MONDOVINO

This documentary about the effects of globalization on the making and consumption of wine is full of beautiful landscapes and challenging ideas, but it is also repetitious, tendentious and much too long. Jonathan Nossiter, zigzagging across three continents and visiting vineyard owners, wine consultants, critics and marketers, discovers a conflict between local tradition and the imperatives of international commerce. His heroes are vinegary French growers who see their customs threatened by high rollers from Napa and Bordeaux, who are depicted as slick and cynical. There is much in the movie to suggest a more complex and contradictory picture than the one Mr. Nossiter paints, but his zeal to turn this knotty tale into a clear anti-capitalist parable gives it a hectoring tone.