I’m always on the look out for a new wine film so when I spotted reviews for Blind Ambition I was immediately keen to find out more. I watched it last week and certainly wasn’t disappointed.
Blind Ambition is a documentary about the World Wine Tasting Championships. This is like the Wine Olympics. The film follows the four incredibly likeable members of the first ever Zimbabwean National team. These four talented sommeliers are all refugees who escape desperate poverty in Zimbabwe and build new lives in South Africa. Starting at the bottom in catering each develops an interest wine which grows to become a passion. It’s a great story that not only touches on the refugee experience but also gives a wonderful insight into the world of wine. The four sommeliers Joseph, Tinashe, Marlvin and Pardon each have moving and powerful stories. At times it was emotional but luckily also there were moments that were laugh out loud funny.
World Wine Tasting Championships
At their launch in 2013 the World Wine Tasting Championships were really a European competition. However, within couple of years it had become global. Now teams of wine experts from New Zealand, USA, China and elsewhere compete with the best European tasters. It’s a blind tasting competition in which the four person national teams attempt to correctly identify 12 different wines. Firstly this means identifying the grape variety and country of origin. Then the vintage, region and producer. The new wine film, Blind Ambition focuses on the 2017 championships. The Zimbabwean team were not only the first team from the their nation to take part they were also the first all black team to compete.
I’m not going to tell you how they got on in the competition. However, it doesn’t give too much away to say that they are all continuing to build successful careers within the wine industry. And they are mentoring others who are keen to follow in their footsteps.
Where to Watch
I was lucky enough to find Blind Ambition showing fairly close to home at Riverside Studios in West London. If it’s not on near you it is available on Curzon Home Cinema so you can watch it from home or on your laptop.
Other Great Wine Films
During lockdown I spent quite a bit of time watching movies about wine and I put together an article giving details of some of the best. If you’re looking for a good wine film to watch then read it here.
We’ve also put together a wine movie quiz to test your knowledge. Now I need to add a question about Blind Ambition.