A tasty champagne drama gets dragged down by annoying flashbacks.

Based on Tilar J. Mazzeo’s book, “Widow Clicquot” retells the true story about how the Veuve Clicquot champagne business soared to new heights in the late 18th century thanks to the widow Barbe-Nicole, who provided the fiery determination and innovation for the alcoholic beverages. Haley Bennett gives her best performance since “Cryano” as the widow, because of how she represents her spirit and pathos within. She merges well with a person who is determined to keep the champagne spirit alive despite the Napoleonic Era threatening to taint it.

But the movie ends up becoming a mixed bag for me, because while I was marvel by the leading lady and its fresh taste in alcohol, the flashback scenes are less than perfect. They take place before she lost her husband Francois (Tom Sturridge) when she was 27-years-old, and regard their joy and pathos when he starts off charming and then acts crazy. It could be he was suffering from bipolar disorder. And his death could either be a suicide or the result of typhoid. These scenes start to get on our nerves, because they’re either unfocused or annoying with the behaviors of Francois.

Following her husband’s death, her father-in-law (Ben Miles) offers to sell the house to give Barbe-Nicole and her daughter Clementine a better life, but she declines and suggests she uses her savings to cover the vineyard’s expenses. He warns her it could be destroyed, but she’s persistent enough to keep her husband’s spirit alive.

Considering Napoleon’s embargo, she decides to sell the beverages to areas outside of his reach. It’s a plan about beating him to the punch, and she shares her idea to the wine salesman Louis Bohne (Sam Riley), who believes the idea is dangerous, but still assists her. Even having a romantic connection with her. But this doesn’t last very long. Besides she’s more interested in the manufacturing and distribution of the champagne than any more romances.

Director Thomas Napper (“Jawbone”) and cinematographer Caroline Champetier (“Holy Motors,” “Annette”) beautifully photograph “Widow Clicquot” with the tone and ambiance of the struggles to bringing a champagne company in the right direction, as well as the aftermath of Francois’ death. And it’s also produced by Bennett and Joe Wright, so it would make sense why the romantic scenes look and feel so passionate.

But there’s not much of that ambiance and patience in the screenplay by Erin Dignam (“Land”) and Christopher Monger (“Chica de Rio”). The movie is too short, running at 90 minutes, to capture all the essence and turmoil of what went on in Barbe-Nicole’s life during these days.

The one flashback scene that broke my heart is when he and Barbe-Nicole are in bed, and after Clementine playfully jumps on him, he pushes her to the ground and she begins to cry. You can clearly sense the loving mother inside Barbe-Nicole as she calms her down while telling her husband to stay away from her. If only the rest of his scenes were as poignant as this.

Even in my early 30s, I still have no taste in alcohol, but I can tell that “Widow Clicquot” has great taste in it. It just needs to be chilled a little longer.

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