Soon it will be time for the 97th Academy Awards to grace the screens and this year marks a new official Champagne partner for the Oscars.
Domaine Clarence Dillon and Clarendelle return as the official wine partner for the third year running, with a duo of new wines on display – La Clarté de Haut-Brion 2021 (white) and La Clarence de Haut-Brion 2015 (red). The wines will be accompanied by delicious courses prepped by Wolfgang Puck’s culinary team.
This year features a range of genres among the Best Picture nominees (Anora, The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez, I’m Still Here, Nickel Boys, The Substance, Wicked), and the Noughty Non-Alcoholic Sparkling Chardonnay would make a good no/low option to maintain the pace for a long night ahead.
It would pair especially well with papal drama Conclave and also be a good alternative for zebra striping in between those glasses of Champagne Lallier.
Pours of years past and pairing ideas
At the 2024 Academy Awards Fleur de Miraval returned for its third year as official Champagne partner. The wines from Domaine Clarence Dillon and Clarendelle were showcased again in the form of La Clarté de Haut-Brion 2017, La Chapelle de La Mission Haut-Brion 2010, Clarendelle red 2016 and Clarendelle white 2022.
That year’s Best Picture was Christopher Nolan’s opus, Oppenheimer. For such a complex film based on creating destructive weapons, a wine such as the smooth 2005 Nuits Saint Georges, Premier Cru ‘Les Corvées Pagets’ by Maison Ambroise would also make a suitable pairing, if you’re yet to see the film or planning to watch it again.
In 2023, Best Picture award went to Everything Everywhere All At Once by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. The film has a challenging mother-daughter tale at its nexus and explores the concept of alternate universes. A fitting wine could be Château Batailley 2016, providing a range of flavour profiles to reflect the mother-daughter dynamics of the film.
The Best Picture of 2022 was surprise hit CODA, a crowd-pleasing, coming-of-age comedy about the child of deaf adults. Perhaps Laurent Perrier Rosé with its fruity, fun taste would match well with this film.
In 2021, a socially distanced 93rd Academy Awards saw Piper Heidsieck return for its seventh year as the official Champagne partner. This light-bodied Cuvée Brut even had a bottle that lit up to treat the guests. The official wines were supplied by the Francis Ford Coppola winery for the fifth year but cased in gold bottles made by Bottega. The wines available from the Ford Coppola range were the 2019 Russian River Valley Chardonnay and Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
That year’s Best Picture film winner was the expansive road movie Nomadland by Chloé Zhao which was filmed between Arizona and California. With the California setting as a theme, and should the Ford Coppola wines be challenging to source, an alternative pairing for this film would be the powerful but unique Staglin Family Vineyard 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon from Rutherford, Napa Valley.
In 2020, the 92nd Academy Awards took place during Covid-19 lockdown conditions. The Francis Ford Coppola wines served were the 2017 Reserve Chardonnay and 2018 Reserve Pinot Noir. The Best Picture winner was the South Korean socio-political drama, Parasite by Bong Joon-ho, and n alternative wine pairing suggestion would be the elegant 2020 Pouilly Fuissé Vieilles Vignes from Florent Rouve.
The first half of this decade has provided noteworthy Oscars and wine pairings and it will be fascinating to discover which intriguing pairings will be revealed for the second half of the 2020s.
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