Discussing Wine and War with Filmmakers Mark Ryan and Mark Johnston: Lebanese Wine Documentary

Austin Beeman interviews Filmmakers Mark Ryan and Mark Johnston about their Lebanese Wine documentary: Wine and War.

WINE and WAR

The Untold Story of Wine in the Middle East is a feature documentary about the history of winemaking in Lebanon and the resilience of the Lebanese entrepreneurial spirit seen through the lens of war and instability.

https://wineandwar.com

THIS IS EPISODE #79 OF UNDERSTANDING WINE WITH AUSTIN BEEMAN

Video Podcast: http://www.austinbeeman.com/podcast

Itunes Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/understanding-wine-austin-beemans-interviews-winemakers/id374221487

Direct RSS feed: http://understandingwine.libsyn.com/rss

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Mark Ryan - Director

A deep-rooted love for adventure and documenting the world around him led Mark towards his career. Over the past two decades, Mark has been a producer, director, and cinematographer on five continents and the North Pole. Early in his career, Mark was part of a film crew that was the first in thirty years to be given unprecedented access to the Hopi Indians of Arizona. This experience cemented Mark’s desire to sensitively tell the stories of other people. Mark has a number of film credits under his belt including the James Beard Award-winning short films The Scent of Black and Stewards of the Land. He’s also served as a producer on the MTV hit show Pimp My Ride. A Los Angeles native, Mark is a graduate of the University of Southern California with a BA in Cinema Production. He also holds a post-graduate degree from Central St. Martins School of Fine Art in London. Today, Mark combines his love for adventure, travel, and hearing the stories of other people with best practices for capturing scenes of film to create stunning imagery for clients around the world.

Mark Johnston - Director

Mark Johnston is a versatile and highly adaptable executive producer and documentary filmmaker who is known for tackling a full range of near-impossible production challenges with a proven track record of creative development in complex and cross-functional multicultural environments. Mark has invested all his savings to make documentaries. He doesn’t own a home. He literally once moved into a mini van to save money to film a documentary. Mark’s passion for the work takes him to the farthest places on the globe and he always strives to do what he can to help each project realize its full potential. Big budget or big challenge, domestic or around the globe... Mark has done it all with calm collection and inventive problem solving be it feature film documentaries, TV campaigns, brand funded content, animated short films, live event programming, experiential projects, the Lanzarote Iron Man, En Svensk Klassiker, Vasaloppet, and the Stones 100k Ultra Marathon. Mark is a graduate of the University of Southern California, ranked #1 film school in the United States.

What is the Best Way to Learn About Wine?

The following is a clip taken from Austin Beeman's interview on the Upside of 40 Podcast with Sean Mooney.

TOPIC: WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO LEARN ABOUT WINE?

Sean Mooney:

The reason I wanted to get the background on this is because most people listening are not well-informed about wines. I'm sure many, many, I among them, love wine. But from your viewpoint, and your expertise is vast, but for people like me and others listening, what is the best way to get educated about wines?

Austin Beeman:

There's two ways ...

ABOUT UPSIDE OF 40 WITH SEAN MOONEY

Upside of 40 finds Sean Mooney wrestling with something new – the facts of life after 40. It’s candid talk for men with real experts on money, dating, relationships, fitness, health, technology, food, travel, retirement, sports and more. Get the good, the bad, and the funny about life after 40.

Other segments from Austin’s interview with Sean Mooney:

1. The One Rule for Perfect Wine and Food Pairing

2. Wet Ferrets and Cardboard Boxes: Detecting Flawed Bottles of Wine in Restaurants.

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Full Transcript:

Sean Mooney:

Well, the reason, I wanted to get the background on this, because most people listening are not well-informed about wines. I'm sure many, many, I among them, love wine. But from your viewpoint, and your expertise is vast, but for people like me and others listening, what is the best way to get educated about wines?

Austin Beeman:

There's two ways. The best way to sort of start a serious wine journey, the moment you're like, "I want to learn more, I want to get more pleasure by learning a little bit more," and find a local wine merchant in your town who is an independent, and talk to them. Let them know what you like now, where your budget is, whatever your budget is.

