Based on a true story, Bottle Shock chronicles the events leading up to the famous Paris Tastings of 1976, wherein Napa wines bested the exalted French wines in a blind tasting and put California wines on the map for good. The story is told through the lives of father and son, Jim (Pullman) and Bo Barrett (Pine), who founded Chateau Montelena in the early 1970s and whose Chardonnay went on to win what was eventually coined "Judgment of Paris." Jim Barrett, who had been a successful real estate attorney previously, is emblematic of the California vintners' spirit – mavericks who had come to Napa on a quest to make world class wines.