Wendy (Marla Sokoloff) has had an erratic work history. Flitting from job to job, she has struggled to pay bills by becoming a direct saleslady and more. This upsets her close friend, Amanda. But, out of the blue, Wendy receives word that her long-estranged father has passed away and left her a VINEYARD! Lucky girl, the place has a nice house and grounds in Napa Valley. However, there are complications. First, Wendy knows nothing about making wine. On impulse, this pretty lady decides to learn. Then, her father's wine label has struggled to make a profit, lately, selling bottles that are "high end", without less expensive selections. Finally, unknown to Wendy, a neighboring wine producer (Christopher Lloyd) has plans to sabotage Wendy's wine making at the Château Meroux and snatch up the place when Wendy is forced to sell it. On the up side, Wendy meets a nice gentleman, Chris (Barry Watson) who trades barbs with her, initially, but who ignites a romance between them. However, Chris may have some secrets up his sleeve. Can Wendy become a success at last, when she enters a wine contest to get the CM back in big business? This charming film, set in beautiful wine country, is a new joy for fans of romantic comedy. There are some clever lines and situations sprinkled throughout while Sokoloff and Watson are engaging, very attractive performers. There is also a secondary romance thrown in for good measure, which will please everyone. Viewers will love the costumes and fun direction as well. So, locate this film, open a bottle of wine, and savor the combination.

I was disappointed in the absurdly thin plot divises used to further the action, as for example the total inability of the principals to recognise deliberate sabotage, apparently assuming that stopcock handles can turn themselves and then leap off the valve and throw themselves on the floor, apparent suicides. That said, one isn't entirely disappointed in the actors, who are almost uniformly pleasant and attractive, with the exception of the piece's almost absurdly transparent villain and his doltish assistant, who weren't easily distinguished from those of the commedia dell'arte. All in all, a moderately pleasant diversion, and fairly typical of the genre.

We did like the actors. The music was pretty good. The plot was good. And the cinematography was fabulous.But the writing was awful. Among the concepts that were hard to believe are that the main character girls are snarky and drunkards and juvenile one minute, then supposedly wise and kind and mature the next, making the personal connections and business decisions they make hard to accept. Also, the estate business takes place in a time frame that isn't believable, so again, hard to accept.Then there's the vocab. It would be SO great if writers would just stay away from the gungy words and concepts that do nothing but create litter and instead give us high-road words and situations that make sense.And next to the ignorant vocab, there's our next least favorite thing.. The moment when a character really should say what needs to be said, but instead uses precious moments to either stay silent or do the "You don't understand" or "Just listen to me" or some such. Just spit it out! And on the flip side, the listener doesn't listen. SO many stories include this plot twist and it's always annoying. Especially since up til then that character usually has had no problem spouting whatever comes to mind and the listener has usually been a great listener.If you're not expecting much, you'll probably enjoy the show. If you're hoping for a smart story, this isn't it. Either way, the actors are fun, especially Christopher Lloyd, and the views are beautiful.

"The Château Meroux" is a lightweight chick-flick notable only for staring an ageing Christopher Lloyd. He plays the slimy owner of a vineyard who will stop at nothing to acquire The Château Meroux, a rival Northern Californian plantation. Much of the film consists of light female banter between Wendy (Marla Sokoloff) and Jennifer (Amanda Righetti), who play a couple of big city gals forced to take over a struggling, rural winery. When they're not acting oh so girly, Wendy and Jen are flirting with sexy hunks, romancing strangers and getting their hearts broken.Aesthetically, the film's going for a kind of hyper romanticism, fawning over pretty summer dresses, youthful beauty, romantic locales, sun-kissed bodies, lips, eyes, hair, sexy foliage and lots and lots of alcohol. It's cute or cheap, depending on your tolerance levels. For a film shot on a micro budget, "Meroux" is cut, shot, acted and flows well.Mostly, the film's interesting for corporate reasons. It's one of several products being pushed by Starz Media (its produced by Contradiction Films, an independent company), which is slowly moving into feature films and is slowly trying to find and corner its own little niche markets. They mostly make and/or distribute cheap, formulaic, romantic or Christmas movies; TV grade stuff, but more hyper wholesome and hyper polished than is typical of the genre. The Weinsteins recently acquired the company, so Starz seem to have hit upon a untapped market: pg, conservative, family oriented, cutesy dramas. Two decades ago similar off-shoot companies were tapping into soft-core porn. Now, with the proliferation of pornography, you get the reverse.7/10 - Worth one viewing.