There’s now just one week until the Big Weekend of New York WINE RIOT on Friday, September 19th (evening only) and Saturday, September 20th (afternoon and evening), followed by the New York Wine City (NYWC) premier of my film WATCH YOUR BACK – The Riesling Movie (Part 1) on the evening of Sunday, September 21st. At the Wine Riot I will be staging a series of Riesling Crash Courses that attempt to say everything essential about the wines of my favorite grape in just 20 minutes. No doubt that is a recipe for Pigott Burnout, but that’s the price I’m paying for my 20 minutes of exposure. Once you have a ticket for the Wine Riot theres on extra admission charge to my Riesling Crash Course, and all the seriously weird and wonderful things which it will may lead to.
GOVERNMENT HEALTH WARNING: Deep, if brief, immersion in Riesling has been known to result in a state of euphoria which can lead to pregnancy. Do not attempt to drive an automobile or operate machinery while in this exalted state. Wine Riot and Stuart Pigott cannot accept responsibility for the consequences of sexual or other acts performed while under the influence of Riesling. You have been warned!
To book tickets for the New York WINE RIOT go to:
https://secondglass.com/event-categories/event/NYC-2014-fall/features/
I always wanted to make a movie and started work on one back in my early twenties, but I hit too many rocks in the road and it was never completed. This time things went no more smoothly, but I was more determined and more flexible about solving the problems. I also had some extremely talented people assisting me, like Paul Grieco of Hearth Restaurant and the Terroir wine bars in New York, pictured above starring in the movie, and my producer, editor and cutter in Berlin Klaus Lüttmer.
For a variety of reasons I don’t want to discuss in detail here – ask me about it at the NYWC premier and I’ll be happy to tell you – it isn’t possible to charge for admission when WATCH YOUR BACK – The Riesling Movie (Part 1) is screened this time. Because we aren’t charging anyone for a seat at Terroir Murray Hill, at 439 Third Avenue on the evening on Sunday, September 21st this may well result in the place being packed to overflowing, so we suggest you try to get there 9pm or earlier to grab a good seat for the 10pm screening (the movie’s length is currently 50 minutes and a few seconds).
A lot of people have been asking me what the movie’s about. The simple answer is that the title explains all the essentials, except perhaps the point that this is NOT just a series of pretty pictures of Riesling vineyards and grapes of action wine-movie sequences of the crush and wine splashing about in the cellar. WATCH YOUR BACK is what Hollywood calls mockumentary, that is a documentary with a twist. It was great fun giving the twin subjects of Stuart Pigott and Riesling a very large and dangerous twist. It was much more demanding trying to gather all the pictures that I needed to turn this rather simple idea into a movie. Much of that work was done on the road during the coast to coast RIESLING ROAD TRIPs 1 & 2 organized by Wines of Germany USA last July and this May. There’s a lot of America in my movie and I think that helps make it so colorful, but you’ll have to come along to find out what you think of it. You see, it may be going to some film festivals soon, but it certainly isn’t going to land on YouTube any time soon.
