My husband and I went to an introductory wine tasting with some friends last weekend, and it occurred to me as I was looking at the wines that almost all of them sounded like Star Wars character names when you combine their label and type:
- Gruner Veltliner
- Lenton Brae
- Carillion Verduzzo
Carillion Verduzzo (delicious, if you were wondering) was particularly striking, and this got us on to a discussion about whether or not someone had already released Star Wars themed wines. After all, there are Star Wars Barbie dolls (I won’t lie, I want the Stormtrooper and Darth Vader dolls), Star Wars kids PJs, why not wine? They wouldn’t be the first film/TV-wine collaboration: Lord of the Rings did it, so did Star Trek, Game of Thrones, The Bachelor, and The Princess Bride.
So I Googled, and found that fan fiction has come for wine. In 2015, Vinepair published “The Official Guide To The Wines of the Star Wars Universe”, in which they extrapolate from the imagined climate and geography of the imaginary Corellian system to imagine what Corellian wine would most likely resemble:
“Imagine the wines of Southern France from the inky dark Malbecs in the Cahors region to the the rolling temperate hills of the Rhone valley, where Grenache and Syrah red blends reign supreme. As we go north into the mountainous regions of Corellia, the foothills would probably have bright wines in the vein of Burgundian Pinot Noir and soulful Chardonnay.”
The Star Wars wiki has a page dedicated to wine, listing the names of the wines drunk by characters of the main canon and extended universe, or that have been in their immediate vicinity being drunk by others. Intriguingly, the page opens with a paragraph defining wine in the past tense via a cited Star Wars EU reference, suggesting that at some point wine will be no more:
“Wine was a beverage made by fermenting fruit or other vegetation with a rising agent, typically yeast, but fungi could also be used. It was usually stored in bottles with labels indicating their origin. And individual whose occupation was to make wine was called a vintner.”
The Buzzfeed-style listicle-quizzicle has also come for Star Wars and wine, with Million Wines opining on “Wine Pairings To Match Your Favourite Star Wars Character!” – while pretending to the level of sophistication and discernment of a newspaper astrology column, they sum up their matching of Luke Skywalker to a Chardonnay thus:
“Additionally, this Chardonnay is pale gold in colour which is the perfect wine for the Light side of the Force as Luke will never submit to the power of the Dark side… a red.“
From there it’s a short jump to Atlanta Magazine’s recommended wine accompaniments for the first six Star Wars films, getting in a solid burn on both movie and varietal: “You know you love it, but everyone tells you not to like it as much as you do. We’re talking about both Episode I and California Chardonnay”.
So, I put it to you – what are your suggested pairings of film/TV and alcohol? Or just your best example of a classic ‘Star Wars’ name?