Be very honest with where you are at this moment in your wine journey, and then work with them over time not just to buy the things that you know you like, but say, "I like A, B, C, and D, give me three recommendations for things in the same price range that I've never had, or that are similar, or that are ..." If I like Pinot Grigio, move me into a Pinot blanc. Or if I like Italian Pinot Grigio, move me into like a Soave.

And they'll be able to access all of these boutique wines from all over the world that will help you understand what you like, what you don't like, where your palate is going, because we all move through a wine journey. Nobody's palate ever stays the same over time.

Working with a local merchant who can help you in your own budget, in your own time, walk through this, is absolutely the best way to start this process.

The other thing would be to get ... Even get together these days is much more difficult than it would have been in the past, but in the past forming a tasting group and say, "Okay. We are all interested in wine." If that's three people, if that's 10 people, if you can do it in your backyard these days, this is a different time. But each of you say, "I'm going to buy a $30 bottle of Napa Valley Cabernet. And then we're going to taste through the different options at the same price point and see where are the differences within one type." Or, "We like Cabernet, but now we're not going to buy a Napa Cabernet. We're going to buy an Australian Cabernet and a Cabernet from Bulgari in Italy, and a Cabernet from Bordeaux in France, and a Cabernet from Coonawarra in Australia," and all at that same price range.

And then you see what different countries do to the same grape.

And then say, "Okay. We really like Napa Valley Cabernet. Let's try $10, $30, $50, $100, $150, and let's see what price does." And so you'll learn all of the different dimension, I keep doing this in my head, but you'll learn all the different dimensions of how does price figure into things? What does $100 give you that a $10 does not?

And when I was doing a lot of wine tastings as a retailer early in my career, I would always ask people, "The only thing that doesn't matter right now is whether or not you like it. When you're trying to learn, that's the thing that doesn't matter." Try to say, "What is this?" first. You're totally allowed to like it. You never have to buy it again, but try to understand ... If somebody says, "This is a really good Coonawarra Cabernet," and there's something that doesn't work for you, figuring out what that soil type is that created that certain flavor will help you make recommendations down the line.

Or, "I didn't like this expensive Cabernet as much as I liked this inexpensive Cabernet." Well that's because expensive Cabernet is supposed to go into your cellar for 10 years. So you're reacting to that bitter, hard structure that in a decade will become something glorious. And that's why the price was higher on that wine. So you know, "Hey, if I'm buying for Tuesday night, maybe I want to buy something cheaper."

Or you buy a bottle and you age it, and you come back to it. You buy a case of something that your merchant has told you is age worthy, and you drink a bottle this year, and a bottle at two years old, and a bottle at three years old, and a bottle at four years old, and a bottle at five. And you follow that wine over a decade. And you're like, "Oh, I get now why some people might cellar wine."

There's all these different windows into the wine experience. And you can go as deep into this as you want, or you can stay at the beginning and have a wonderful time.

It doesn't require you to walk down this path to have pleasure, but there's more, and more, and more deeper pleasures if you make that walk.

Should I Age This Wine?

Wine is only one step on the path from grape juice to vinegar. Some wines let us walk that path slowly with them, stopping to smell the roses.

Everyone has heard of wine’s magical ability to improve with time, but for most people this causes more questions than answers. In this article, I’m going to give clear and helpful guidance through a series of yes or no questions. These tools will help you learn which wines are worth aging and lead you down the rabbit hole that is aging wine.

I’m writing this to help the myriad of people that ask about this on social media. In lieu of typing the same answer multiple times, I plan to simply link this article. If you are here because of one such link, welcome!

I hope this helps. It is for you.

What Do We Mean When We Say “A Wine Can Age?”

When we age wine we are looking for a situation where: 10+ years from Vintage date, under proper cellar conditions, the wine will be more interesting, more complex, more nuanced, and overall more enjoyable than when it was released.

We aren’t looking for a wine that persists, but one that improves. There is no reason to spend the effort of aging a wine if you aren’t going to get more a more compelling experience.

