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MICHAEL DOUGLAS:
“I DISCOVERED AND LEARNED
TO ENJOY WINE IN FRANCE”
BY FRANK ROUSSEAU,
OUR CORRESPONDENT IN LOS ANGELES
PHOTOGRAPHS: ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
There’s no denying that at 79, Michael Douglas could be enjoying a welldeserved
retirement, relaxing on the white sand beaches beneath the
coconut trees or sipping rosé after a game of golf in the Bahamas. Given
his successful career and countless box office hits, nobody would have
held it against him. But that’s not who the prolific and tireless offspring
of Kirk – aka Spartacus – is. More active than ever, he should soon
feature in a biopic on Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of
the United States of America. In the meantime, let’s raise a toast to this
lover of fine fare and most Francophile of stars!
In ‘Disclosure’, filmed in 1994, you had a scene with Demi Moore involving
a very unusual bottle of wine…
Yes, it was a bottle of 1991 Napa Valley Pahlmeyer Chardonnay, a very difficult
wine to find. In his book, Michael Crichton referred to a wine that was very
hard to come by, but without actually mentioning its name. The script writer,
Paul Attanasio, had read an article that mentioned a very sought-after wine,
but he couldn’t find it. Ultimately, it was Demi Moore who managed to get
hold of a magnum of 1991 Pahlmeyer Chardonnay. She gave the magnum
to the producer Barry Levinson. The scene was shot and the wine became
a Hollywood star and gained worldwide recognition for the winery, which
chose not to increase production, though, making it even more rare. As an
aside, Barry took the magnum and didn’t share it with the crew! (laughs)
Is it true that during shooting of ’20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’, your dad,
the late Kirk Douglas who played a sailor, drank real rum?
It was the first time I ever saw someone drunk play a guitar with a turtle shell!
(laughs) My father played a guy who liked to drink. He was very convincing!
But it was water! One day, I asked him what he drank on the set of ‘Vikings’
and he swore it was grape juice. You know what? I had my doubts. As you
know, Kirk was a real Francophile. In fact, his knowledge of French wines
was like his career – phenomenal!
In 2010, a biopsy revealed you had tongue cancer. For the lover of fine
fare that you are, wasn’t that a real blow?
After the diagnosis, I underwent an intensive course of chemotherapy
and radiotherapy for two months. The radiation burnt the inside of my
AUTUMN 2023 • GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE FRENCH EXPERTS ON WINE
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