anyway, he’s changed style - wears leather now. He’s a flim-flam man but doesn’t pretend to be anything else. And if you get past the schtick, he’s OK.

Wow. Absolutely spectacular. View here:
SucklingFilm/AltoAdige

This video is an absolute must-see. The scenery is spectacular. About 25 min very well spent. Lots of good vnyd shots, especially of the pergola trellis they often use there. No subscription required.

I particularly loved the views in Tramin. Several yrs ago, we attended the Tramin Chesnut Festival. We were the only Americans there at this little village event. The people were incredibly friendly when they found out we were Americans (this was pre-Trump). Lots of om-pa-pa music. Lots of great food & wines. The GWT from the AltoAdige are my favorites, more so than Alsace, especially those of the Z-H style.

Surprisingly, no sign of TheSuck in this video.

Tom

Yes, beautiful scenery. However, I don’t see how this is a “documentary,” but more of grouping of commercials from a specific location. Maybe Suck will buy a home in Alto Adige to go along with his one in Tuscahny.

Alto Adige is a beautiful place. I’m sure many here have seen them but for those that haven’t you should google guildsomm vimeo. The guildsomm did a series of videos on different wine regions including Alto Adige which was one of my favorites. I think the quality is much better than the video the suck did.

Well, Kyle…I guess I didn’t see it that way. Any more than when Levi interviews Erix Texier is that a commercial.
It just struck me as TheSuck just chose to interview some of the AA producers. Maybe they even paid him for the opportunity; who knows?
I’d rather hear the producers talking about what they do than Suckling pontificating on camera.
Tom

I love the Terlan wines. That Vorberg he mentions is indeed a very fine bottle of Pinot Bianco. I’m just not sure it’s worth the upcharge from their “basic” Pinot Bianco, which is an awfully fine bottle in its own right.

Maybe aging the wines would prove me wrong, or maybe I just need to compare apples to apples (same vintage wines – Vorberg is released late). But the base level wines are fantastic, so this is no faint praise.

Never tasted the reds, though I have a few bottles of Lagrein in the cellar.