''Terroir'' is a 2014 American-British-Italian

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means ...

written and directed by John Charles Jopson. It is based on

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

's short story "

The Cask of Amontillado "The Cask of Amontillado" (sometimes spelled "The Casque of Amontillado" ) is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in the November 1846 issue of ''Godey's Lady's Book''. The story, set in an unnamed Italy, Italian cit ...

". The film stars

Keith Carradine Keith Ian Carradine ( ; born August 8, 1949) is an American actor who has had success on stage, film, and television. He is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's film ''Nashville'', Wild Bill Hickok in the HBO series '' Deadwood ...

, who also served as

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

. The film premiered at the

Wine Country Film Festival Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

in 2014.

Plot

Wealthy wine maker Jonathan Bragg (Keith Carradine) hires Tuscan wine detective Victor Borgo (Gaetano Guarino) to find the source of a mysterious bottle of wine, the "Oroboros". As Borgo follows the twisted, perilous trail, he descends deeper into an arcane Tuscan underworld, encountering an earth-worshiping wine cult and the dark side of human nature. Jopson's screenplay brings Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado" into contemporary times and sets it the underworld of the

Tuscan wine Tuscan wine (Italian ''Toscana'') is Italian wine from the Tuscany region. Located in central Italy along the Tyrrhenian coast, Tuscany is home to some of the world's most notable wine regions. Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di ...

business. With references to

Brunellopoli Brunellopoli is the name given by Italian press for a scandal involving producers of Brunello di Montalcino under suspicion of wine fraud, first reported by Italian wine journalist Franco Ziliani and American wine critic James Suckling of '' Wi ...

, the great Italian wine scandal of 2008 and with

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

s from real-world winemakers such as Salvatore Ferragamo and Luca Sanjust, the film brings a level of authenticity when it comes to the wine business. In a nod to Poe's short story, in addition to the wine theme, ''Terroir'' features

Masonic Freemasonry or Masonry refers to Fraternity, fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of Stonemasonry, stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their inte ...

references and symbols as well as a terrifying scene in a wine cellar. ''Terroir'' takes its name from the wine industry term

terroir (, ; from ''terre'', "land") is a French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, these conte ...

, which indicates that the natural environment in which a particular wine is produced affects the outcome, and thus the taste, including factors such as soil, topography, and climate. Together these elements determine the character of wine.

Release

Premiere

''Terroir'' had its world premiere on September 20, 2014 at the Wine Country Film Festival in

Sonoma Valley Sonoma Valley is a valley located in southeastern Sonoma County, California, in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Known as the birthplace of the California wine industry, the valley is home to some of the earliest vineyards an ...

, California. The film was presented "

al fresco Alfresco may refer to: * ''Al fresco'', or fresco, a technique of mural painting * Al fresco dining * Alfresco Software, an open-source content-management system * ''Alfresco'' (TV series), a 1980s British television comedy series * ''Al fresc ...

" at a specially built outdoor theater in the vineyards of Deerfield Ranch with a 33-foot

Cinemascope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

screen and a

Dolby 5.1 Dolby Digital, originally synonymous with Dolby AC-3, is the name for what has now become a family of audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. Formerly named Dolby Stereo Digital until 1995, the audio compression is lossy ( ...

sound system. The festivities included a tribute to Keith Carradine and a screening of his 1977 film ''

The Duellists ''The Duellists'' is a 1977 British historical drama film and the feature film directorial debut of Ridley Scott. It won the Best Debut Film award at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival. The basis of the screenplay is the Joseph Conrad short story "T ...

''. As part of his personal appearance Carradine performed his

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

winning song "I'm Easy" from the movie ''

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

''.

Video on demand

''Terroir'' was released on

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan on August 16, 2017.

Critical response

Poe scholar John Gruesser, in his review of ''Terroir'' wrote, "Stunningly beautiful in several places, with gorgeous shots of its Tuscan setting, Terroir evokes "The Cask of Amontillado" both explicitly and subtly, which should delight Poe fans. Speaking in voice-over at times, Bragg, the Montresor character (played by a terrific Keith Carradine), succeeds in leading Borgo, the Fortunato character, to his doom. He accomplishes this by exploiting his victim’s weak point (wine connoisseurship), even mentioning Luchesi at times to do so. Like Poe’s story, the film deftly uses masonic symbols, Latin phrases, a coat of arms, and a family motto." Stephen Ashton, in his review for the Wine Country Film Festival wrote, "Filmed in some of Tuscany’s most scenic wine estates Terroir features authentic wine-making traditions, sensual cinematography, and occult rituals derived from the secret rites of real-life erotic cults. The film is laced with authentic wine lore thanks to some of Tuscany’s finest winemakers including Salvatore Ferragamo who are in this luscious drama." On entertainment website ''

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particle ...

'', Anja Djuricic authored an article entitled "The 10 Best Edgar Allan Poe Movies to Watch After '

The Pale Blue Eye ''The Pale Blue Eye'' is a 2022 American mystery thriller film written and directed by Scott Cooper, adapted from the 2003 novel of the same name by Louis Bayard. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Christian Bale, Harry Mellin ...

'". She wrote, "Decades after Price and Corman dominated the horror genre with their adaptations, Keith Carradine starred in another unexpectedly well-made Poe adaptation called Terroir. This is an indie movie, but it was decently made and Carradine gives his best to bring the mysterious wine connoisseur to life - for lovers of this tale, this could be an interesting watch."

References

External links

* * {{Official website, http://www.dirtypoetfilms.com/LLC/Terroir.html
Smithsonian Magazine: "Edgar Allan Poe: Hollywood's Favourite Mad Genius"

The "Terroir" blog

Wine Country Film Festival 2014
2014 films American independent films Films set in Tuscany Films about wine Films based on works by Edgar Allan Poe 2010s English-language films Films directed by John Jopson 2010s American films