Thank you so much to everyone that joined us for our screening of 'Mamma Mia with Wine' at The Theatre Chipping Norton on Friday 3rd June. We hope you enjoyed the evening as much as we did!
Read on for details on all the wines from the evening, a few photos, and a bunch of trivia.
As promised, these are the wines we enjoyed ...
Our Mediterannean Wines on the evening
La Gioiosa Prosecco Superiore, Valdobbiadene, Treviso, DOCG, Waitrose £13.49
Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore is Prosecco but better - It has DOCG status and is the Grand Cru of Proseccos.
The grapes are grown in the hills near Treviso between Conegliano & Valdobbiadene (rhymes with Chardonnay). The hills where the grapes are grown are so steep, that they can only be hand picked by grape pickers in harnesses.
This wine is brilliantly straw yellow with aromas of citrus and honeysuckle. Refreshing pear, citrus and apple on the palate with hints of floral notes.
Peyrassol 'Réserve des Templiers' Rosé 21, Majestic Wines, £13.99 per bottle or £9.99 in a mixed case of six.
Peyrassol was established back in the 12th century by the Knights Templar. Today, hosts pilgrimage of a different kind .. wine lovers, to one of most beautiful vineyards in Provence.
The grapes are grown at a higher altitude, which, coupled with the Mediterannean climate offers a balance between warm days and cool night-time temperatures, ensuring the grapes are both fresh and aromatic.
The winery is situated just 10 miles from The Med between Cannes and Marseille.
The wine is a blend of three grapes; Cinsault, Syrah & Grenache.
Aromas and flavours of Strawberry, Fresh Herbs, Peach and Raspberry .. delicious!
Lyrarakis Assyrtiko 2021 Crete, Majestic Wines, £11.99 per bottle or £8.99 in a mixed case of six.
Crete is a very narrow island so you can’t escape the influence from the Mediterannean sea in the vineyard.
This wine is made from 100% Assyrtiko grapes, native to Greece and her islands.
It is bone dry, extremely fresh white. Jamie Goode called Assyrtiko "Crete's answer to Chablis" and Wine & Spirits magazine awarded is a 'best buy', giving it 93 points.
The wine offers floral and yellow apple aromas with a chalkly minerality on the palate laced with fresh green apple.
Castellore Italian Vermentino, Sicily, Aldi £5.99
This wine is heavily influenced by the volcanic soils, rich sunshine and Mediterranean sea.
The Greeks may have taken their advanced wine making skills to Sicily, but Sicilians have been making wine here since 4000BC.
The Vermentino grape is planted widely in Sardinia, Corsica, Tuscancy and Piemonte. This of course, is from the island of Sicily.
The wine is incredible value and very easy drinking, offering aromas of Jasmine and wild grass, with delightful hints of quince. Great with seafood.
Thymiopoulos Xinomavro, Naoussa Valley, Greece 2018, £14.99 or £10.99 in a mixed case of six.
Xinomavro is one of Greece’s star grapes, Olly Smith called it one of world's hidden gems. Xinomavro translates directly as 'sour black' but wine making techniques have improved vastly since this grape was named thousands of years ago and this wine from maverick young winemaker Apostolos Thymiopoulos is tasty and approachable. Apostolos is known as the master of Xinomavro grape and creator of this modern style.
The Nasoussa Valley is in Greece’s Macedonia, in the North West.
Similar in style to Italy's Nebbiolo grape which makes blockbuster classic wines such as Barolo and Barbaresco.
This wine is spicy, earthy with red cherry aromas and flavours of plums and black fruit.
Gallery
Mamma Mia Trivia
Some highlights from our movie trivia ...
Pierce Brosnan had no idea what the project was about when he signed on. The producers told him it was being filmed in Greece, and Meryl Streep was starring. Brosnan said he would've signed on for anything involving Streep, describing her as "that gorgeous blonde I fancied terribly in Drama School."
Meryl Streep first saw the musical in October 2001 with her daughter Louisa, and her daughter's friends in Manhattan. Streep wrote to the producers to praise them for bringing a little happiness and fun to the lives of New York City's people following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Meryl Streep went to Stockholm, Sweden to record her vocal for the song "The Winner Takes it All". She finished it in one take. Benny Andersson, former ABBA member and co-composer of the songs, called Streep "a miracle".
The cast members performed their own singing .. as you will have noticed and to varying degrees of success! :)
Stellan Skarsgård on why he flashed his behind: "We decided I should be cooking on the boat. I thought I should have an apron on. The director (Phyllida Lloyd) did not know I would be naked under there, and have those butt tattoos. So when the camera rolled, I turned around right in front of it. The cameraman jumped and screamed, while Phyllida keeled over laughing."
Phyllida Lloyd also directed the original Broadway play.
In December 2008, this movie became the highest grossing movie of all time in the U.K., smashing the previous record set by Titanic (1997). Avatar (2009) has beaten that record.
Colin Firth once stated that if Heaven exists, when he arrives he wants to hear God say "I personally thought you were very good in Mamma Mia". Unsurprisingly, it is one of his favourite movies.
Several night scenes, including "I Have A Dream", were shot during the day, then transformed in post-production.
Cher was offered the role of Tanya Wilkinson. On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992) season nineteen, episode forty-two, "Episode #19.42", she said she had to decline the role due to concert tour commitments. She later signed on to be in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! (2018), playing the character Ruby Sheridan.
Dawn French was originally cast as Rosie Mulligan. After the creators described her character as "the fat, funny one", and the Musical Director was clearly not impressed with her singing, she declined the role. In her autobiography "Dear Fatty", Dawn said that she is a fan of ABBA, but she is not a fan of "Mamma Mia!" She only originally agreed to do this movie because Meryl Streep was starring.
Mandy Moore, Amanda Bynes, Rachel McAdams, and Emmy Rossum were all considered for the part of Sophie Sheridan. Olivia Newton-John and Michelle Pfeiffer were considered for the part of Donna Sheridan. Bill Nighy was considered for one of the "father" parts.
Donny Osmond was considered for the role of Sam Carmichael.
In November 2004, the first announcement of a movie adaptation was made. At that time, Nicole Kidman, Keira Knightley, and Antonio Banderas were rumored for roles.
In the original stage musical, the character of Bill Austin was Australian. This paid homage to ABBA's enormous popularity in Australia. For this movie, Bill Anderson was Swedish, like Stellan Skarsgård who played him.
Stellan Skarsgård (Bill Anderson) is the only one from Sweden, just like three of the members of ABBA. The fourth member is from Norway.
(At around fifty-nine minutes) In this movie, the room that contains Donna Sheridan (Meryl Streep), Rosie Mulligan (Dame Julie Walters), and Tanya Wilkinson (Christine Baranski) is the exact same room Ali (Ashley Lilley), Lisa, (Rachel McDowall), and Sophie Sheridan (Amanda Seyfried) are in the scene. They just have different furniture to make it seem as if they're different rooms.
Dominic Cooper, who played Sky opposite former James Bond Pierce Brosnan in this movie, played Ian Fleming, the creator of the James Bond stories, in Fleming (2014).
Colin Firth parodied the catchphrase of James Bond by saying "I'm Bright, Harry Bright", when he is standing next to Pierce Brosnan, who played Bond in four movies. Firth starred in the spy movies Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017).
After the movie, the beach named "Kastani" at the Skopelos has become very famous and every summer many many people visit it.
Thank you!
We look forward to welcoming you back to another of our events very soon but 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
Credit to IMDB for trivia.