Read on Twitter
THREAD: Seeing as Sex & the City is returning to our screens soon (sans Samantha, sigh), I thought I’d take a trip down its 6-season memory lane but through the lens of wine. The show was known for making Cosmos trendy but on my 3rd rewatch, I couldn’t help but wonder...
why wine was overlooked as a recurring guest star. Like all props and outfits in SATC, wine was used as another signifier of the characters’ personalities, their attitudes, and how they present themselves to the world.
This is linked to how we associate with brands and what they claim to stand for or represent and how we adopt such associations by buying them.
Samantha, the partying PR vixen, is repeatedly paired with Champagne, particularly the yellow-labeled Veuve Clicquot.
Samantha, the partying PR vixen, is repeatedly paired with Champagne, particularly the yellow-labeled Veuve Clicquot.
It’s important to note that this bottle makes the most obvious appearances in the entire series but that could be because of its easily recognizable, signature brand color.
Its first AND second appearance (and first notable appearance by any wine) is in the 6th episode.
Its first AND second appearance (and first notable appearance by any wine) is in the 6th episode.
Samantha opens a bottle as Carrie gets ready for her first real date with Mr. Big. She opens the second at her “bus party” when they gather to see her ad on a city bus. In S1E10, Sam has an “I don’t have a baby, everybody drink” party as she pours VC for all her guests.
It also reappears in numerous shots of Carrie’s Arabian Nights birthday in S2E2.
Here are a few more screenshots of this whole scene which is cringeworthy for so many reasons. Big pops Moët Champagne for Carrie’s birthday in S4.
It appears again in S5 when Samantha & Carrie are on the train to San Fran but my personal favorite shot is taken from inside Miranda’s fridge in S3E18.
Wine does a lot of subtle symbolism when it comes to the main men of SATC. In S3, Trey, Charlotte’s cookie-cutter, old-money mama’s boy husband, nonchalantly mentions ordering an “entirely acceptable” ’78 Chateau Lafite, a very established and thus, high-priced Bordeaux wine.
In S1, Samantha hooks up with Ken, a married wine importer. I’m assuming the ’94 Montrachet is the DRC Montrachet Grand Cru, renowned as one of the world’s best Chardonnays that very few get the chance to try. It’s a clever way to say this affair is a BIG deal for this guy.
Ironically, Miranda’s bartender boo, Steve, has no wine references. But Aiden, Carrie’s laid-back, no-games, furniture-building boyfriend and foil to her toxic beau Big, calls Champagne “French fizz.” He’s uncomplicated and fun like that.
Meanwhile, Samantha’s big shot hotelier, Richard, pours Cristal and pops a bottle of Dom before a threesome or while aboard his private jet. And always-in-a-suit Big references a small Tuscan winery in S2.
He moves to Napa at the end of S4 to start a winery because he’s "tired of NY", effectively putting the continental US between him & Carrie.
Let’s not forget about Berger, Carrie’s boyfriend who infamously broke up with her via Post-It. At his apartment, there is a vintage Willi’s Wine Bar ’84 Alberto Bali poster indicative of his tasteful yet not overdone decor, being the underappreciated, cultured writer that he is.
A few other great wine moments in the show are found in the writing.
1. “First, a little nerve Clicquot” - said Samantha to Carrie when she goes to speak to Berger's friends post-Post-It breakup in S6
1. “First, a little nerve Clicquot” - said Samantha to Carrie when she goes to speak to Berger's friends post-Post-It breakup in S6
2. “And he tasted like black cherries” - Carrie describing her kiss with the Russian artist in S6 like it's a tasting note
3. And finally, Samantha using Beaujolais Nouveau as a metaphor for bad-tasting spunk.
What’s interesting in terms of product placement is that the wines aren’t actually mentioned by name like Vogue, Martini, Manolo Blahnik, or even the aforementioned Post-it.
Wine, regardless of what it is, is predominantly a prop and not named in dialogue. The exceptions would be Latour, Lafite, and Montrachet - all mentioned by people of means or with connections.
However, vino as shy extras is also just a sign of the times when the show came out.
However, vino as shy extras is also just a sign of the times when the show came out.
SATC ended in 2004 - the same year wine brands began to discover product placement. 2004's “Sideways” was a great example of how the screen could impact consumer behavior. Miles, the main character, puts Pinot Noir on a pedestal and craps on Merlot. Sales of both were affected.
Clos du Val was Spielberg’s choice to be used by Tom Hanks’ character in another 2004 film, "The Terminal". Spielberg “felt having actor Tom Hanks order a bottle of Champagne was too pretentious for a romantic dinner.” https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/clos-du-val-wins-product-placement-game-101538/
His prop master, David Harlocker, chose said winery’s Cabernet Sauvignon instead of the Dom and Cristal that were also gifted to the studio then. Imagine being stealthily endorsed by the guy who went on to play Mr. Rogers? The actor you trust to never break Meg Ryan’s heart?
By just having the wine accessible to the decision-makers, Clos du Val ended up on many other shows like The Sopranos and The OC. https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/wineries-discovering-strategic-placement-in-tv-film-can-bear-fruit-among-c/?sba=AAS
It’s hard to gauge the impact on-screen appearances have on sales directly but it DOES work as another promotional channel in pushing brand recognition. The more viewers see it, the more they’ll find it familiar when perusing shelves in a store. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jun-07-fi-closduval7-story.html
In 2006, two years after SATC’s final episode, Fox News made it seem like the selection at the time was based on donated cases of wine.
https://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_wires/2006Jul09/0,4675,WineProductPlacement,00.html
https://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_wires/2006Jul09/0,4675,WineProductPlacement,00.html
Nowadays, product placement deals are a huge part of financing big productions. In the early 2000s though, little conscious effort was made by wineries/brands to get their products on-screen and it was purely the production team’s doing. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sexandthecity-idUSN1530121420080515
This again says a lot about which wines were featured in SATC before wine product placement was really a thing: it was either very thought out in relation to the characters since wines were used as status symbols rather than unique drinks…
Or maybe it was purely random and they had a lot of Veuve Clicquot lying around the set to just put in the hands of the effortlessly sexy Samantha Jones.
Here’s to hoping the reboot follows the show’s writing rather than that of the films but, without Samantha there, it’ll be missing a lot of zsa zsa zsu —I don’t mean the bubbly.
Thanks for reading this whole thing and humoring my overstudy of this chapter in pop culture history.
Thanks for reading this whole thing and humoring my overstudy of this chapter in pop culture history.
