Looking for a way to boost his failing Parisian wine shop, a snobbish Brit, Steven Spurrier (Rickman) heads to California's Napa Valley to prepare for a tasting contest he has set up, pitting his favorite French wines against Californian wines. He assumes that a victory by the French wines will spur people to flock to his store, but is surprised to find that the California wines are not quite as awful as he had imagined, particulary the Chardonnay made by Jim Barrett (Pullman) and his son, Bo (Pine). As Spurrier gets closer to deciding which California wines will be selected for the contest, love blossoms while friendships and families threaten to tear apart.