The story is set in Santa Barbara, California, but it was shot in Queensland, Australia. Because of that almost all the roles are played by Australian actors that few of us outside Australia have ever heard of. Just a point of interest, all are fine in the roles for this type of movie which follows the Hallmark formula very closely. Including the first kiss during the last minute of the movie.
The American actress is Susie Abromeit as Allee. Her parents are deceased, we never learn why, and she and her younger brother stay with their grandparents. Who, incidentally, own a small but very high quality winery. Their award-winner is their Pinot Noir. Allee feels she will take over some day but she has a big issue looming. The current vintage of Pinot is over-oaked and it is the wine they were going to use for a nationwide distribution deal.
Meanwhile, Australian actor Tim Ross as Ethan Blake works for a company that takes over small wineries. In fact they own all the other wineries in that region and Ethan is given the assignment to travel to this one and make a deal.
There really isn't much novel about this story and the attempt at depicting authentic winery operations fails badly. It comes across as a low-budget movie just for light entertainment. And it accomplishes that, just light entertainment for those of us looking for a clean 90-minute movie.
Its rating seems a bit high, probably because so many Australian voters gave it a "10". I'd say more like 4 or 5 is appropriate.
My wife and I watched it at home, streaming on Prime.
