Barliman Butterbur hosted a rather fantastic Prancing Pony Pop-Up for The Electric Cinema this week thanks to the magic of Gandalf. More accustomed to serving ale and mead than wine, the Barliman really pushed the boat out for his Elven guests (who probably wouldn't be seen dead in the town of Bree).
All the wines were from somewhere that Gandalf says looks just like Middle-Earth, New Zealand.
Wines served to the fair Elven folk on the evening were:
Wine 1 - Oyster Bay Sparkling, Hawkes Bay, £10 from the cellars of Sainsy-berry
Wine 2 - NED Sauvignon Blanc from Waihopai River, Marlborough £10.99 from the cellars of Waitey-Rose (NED - No Elves Died in the production of this wine)
Wine 3 - NED Pinot Grigio, Marlborough from the thrifty Elves of Asda £9.50 (NED Numenor Ejects Dwarves)
Wine 4 - Kings Wrath Pinot Noir, Marlborough, Majestic Wine 15.99, of course named after the temper of the Elven King Thranduil when someone forgets to bring his wine
Wine 5 - Devils Creek Merlot, Hawkes Bay, £9.99 Majestic Wine, it was frankly Mordor bringing this wine to you from the volcanic slopes of Mount Doom but worth every moment to see the smiles on your faces when you tasted it.
Ho! Ho! Ho! to the bottle I go
To heal my heart and drown my woe.
Rain may fall and wind may blow,
And many miles be still to go,
But under a tall tree I will lie,
And let the clouds go sailing by.
A few movie facts
Nicholas Cage and Daniel Day Lewis were both asked to play the part of Aragorn, Day Lewis turned down multiple times.
The franchise fight choreographer said Viggo Mortensen was the best swordsman he had ever trained, other actors used aluminium rubber swords but Viggo insisted on steel
Sean Connery was offered the role of Gandalf but even 15% of the box office couldn't convince him, he said the script didn't make sense.
Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood never actually filmed a scene together in person despite appearing on screen together countless times.
Two Bag End sets were created, one for normal actors and one for Gandalf that was a third smaller to make him look bigger. When he bangs his head it’s an accident but they leave it in the movie to reinforce the scale difference.
The tallest actor in the Fellowship was John Rhys-Davis, who played Gimli the dwarf
Thank you for joining us, I hope you enjoyed safe passage. For information on other upcoming events, please check out our main website landing page when you can subscribe to our monthly newsletter.
Tony, Lucy and The Wine Events Crew
A few pictures from Gandalf's magic box
Spoiler Alert!