Wine is Cool: How Sideways Made it Happen

I must admit, before the film came out, I did could not tell the difference between my Cabs and my Pinots. In fact, I seldom paid any attention to any Cabs and Pinots. They all tasted like a poor mixture of alcohol and a bunch of old grapes. Wine was wine and I left it at that. I preferred my imported beer cold and my selections bold. Beers like Guinness, Hoegaarden, and Stella Artois became a far more palatable choice for me than any wine. Sideways, however, changed everything.

Ever since 2004, there has been a sudden resurgence in the consumption of wine in America, especially in California. It is no secret: Wine is the coolest thing in the entire country. And like any other cool element, wine is taking the same trajectory as cool shoes, cool clothes, cool cars, and cool professional sports teams in being a fad with a short life span. In fact, wine has been so cool as of late that it might soon become un-cool again.

We can all partly blame Hollywood film director Alexander Payne and writers Jim Taylor and Rex Picket for the demand in popularity of wine. When Sideways character Miles, an expert wine drinker in the film, shouted obscenities regarding his displeasure to Merlot wine and spoke generously of the Pinot Noir grape, sales of the Pinot wines all over California rose while sales of the Merlot slightly went down. When characters Jack and Miles stepped into the Sanford Winery for a wine tasting scene in the film, the Santa Barbara county winery soon enjoyed an increase in sales and notoriety. Indeed, there is a direct correlation between this Hollywood blockbuster and the fashion that is wine.

Walking through a local supermarket, I could not help but notice the number of wines being displayed for promotion at the front of the store near the checkout lines. If this were say, 2003, things would be much different. Instead of promoting a Russian River Valley Chardonnay at the storefront, they would have promoted a Gatorade Lemon-Lime four pack. In fact, wine is so popular that even generic supermarkets, which would rarely have a wide array of exquisite wine in their collection, now offer online guides on their web pages dedicated to all things wine, its fancy French terminology, and how one should drink them. Ralphs (www.Ralphs.com) now has what they call the Food & Wine Pairing Tool: Your Online Wine Steward.

Supermarkets are not the only ones taking advantage of the fashionably hip wine culture. Various new wine bars and wine shops have opened their doors in Southern California (and if they are not new they are certainly speaking louder now than ever before). These establishments often host daily or weekly wine tastings. Throw on a large flat-screen television screen, a couple intelligent looking cute brunette servers, and some post-modern artwork, wine establishments are increasingly becoming places for younger yuppies and recent grads to pass time.

Following the 2004 Sideways film, I took four wine trips; one to Santa Barbara County and three to Napa Valley and its surrounding areas. During the Santa Barbara wine trip, I can remember pulling into a congested parking lot with many young, urban, yuppie guys and their girlfriends while anxiously walking towards the entrance of the Sanford Winery. Clearly these people would not have existed if characters Jack and Miles from Sideways never visited the Sanford Winery in the film. Once inside, the main room was cleverly decorated with numerous Sideways memorabilia as well as film-related posters. You could even hear some guys saying, "Hey honey, you see. This is where that movie Sideways was shot. Isn't it cool?" But, don't get me wrong. I am not making fun of these people for I was one of them myself that afternoon at the winery. If it wasn't for the film, I would have probably never driven out to the Sanford Winery. The issue at hand, however, is the fact that I am astonished at how easily popular films can manipulate opinions, start fads, and even make something like wine one of the coolest things on the planet.

Ever since Sideways, I have become noticeably keen about wine and its culture. I can accurately tell the difference between a Cab and a Pinot. I can talk to you about the different temperatures that different grapes need to be grown at and which portions of California are ideal for different grapes. I can comfortably carry on a conversation with the wine server at the tasting room and speak about the need for a more buttery aftertaste on the chardonnay or perhaps which type of chocolate would go best with their holiday Port. I can often be seen at various wine gatherings in and around my network of friends and local wine shops. Wine is cool and I want to be where cool is.

Talking wine is exciting and tasting it is even more exciting. But just as everything else, all good things must come to an end. Wine, after all, is a fashionably hip statement and will soon give way to something else; perhaps a lemon-lime flavored Gatorade (okay that was a joke). Since 2004, I have been an enthusiastic wine drinker. Sideways successfully made wine what it is today in setting a growing trend. But because I believe wine is merely a fashion statement and don't like to be seen as a trend follower, I have changed my course. I recently changed the name of my wine party to a cocktail party for more versatility and I often refrain from pacing up and down the wine aisle at Trader Joe's looking for the best bottle under $8.99. Chances are you can now catch me at a social gathering holding a glass of gin (usually Tanqueray) and tonic instead of some Merlot or Shiraz.