Thank you so much to everyone that joined us for our screening of 'Casablanca with Wine' at The Electric on Sunday.
Read on for details on all the wines from the evening, our gallery of photos, and bunch of trivia.
As promised, these are the wines we enjoyed ...
Of all the wines in the all the world, you tasted these ones ...
Champagne Veuve Monsigny, Aldi £14.99
Vivino reviewers put this in the top 13% of wines from Champagne and top 9% of wines in the world. 'Fine Wine Masters' in their review say it tastes like Laurent Perrier but makes you want to go back for glass after glass like Dom Perignon, regularly beating the world’s top champagnes in blind tasting.
This is a traditional Champagne featuring the three key Champagne grapes, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Produced for Aldi by Philizot & Fils, the Champagne is cellar aged to generate more character and depth in the wine.
Sales of this Champagne are second only to Moet et Chandon in the UK.
Brioche and citrus on the nose, soft red fruits, ripe apples and floral notes on the palate with a good long finish.
Errazuriz Sauvignon Blanc, Casablanca Valley, Chile
Majestic £9.99 per bottle or £8.99 as part of a mixed case of six
They are like to be drinking imported French Wine from the country’s most famous regions in Morocco; Champagne, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Provence . . but how about a wine that's actually from Casablanca?? We're cheating a bit here, it's from Casablanca in Chile not Morocco.
In 1870 Don Maximano Errazuriz took French vines to Chile.
This Sauvignon offers grassy, green apple and citrus aromas with refreshing green apple, citrus, gooseberry and passion fruit on the palate with a fresh zingy finish.
Jas de Vigne, Méditerranée Rosé, France
Majestic £9.99 per bottle or £7.99 as part of a mixed case of six
A perfect Valentine’s wine, a rosé from the most famous rosé region in world and the neighbouring Rhone Valley.
The grapes picked at night when cool so they don’t start fermenting. A blend of Grenache with Syrah and Cinsault.
Red fruits and fresh herbs on the nose.
Flavours of Strawberry, Raspberry & Peach
Bouchard Aine et Fils, Pinot Noir, Burgundy, France
Sainsbury's £8.00
This great producer's wines are available in Hotel du Vin.
Michel Bouchard settled in Burgundy in 1731 to set up a fabric trading business but ended up becoming a wine broker, followed by son Joseph taking over in 1750.
Visit the winery in Beaune for a tasting featuring wines from across Burgundy.
On the nose: Red fruits, cherry, mushroom, vanilla
On the palate: Raspberry, cherry, violet, sweet spice
Chateau Malbat, Bordeaux, France
Fraziers Wine Merchants, Solihull, £9.65
We’re heading to Bordeaux, along with Burgundy the other top, top global wine region of France. Some Bordeaux can be challenging, and made for food, this 95% Merlot with 5% Cabernet Sauvignon is smooth.
A family run estate since 1870. Now part of Vignobles Rochet family. Clay and Limestone soils offer a soft, easy drinking Bordeaux.
On the nose: Cherry and plum, aromatically intense with a fleshy texture, fruity on the palate.
Here's looking at you kid ..
Hear it again Sam, our movie trivia from the show
Some highlights from our movie trivia ...
Casablanca – the place
*Known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda literally House of White – the name comes from a large white washed structure that was a landmark to sailors, it was believed the Portuguese called it Casa Branca which became Casa Blanca when the Spanish took over trade in the area. *Largest city in Morocco and its most important port (relevant to the movie) and name.
*Major supplier of wool to Britain, Britain traded it for tea.
*French control of Casablanca formalised in 1912 until independence in 1956.
*Rick’s Café Americain was modelled after the Hotel El Minzah in Tangier Morocco
*Many of the actors who played Nazis were German jews who escaped Germany. During the scene where La Marseillaise is sung over Die Watch am Rhein, the cast had genuine tears. This is a song that was sung by French prisoners in German POW camps
*After 2015 Paris terrorist attacks the clip was shared widely on social and sung by evacuees from Stade de France.
*On 7 Dec 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, and the US entered WW2. Timing was ideal to get the movie made and the next day a Warner Bros exec began to evaluate a script called Everybody Comes to Ricks
*They paid a then record $20k, most ever at the time for an unproduced play
*The movie was eventually released Germany, in 1952. It was 30 mins shorter, with no Nazi references
*Anyone that has been on the Jungle Cruise ride at Disney World, will have seen the the crashed plane prop, it is the plane from this movie.
*Rick’s café was purpose built but everything else was recycled
*Rick never says Play it Again Sam
*There are six quotes in the American Film Institute top movie quotes:
#5 Here’s looking at you kid, #20 Louie, I think this is the start of a beautiful relationship, #28 Play it Sam, play as Time goes by, #32 Round up the Usual Suspects, #43 We’ll always have Paris, #67 of all the gin joints in all the world. Gone with the Wind and Wizard of Oz tied for second with 3 quotes each.
*Director Michael Curitz had a strong Hungarian accent, it caused much confusion, at one point all of the staff on set were looking for a Poodle, when he actually just needed a 'poodle' of water.
*To maximise profits from international markets, it was decided that any unpleasant non-Nazi characters should be from axis countries like Italy.
*Conrad Veidt, playing Major Strasser was the highest paid actor at $25k for 5 weeks on loan from MGM.
*His wife was Jewish and they too had fled Germany, he was guilty of anti Nazi activities and had an SS Death Squad after him.
*Orson Welles recounted conversation with Bogart who told him he was ‘in the worst picture I’ve ever been in’ at the time.
*Then wife of Bogart accused him of affair with Bergman, despite their on-screen chemistry, they rarely spoke to each other off set for this reason.
*Neither Bergman or Henreid wanted to be in the movie, Bergman said the script was ‘fluff’ and Henreid didn’t want to play 2nd banana to Bogart.
*Bogart was two inches shorter than Bergman, so often stood on various boxes to look bigger.
*The writers imagined Rick as Clark Gable, not the ‘common drunk’ Humphrey Bogart!
*Ronald Regan was rumoured to be playing Rick but Bogart was cast from start and it is thought that Regan's own team put this rumour out to stay relevant at the time.
*Sam’s piano was sold for $600k in December 2012, is a special piano, fitted with a two way hinge to hide the documents.
*Dooley Wilson, who plays Sam was actually a drummer faking the piano. The real pianist was playing behind a curtain in the same room and Dooley would mirror his actions.
*Claude Rains, Captain Renault is almost always seen smoking, as a non-smoker he would hold the smoke in his mouth and puff it out.
*The production team wanted Rick’s to look smoke filled but cigarettes from the cast couldn’t create enough so they pumped imore in.
Thank you for joining us and we hope to see you again, but if we don't, 'We'll always have Birmingham'.
We look forward to welcoming you back to another of our events very soon so why not check out our website or sign up to our monthly mailing list to find out about new events first:
Tony and the Wine Events Co Crew