The Tasting

From Babette’s Feast to Chocolat, a number of films have explored the connection between gastronomy and the heart. But in the case of The Tasting, Ivan Calbérac’s earnest middle-age romcom, it’s wine that brings two lost souls together.

Bernard Campan is Jacques, a curmudgeonly wine dealer who is determined to continue with his taxing line of work despite multiple health issues. One day, he meets his match in the Pollyanna-esque Hortense (the delightful Isabelle Carré). A nurse by day and charity volunteer by night, she stops by Jacques’s shop in search of a bottle of wine for the inhabitants of a homeless shelter. Though Hortense’s commitment is to altruistic causes, her domineering mother (Geneviève Mnich) is insistent that what she really needs is Mr Right.

What follows is a will-they-won’t-they, as Hortense joins Jacques’s wine-tasting workshop and sparks fly. However, it soon transpires that Hortense has aspirations of her own, which come as a surprise to both her would-be beau and her devoutly religious mother.

Seeped in French whimsy, The Tasting is nicely shot and the small-town setting is a postcard-perfect presence. Calbérac also subtly touches on social themes, namely ageism, feminism and the exploitation of the marginalised via Jacques’s troubled young intern (played by the charming Mounir Amamra). However, the film’s reliance on by-the-numbers storytelling belies its progressive heart.

The grump-meets-girl plot has been done ad nauseam, particularly with romcoms centred on the over-50s. That said, the portrayal of middle-aged dating is undeniably earnest, with Campan and Carré’s impeccable chemistry compensating for successive clichés and narrative tropes. Their relationship is tender and tastefully portrayed, even when the film itself veers into an overly familiar formula.

Despite its flaws, the film is watchable largely due to the performances of the excellent cast, and one can’t help but be invested in Jacques and Hortense’s romance as it unfolds. Unremarkable yet cosy viewing, The Tasting, much like its protagonists, matures like a fine wine.

Antonia Georgiou

The Tasting is released in select cinemas on 31^st January 2025.

Watch the trailer for The Tasting here: