The Lord of The Wines: Return of the King
- Tony Elvin
- 15 hours ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 4 hours ago
Fine Elven folk of Middle Earth (Birmingham), it was truly an honour to welcome you back to The Mockingbird for our final Lord of the Rings screening for this year, Return of the King.
Read on for our wines, trivia and gallery.
Return of the King, Wines for a King
Hand picked and sorted grapes from the Moldovan vineyard plots of Onesti and Etulia, very similar to Gladden Fields in my realm, East of Mirkwood, where Smeagol saw off Deagal in pursuit of the ring.
Zesty green apple, stone fruits, a touch of Gladden Field grassiness and a soft, creamy mousse.
In our realm Minas Tirith, in yours Lower Austria. This is a Gemischter Satz a traditional field blend of 80% Gruner Veltliner, 15% Muller Thurgau and 5% Muskatella.
On the nose, nice and peachy with a touch of orange blossom. On your fine Elven palate, it is fresh and zesty.
I bring wine from Dunharrow in the White Mountains, or in your realm by the Alto Adige River in the Italian Dolomites.
Floral aromas with peach on the nose, orchard and reducrrant fruits on the palate with a bright citrus finish.
From the gates of Mordor we find this deliciously light drop of Kekfrankos from Cirith Ungol, in your realm the Szekzárdi region of Hungary.
Bright reducarrant fruits, light spice with fine tannins.
It's the end of the road, Mordor (in your realm Romania) and what a drop to finish on. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Feteasca Neagra – a Romanian Bordeaux blend! Majestic customers rate this wine 93% and on Vivino this is in the top 4% wines in the world. Sonomar is apt, sorcerer of winds, master of lakes and mountains, creator of frost, mist and hail. A wizard of Middle Earth for sure.
Notes of violet, black plum, blackcurrant, sweet spice and vanilla.
And here is Peter Bird's map showing our two realms:
The Prancing Pony Pub Watch Gallery
Return of the Trivia
A few new bits of trivia below for you and some already shared on the night.
A record-breaking sweep – Return of the King won all 11 Academy Awards it was nominated for, including Best Picture. It's tied with Ben-Hur and Titanic for the most Oscars ever won by a single film.
No acting nominations – Despite its success, none of the cast members received Oscar nods, which is highly unusual for a film that won Best Picture.
The longest Best Picture winner – At 3 hours and 21 minutes, it's the longest film ever to win the Best Picture Oscar.
Viggo’s sword training – Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) did all his own sword fighting and became so skilled that his swordmaster said he could have gone pro.
Sean Astin’s loyalty – During the scene where Sam carries Frodo up Mount Doom, Sean Astin insisted on carrying Elijah Wood himself, even though he was offered assistance or body doubles.
The ghost army was inspired by corpses – The ghostly Army of the Dead was partly modelled on decomposing cadavers from museums and anatomical studies, to make them more grotesque.
The eagle-eyed cameo – Peter Jackson makes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo as a corsair pirate, who gets shot with an arrow by Legolas.
A very real injury – Viggo Mortensen broke a toe in The Two Towers and chipped a tooth during filming, but carried on. His sword accidentally hit a tooth during a scene in Return of the King as well!
Andy Serkis’s other job – Serkis, best known as Gollum, also directed the second unit, filming battle sequences and sweeping landscapes.
Real tears, real goodbyes – The emotional farewell scene at the Grey Havens was filmed at the very end of production, making the tears from the cast completely genuine.
Liv Tyler’s elvish grace – To prepare for her role as Arwen, Liv Tyler learnt elvish dialogue and calligraphy, even writing out Elvish poetry between takes.
The “multiple endings” joke – The film is often teased for its seemingly endless conclusions. There are seven fade-out moments after the climax before the actual credits roll.
Weta Workshop wonders – Over 48,000 props were hand-made for the trilogy, including 10,000 arrows, 2,000 suits of armour and 1,800 pairs of prosthetic hobbit feet.
A secret tribute – The beacon-lighting sequence was added partly as a tribute to cinematic epics of the past, including Lawrence of Arabia.
Frodo’s disappearing act – Elijah Wood had to film the final scene where Frodo departs twice, once in 2003 and again in 2004 after a reshoot in New Zealand.
The most extras in armour – The Battle of the Pelennor Fields featured over 200 extras in full costume, alongside hundreds more CGI troops.
A family affair – Peter Jackson’s children and wife, Fran Walsh (also co-writer and producer), appear in cameo roles throughout the trilogy.
The return of the King… in plastic – A figure of Peter Jackson as a hobbit was released as part of the official merchandise, complete with a fish!
Composer Howard Shore’s epic feat – Shore composed over four hours of music for this film alone, including new motifs for the kingdom of Gondor and the Rohirrim.
The movie that wouldn’t end … During the first Oscar screening of Return of the King, some Academy voters were caught napping during the lengthy final act!
A huge Middle-Earth thank you from The Barliman, Legolas, the King Himself and our Elven wine pouring crew for joining us this evening. We hope you had as much fun as we did.
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