What are “Proper Cellar Conditions?”

• A constant temperature of 48-59 F

• A constant humidity between 55-75%

• Darkness, quiet, and lack of vibrations

• All bottles stored on their side and very infrequently moved.

Two Important Caveats:

• 99% of wines do not improve with age. Please start from an assumption that the wine in front of you won’t improve with age. This includes almost all of America’s most popular wines and probably most of your favorites. This isn’t a condemnation of those wines. Many of them are amazing. Not every wine was meant to age. If we age the wrong wines, we end up with nothing more than expensive vinegar.

• The questions below are helpful simplifications and there are going to be rare exceptions. However, if you follow my test almost all people with have success almost all the time.

The Questions and How to Use Them:

As you read the questions below - and answer them about your wine - keep track of how many questions are answered with “Yes.” The more “Yes” answers your wine receives, the more likely it is to be ‘age-worthy.” If the answer isn’t ‘definitely yes,’ it is “no.”

Some of the questions are contradictory, so it is impossible for your wine to get a yes answer for all of them. That’s okay.

Is This Wine a Sweet Dessert Wine?

I’m specifically thinking about Vintage Porto, Sherry, Sauternes (France), Trockenbeerenauslese, Beerenauslese, Eiswein, Ice Wine, Jurançon, Sélection de Grains Nobles (SGN), and more.

If the wine is one of these glorious dessert wines, you can stop answer questions right here.

These dessert wines age nearly indefinitely and no one alive could reasonably expect to outlive them.

Is This Wine a Dry Red Wine?

The vast majority of age worthy wines are dry reds.

Is This Wine a Riesling from Germany or Austria?

This is the exception to the dry red wine thing. Riesling wines tend to be age worthy.

Was This Wine Made in Europe?

Give an extra point if it was made in France, Italy, or Spain.

I’m not criticizing wine from the United States, Australia, or elsewhere with this. Some wonderful wines are made in those countries. It’s just that our culture tends to not age wines and our country’s wines tend to be optimized to our culture.

Is the Price of This Wine above $65?

It isn’t that wines meant for aging cost more. It is that inexpensive wines are almost never made to be aged.

Was This Wine Made in Bordeaux, France?

No wine producing region in the world produces a higher percentage (or quantity) of age worthy wines.

Does Cabernet Sauvignon Make up 75% or More of This Wine?

Cabernet Sauvignon is incredibly age worthy. Especially at higher prices and from the premier regions.

Is the Listed Alcohol Percentage Between 12.5% and 14.5%?

While not always the case, wines outside of this alcohol range tend to have less balance and balance is important for age worthiness.

Did You Buy This Wine from an Independent or Specialty Wine Merchant?

Again, it isn’t that Independent wine merchants feature age worthy wine. It’s that large box stores or grocers tend to work with the largest wine companies and those companies tend to make wine for near term consumption.

A Few Slightly More Advanced Questions:

You should probably have enough tools to analyze the age worthiness of any wine you come across at this point. However, if you’d like to drill a bit deeper into this question here are a few additional questions to refine your decision. They require a bit more wine experience compared to the previous questions.

If You’ve Tasted the Wine, Did It Taste Firm, Hard, and “Tight?”

You should probably not age a wine that you consider smooth, luscious, delicate, creamy, mellow, soft, or “not too dry.” As an athlete must stretch before an event, great age worthy wines are often tight if you open them too young.

Was the Wine Made in Hermitage, Cote-Rotie, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Barolo, Barbaresco, Chianti Classico, Rioja, or Priorat?

If your wine has met lots of the other criteria and is from one of these regions, the likelihood of age worthiness significantly increases.

Did the Wine Come from a Great Vintage?

While great vintages do not make wines age worthy, age worthy wines tend to be even more so in great vintages.

For example: a great Bordeaux in an ‘off-year’ might age well for 10 years, but in a great year it might age 30+ years.

In Conclusion:

I hope that what I’ve written here will be a good tool for you to use in your own wine journey. We need more people who are interested in the journey of pleasure and discovery that comes from aging wine. They just need to know which wines to age. This should help you get started.