Press and Praise for Life in Vine
LA Times:
“...Giraud was also the principal cameraman on the film, and his loving tribute to the Oregon vineyards is lushly photographed amid rolling green hillsides, fog-shrouded slopes, brooding skies and breathtaking sunsets.”
His simple, lyrical introduction to the world of winemaking is particularly engaging when the winemakers themselves appear on screen, talking about their passions and frustrations--and their conviction that nature itself is the ultimate winemaker...”
David Shaw, excerpted from his preview in the Los Angeles Times, 7.31.02
(to read the full preview, click here.)
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Computer Graphics World:
“Amateur filmmaker and director Matt Giraud spent what seemed like a lifetime chasing a dream, hoping that the three years he spent filming, editing, and then shopping his documentary to distributors would have a happy ending. And it did.”
Giraud's independent project, a half-hour movie titled Life in Vine, was the Web site designer/writer's first foray into independent filmmaking. However, unlike the multitude of newcomers who are flooding this burgeoning field with projects, Giraud beat the odds and received a national distribution deal...”
Karen Moltenbrey, from her feature profile of director Matt Giraud in Computer Graphics World, February 2004.
(to read the full article, click here.)
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Seattle Weekly:
HEARTS' BLOOD IN A BOTTLE: If you've ever dreamed about escaping the rat race for the rural pleasures of wine-grape growing, LIFE IN VINE is required viewing. This survey of a year in the vineyards of Oregon's Willamette Valley shows just how tough, industrious, and just plain masochistic you have to be to devote your life to producing fine wine -- particularly wine from the fickle fruit of the pinot noir vine. Filmmaker Matt Giraud knows his wine as well as he knows his lenses and light meters. The result is a rueful tribute to the self-sacrificing souls who give their hearts' blood to produce the wines we so thoughtlessly consume.
Seattle Weekly, 10.1.03
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Willamette Week:
“Over the past 30 years, the Oregon wine industry has gone from laughingstock to one of the most respected viticultural regions in the world. Winemaking is an inherently dramatic endeavor (albeit a slowly developing one), particularly here in Oregon. Millions of dollars and countless people's livelihoods -- not to mention the wine itself -- annually see their fates determined by the unpredictable northern Willamette Valley weather, where one storm or drought can decide whether a wine is a sommelier's fave or on discount at Safeway. Local filmmaker Matt Giraud spent several months documenting the 1999 harvest, from the first grapes on the vine to the final bottling. The year turned out to be an excellent one for local wine, but only after much uncertainty, which makes the film ideally dramatic. Giraud displays a graceful visual style, capturing the inherent beauty of the surroundings even as the landscape can cause fits for those sowing the seeds. The winemakers' personalities stand out, and Giraud is wise to let these men and women tell their own stories. Life in Vine is a skillful portrait of a local industry that continues to delight and impress...”
Brian Libby, Willamette Week, 7.9.03 (critic's pick preview of NWFilm Center event)
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Houston Chronicle:
“... be sure to watch Life in the Vine: A Year in the Vineyards [this Friday]. It is a passionate look at what producer/photographer Matt Giraud calls a ‘cliffhanger’ year in the Oregon vineyards. It's a half-hour well worth watching.”
Michael Lonsford, Wine Columnist, Houston Chronicle, 2.12.03
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“In only a half hour of running time, Giraud has made a short film that's [just as romantic as those magazine pieces] ... but a whole bunch more real. Whenever a magazine does a spread on Oregon wine country, glasses are clinking and the sun is gleaming on our miracle valley. Giraud's take (he's careful to note that his project was in no way funded by the wine industry) is much more soggy and far more informative. Let's hope he continues his project with Life in Bottle, surely a wholly different story.”
Caryn B. Brooks, Willamette Week Arts & Culture Editor, in her Miss Dish column, 1.2.02
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“Life in Vine will air [time and channel], and it's a fine reminder of the sturdy roots that winemaking has in the soil... He also had the great good luck of following the 1999 vintage, a strangely dramatic season that seemed doomed by foul weather more than once...”
Bob Hicks, in the Oregonian's A&E Arts and Entertainment Guide, 1.11.02
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“Best Bet”
-- for Wednesday, January 16th -- Sunday Oregonian TV Click
------------
“‘It's always kind of disturbed me, all the glitziness, all the romance, that kind of alienates people,’ [Giraud] said. ‘I had to see if there was anything more real than that.’
“What Giraud found was passionate, unassuming people who put in long hours doing what they love, and he tells their stories in a documentary that airs on Oregon Public Broadcasting television...”
