Jenna, aspiring Master Sommelier, travels home to her family winery in the Sonoma valley for her parents wedding anniversary. While there she meets Marcelo, her parents new Argentinian wine grower, who has some new ideas for their vineyard...like growing the natural way. Well traveled and easy on the ear Marcelo wins Jenna over and may have her rethinking her life plans.
I don't even drink wine but this film as part of Hallmark's drunk on wine and romance series...is winning me over to the romances at least.
This is an enjoyable romance and will appeal to all the romantics out there.
Raise a Glass to Love
2021
Comedy / Drama / Romance
Raise a Glass to Love
2021
Comedy / Drama / Romance
Plot summary
Jenna Savern, having grown up on her grandparents' vineyard outside of Carrington in California wine country, learned the love of wine from her grandmother, Ellie Savern, Jenna's parents, Mike and Lynn Savern, who now own and operate Savern Vineyards. Held only once a year, Jenna will be taking the Master Sommeliers exam in a month's time, she having not passed in her first two attempts in not trusting her tasting instincts when in doubt. She not only wants desperately to pass in there only being less than two hundred Master Sommeliers in the world, but wants to advance females in the industry in only a small percentage of those Master Sommeliers being women. Her goal is to work as the head sommelier at Alluvial in San Francisco, it the three star Michelin restaurant owned by her boyfriend of three years, Aidan Parker, who is a Master Sommelier in his own right and who is all about the awards and accolades when it comes to the restaurant, the wines they serve and his staff. Despite the want to focus on studying for the exam, Jenna heads home to Carrington for a couple of weeks at her father's request in he planning a surprise fortieth anniversary party for Lynn. It is the first time that Jenna meets native Argentine Marcelo Castillo, Mike and Lynn's relatively new head vineyard manager and wine maker, who has taken the operation in a direction with which Jenna does not agree: all natural, which means organic. Unlike Aidan, Marcelo does not believe that awards necessarily equate to good wines, and believes Jenna should get her head out of the books and truly experience the wines more to appreciate them. While Jenna and Marcelo initially but heads in Jenna's fear that Marcelo's methods may run the vineyard out of business, they may actually open each other's eyes to what they really want in life.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
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Argentinian wine grower paired with an almost master Sommelier is a recipe for love.
Jenna Savern (Laura Osnes)
Favorite scene with
Jenna Savern (Laura Osnes) - Breaking Up with Aidan and quitting her Job to Follow her Dream. BTW, I Loved this movie!
Subtle Overtones and a Smooth Finish
I went into this one without too many high hopes. Wine has become the new desert food as far as Hallmark food themes go. Also, I have not been overly impressed with the female lead, Laura Osnes. She's been OK, but just kind of "meh." I liked her in this, and I loved the male lead, Juan Pablo Di Pace. His chemistry with Laura was definitely there, although in truth he would probably would have had chemistry with a fence post.
This one centered around a female character dealing with feminist challenges. Jenna is studying for her 3rd try of passing the notoriously difficult sommelier exam to become a master sommelier. In the United States, there are only 172 of which only 28 are women. One of these real-life women has a small but important role in this movie. The background provided was interesting and educational.
Jenna is the daughter of legacy vineyard owners and a life long wine lover. She has a long term relationship with the owner of a 3 star Michelin restaurant. Her dream is to become the restaurant's sommelier. But to become qualified for that position in any super prestigious restaurant she must pass her master's exam. She goes home to her parent's vineyard to study and meets our hero, her family vineyard's innovative new Argentinian winemaker. As they spend more time together, she realizes that not only is she attracted to him, but that his attitudes and dreams are more of a match to hers than her current boyfriend's are. Her boyfriend does not respect her opinion on wine and when his master sommelier quits for a better opportunity, he does not even consider her for the position. He apparently has no faith she will pass her master test. In a bit of a twist, when she finally lays all of her feelings and dreams on the table, he changes his mind and hires her whether she passes her test or not. Despite this hiccup which separates the potential soulmates, it soon becomes clear that he still doesn't trust or respect her judgement fully. He depends too much on on outside validation such as diplomas and awards on the wine he wants in his restaurant rather than her infallible instinct and taste. Ultimately she realizes he is a follower, not a leader, and she rightly leaves him and her job. He wasn't bad, or even wrong. They just did not have the same priorities. The reunion of the two wine lovers is romantic and even touching. They are a perfect match.
It is not rare that Hallmark champions women pursuing their professional dreams over romance (as long as they can have both),but this one was handled with more sophistication and subtlety than the usual Good vs. Bad Boyfriend trope. It added some complications and real-life challenges and decisions that women are faced with when finding their best path to happiness and fulfillment.
P. S. Speaking of sophistication, I loved the new-look whimsical art of the promotional poster.