On the banks of the Dordogne

ARVEYRES, France--Here in southwestern France, on the banks of the Dordogne about 25 miles inland from the center of Bordeaux, there are hundreds upon hundreds of modest wine-growing properties. Some have been passed down through the generations, others--like Château de Bel--taken over and rehabilitated by idealistic young families. One of those newcomers, headed by Le Bel's owner, Olivier Cazenave, is the subject of a charming, three-minute video by his friend, the filmmaker Luc Plissonneau, called "Like My Father."

I'd embed the thing but MovableType doesn't support Brightcove, for some reason, so you'll have to go here to see the film. If you're a longtime reader of this blog, you'll recognize the picture: I wrote about the property two years ago after a visit, during the harvest, underwritten by Planète Bordeaux (the umbrella organization for the 10,000 producers of AOC Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur). Luc's wife, Jana Kravitz, was our driver and guide.

So now, ta-da!!--the "Like My Father" video is one of nine finalists for the Wine Spectator's annual wine video awards. It's not a fair contest, in my view, because the well-made and witty "A Brief History of Merlot" is in the finals; it's a great little film, but it's basically a commercial for California's Gundlach-Bundschuh winery.

But you can and should vote for Luc's film anyway. Vote online here. F&elicitations et bonne chance, Luc!

UPDATE: Wine Spectator announces the winner of the video contest, and, not unexpectedly, it's "A Brief History of Merlot." I love this video, even though it's a commercial produced by an ad agency and, in my view, doesn't belong in the same category as the other entries.