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Even if you don't know the difference between a Sauvignon Blanc and a post-modern Super Tuscan, Jonathan Nossiter's documentary provides an entertaining examination of the impact of globalization upon the international wine industry. Filming on digital video across three continents, the director talks to growers, tasters, consultants, importers and critics and explores how giant American firms are exerting ever greater influence on independent producers in Europe, by buying up vineyards and imposing their methods of production. The result? Increasingly standardized and homogenized wines.

Mondavino isn't some dry academic thesis, however. The strength of the film lies in Nossiter's ability to put his colourful interviewees at ease and get them to talk freely. There's the entrepreneurial Michel Rolland, widely acknowledged as the world's leading wine consultant, but considered by his detractors to be driven by his pursuit of profit. There's Robert Parker, the American wine writer, whose personal tastes can make or break brands. And there's the small French wine producers such as Aime Guibert in Languedoc and Hubert De Montille in Burgundy, to whom Nossiter clearly feels an affinity.

"WINE IS MUCH MORE THAN A JOB - IT'S A VOCATION"

These are men for whom wine is much more than a job - it's a vocation, a symbol of civilization and of man's authentic relationship with nature. They talk of the "terroir", the mixture of soil, temperature and distinctive place, which is lost when the likes of Rolland seek to impose their uniform practices.

Mondovino could still do with some pruning though, its slightly rambling nature a product perhaps of it originally being commissioned as a ten-part TV series (Nossiter seems bizarrely interested in photographing owners' dogs!). Yet as with documentaries such as Super Size Me, the film's observations are by no means restricted to its specific subject matter. What's happening in the world of wine also applies to the food we eat, the music we listen to, and the films we watch. Can we adopt Guibert's advice and "live in tranquillity on this earth and leave room for others?"

In French with English subtitles.