{"id":5549,"date":"2014-10-05T10:51:28","date_gmt":"2014-10-05T10:51:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/?p=5549"},"modified":"2020-03-16T19:29:06","modified_gmt":"2020-03-16T19:29:06","slug":"ten-years-pinot-noir-glory-sideways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/ten-years-pinot-noir-glory-sideways\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten years of Pinot Noir glory – Sideways"},"content":{"rendered":"

The movie “Sideways,” which I believe to be the best wine movie ever made, is ten years old this October. It is much more about wine, but the effect it had on two wine varieties cannot be denied. It has been ten years of Pinot Noir glory since the movie focused on the greatness of a well-made Pinot Noir, especially from the Santa Barbara wine country. The movie just about destroyed Merlot because of one simple statement by the character Miles. Now here we are, ten years later, and the price of California and Oregon Pinot Noir has skyrocketed. Good Merlot is back and popular again among all types of wine drinkers.<\/p>\n

This movie holds a special place in my heart for several reasons. First, I love wine and a good story about wine. Secondly, Janelle and I had visited the Santa Barbara wine country in October of 2004, one month before the “Sideways” movie was released to all theaters. We had already known about the movie from our son who works in the movie business in Los Angeles. We stopped in at the Sanford winery where Chris Burroughs was working the tasting room. When we asked if he knew about the movie, he perked up. “I’m in it.” The way Chris talked about it, we thought he had a huge part in the movie. He said he had to join the Actors’ union and went on and on about rehearsing his lines. As it turned out, Chris ended up having one very short line in the movie.\u00a0It was a lot of fun listening to Chris and getting this photo with him.<\/p>\n

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Janelle and Joe with Chris Burroughs\u00a0in the Sanford tasting room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another reason I loved this movie is it reminded me of guys I knew and traveled with years ago. I think every guy can relate the characters of Miles and Jack to someone they’d hung around with at some point in their lives. Finally, the movie was a great diversion for me. I saw the movie at the Stonestown Theater in San Francisco on November 10. The next morning I was to undergo a significant heart procedure to rectify an irregular heartbeat. The “Sideways” movie was just what the doctor ordered. “Sideways” was a movie for me that I remember and ponder frequently. We have are own DVD of the movie and watch it again every so often.<\/p>\n

There are many great scenes in the movie but this one is my favorite. The character Maya speaks about wine.<\/p>\n