Pat Forgey, in Behind the Vine, a front page feature in the Community section of the McMinnville News-Register, 1.15.02
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LA Times:
“...Giraud was also the principal cameraman on the film, and his loving tribute to the Oregon vineyards is lushly photographed amid rolling green hillsides, fog-shrouded slopes, brooding skies and breathtaking sunsets.”
His simple, lyrical introduction to the world of winemaking is particularly engaging when the winemakers themselves appear on screen, talking about their passions and frustrations--and their conviction that nature itself is the ultimate winemaker...”
David Shaw, excerpted from his preview in the Los Angeles Times, 7.31.02
(to read the full preview, click here.)
------------
Computer Graphics World:
“Amateur filmmaker and director Matt Giraud spent what seemed like a lifetime chasing a dream, hoping that the three years he spent filming, editing, and then shopping his documentary to distributors would have a happy ending. And it did.”
Giraud's independent project, a half-hour movie titled Life in Vine, was the Web site designer/writer's first foray into independent filmmaking. However, unlike the multitude of newcomers who are flooding this burgeoning field with projects, Giraud beat the odds and received a national distribution deal...”
Karen Moltenbrey, from her feature profile of director Matt Giraud in Computer Graphics World, February 2004.
(to read the full article, click here.)
------------
Seattle Weekly:
HEARTS' BLOOD IN A BOTTLE: If you've ever dreamed about escaping the rat race for the rural pleasures of wine-grape growing, LIFE IN VINE is required viewing. This survey of a year in the vineyards of Oregon's Willamette Valley shows just how tough, industrious, and just plain masochistic you have to be to devote your life to producing fine wine -- particularly wine from the fickle fruit of the pinot noir vine. Filmmaker Matt Giraud knows his wine as well as he knows his lenses and light meters. The result is a rueful tribute to the self-sacrificing souls who give their hearts' blood to produce the wines we so thoughtlessly consume.
Seattle Weekly, 10.1.03
------------
Willamette Week:
“Over the past 30 years, the Oregon wine industry has gone from laughingstock to one of the most respected viticultural regions in the world. Winemaking is an inherently dramatic endeavor (albeit a slowly developing one), particularly here in Oregon. Millions of dollars and countless people's livelihoods -- not to mention the wine itself -- annually see their fates determined by the unpredictable northern Willamette Valley weather, where one storm or drought can decide whether a wine is a sommelier's fave or on discount at Safeway. Local filmmaker Matt Giraud spent several months documenting the 1999 harvest, from the first grapes on the vine to the final bottling. The year turned out to be an excellent one for local wine, but only after much uncertainty, which makes the film ideally dramatic. Giraud displays a graceful visual style, capturing the inherent beauty of the surroundings even as the landscape can cause fits for those sowing the seeds. The winemakers' personalities stand out, and Giraud is wise to let these men and women tell their own stories. Life in Vine is a skillful portrait of a local industry that continues to delight and impress...”
Brian Libby, Willamette Week, 7.9.03 (critic's pick preview of NWFilm Center event)
------------
Houston Chronicle:
“... be sure to watch Life in the Vine: A Year in the Vineyards [this Friday]. It is a passionate look at what producer/photographer Matt Giraud calls a ‘cliffhanger’ year in the Oregon vineyards. It's a half-hour well worth watching.”
Michael Lonsford, Wine Columnist, Houston Chronicle, 2.12.03
------------
“In only a half hour of running time, Giraud has made a short film that's [just as romantic as those magazine pieces] ... but a whole bunch more real. Whenever a magazine does a spread on Oregon wine country, glasses are clinking and the sun is gleaming on our miracle valley. Giraud's take (he's careful to note that his project was in no way funded by the wine industry) is much more soggy and far more informative. Let's hope he continues his project with Life in Bottle, surely a wholly different story.”
Caryn B. Brooks, Willamette Week Arts & Culture Editor, in her Miss Dish column, 1.2.02
------------
“Life in Vine will air [time and channel], and it's a fine reminder of the sturdy roots that winemaking has in the soil... He also had the great good luck of following the 1999 vintage, a strangely dramatic season that seemed doomed by foul weather more than once...”
Bob Hicks, in the Oregonian's A&E Arts and Entertainment Guide, 1.11.02
------------
“Best Bet”
-- for Wednesday, January 16th -- Sunday Oregonian TV Click
------------
“‘It's always kind of disturbed me, all the glitziness, all the romance, that kind of alienates people,’ [Giraud] said. ‘I had to see if there was anything more real than that.’
“What Giraud found was passionate, unassuming people who put in long hours doing what they love, and he tells their stories in a documentary that airs on Oregon Public Broadcasting television...”
Pat Forgey, in Behind the Vine, a front page feature in the Community section of the McMinnville News-Register, 1.15.02
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