Happy Halloween! Earlier this week I had a plan to launch a series of my annual Ghoulish Film and Wine pairings for Halloween. But alas, I ended up spending most of the past seven days tasting a series of admirable wines at the successful Pinot on the River event in Healdsburg, Three Sticks Wines featured at opening of The Adobe in Sonoma, and the memorable vintage Bertani Amarones presented at a luncheon at Perbacco in San Francisco. Besides the other big projects I was working on, the rest of my time was spent hanging on the edge of my seat while watching the magnificent #SFGiants make it through seven game series to win the #MLBWorldSeries2014.

 For that reason, I decided to focus on one poignant Halloween movie and dedicate my wine pairing with the cinematic classic The Shining to Madison Bumgarner, our amazing pitcher who defied the odds and carried the team on his back to victory. Thanks to his historic performance in the World Series, #MadBum became baseball’s version of #RedRum with an orange tint that will haunt the #KCRoyals fans for many years to come. Congratulations to the #SF Giants for a marvelous season! #OrangeOctober #OrangeTogether…Enjoy!

The Shining (1980)

Based on the Steven King novel and directed by Stanley Kubrick, The Shining stars Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, a family man, struggling writer and off-season caretaker of a remote hotel during wintertime. Influenced by the loneliness of this desolate setting and the lively ghosts of people murdered on the property, Jack goes off the deep end and begins chasing his family and other unsuspecting prey in the confines of the haunted hotel. Supernatural and sinister, The Shining is a cerebral horror flick from start to finish.

Pairing: Somerston 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, Estate Grown, Napa Valley In keeping with the theme of isolation, the Somerston Cabernet Sauvignon is a powerful wine made with premium grapes grown at the Somerston Estate in the rugged Vaca Range east of St.Helena. At elevations of 1,000 to 2,400 feet above the valley floor, the vines are influenced on a daily basis by full sun and rocky volcanic soils.

In the glass, this full-bodied estate wine features brilliant aromas of ripe berries and spice. The flavors are concentrated with layers of dark berries, plum and cherry; firm tannins and structure; rich texture; and a magnificent finish with nuances of wild mountain herbs, smoke and cedar. Deep, dense and delicious, this is a fine alternative to “red rum.” And like the classic film: the wine is not only bold and powerful, but age worthy as well!

#NVFF2014 Bonus: Taste the top-notch wines from #SomerstonEstate and their second label #PriestRanchWines as part of #TheVintnersCircle at the #NapaValleyFilmFest, November 12-16. The Vintner Circle represents those wineries contributing some of the most elegant and distinctive elements that help make our Napa Valley Film Festival such a unique and special experience: Vintner Circle Dinners with Patrons and Filmmakers, large-format bottles for our Award-Winners and Tribute Honorees, VIP tasting opportunities, and more. www.napavalleyfilmfest.org.