Kirk and Mira Advani Honeycutt (courtesy photos)
No, if anybody orders Merlot, I’m leaving. I’m not drinking any f**king Merlot.”—Paul Giamatti’s character in “Sideways”
It is the line of movie dialogue that launched a thousand sips.
Of Pinot Noir.
That story, and other tantalizing tales, are shared in the new book Sideways Uncorked: The Perfect Pairing of Film and Wine by Kirk Honeycutt and Mira Advani Honeycutt, a 20th anniversary toast to a truly great movie with a distinct Central Coast flavor.
Of course, the movie is Sideways, director Alexander Payne’s 2004 ode to wine, romance, middle-aged man-boys, and bucolic Santa Barbara County, based on the novel by Rex Pickett.
The independent film, featuring a quartet of then lesser-known actors (Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, and Sandra Oh) was filmed over the course of 52 days from Santa Barbara to Santa Maria, leaving an indelible impression both on-screen and off.
The movie became a critically-acclaimed box office smash, garnering more than 100 awards worldwide, including an Academy Award for Payne’s adapted screenplay (along with Jim Taylor).
But Sideways also impacted the local wine industry, thrusting Santa Barbara County wine growers into the international spotlight, magically transforming Pinot Noir into a legitimate A-List star, while relegating poor Merlot, at least temporarily, to the bargain bin, thanks to that single now-immortal line of dialogue uttered by Giamatti’s character, Miles Raymond.
‘Sideways Uncorked’ draws on interviews with Payne, Pickett, all four stars of the movie, and others involved in the production.”
This twin tale of film and wine and their fruitful intersection is in good hands with the Honeycutts, themselves a perfect pairing, who heard the vineyards calling and left the urban desert of Los Angeles to settle in rustic Paso Robles.
Kirk Honeycutt was a senior reporter and then chief film critic for The Hollywood Reporter for 20 years. He is also the author of a biography of filmmaker John Hughes.
Mira Advani Honeycutt has more than 25 years of experience as a wine journalist and currently serves as the wine editor for multiple local publications.
There is much to savor and enjoy in this book. The couple, obviously huge fans of the movie, have done their homework. Sideways Uncorked draws on interviews with Payne, Pickett, all four stars of the movie, and others involved in the production.
But the Honeycutts also are confirmed oenophiles, so attention is given to the Central Coast wine industry and how it was shaped by the likes of Jim Clendenen, Bob Lindquist, Frank Ostini, Richard Sanford, and Wes Hagen, among many others.
Some of the stories we already knew—how director Payne, for example, held firm when pressured to cast George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the lead roles and insisted on using relatively unknown actors instead.
Other stories border on the heart stopping. The authors detail the initial reaction when Frank Ostini, owner of popular Hitching Post in Buellton, somehow obtained a copy of the shooting script pre-production and was horrified to see that the lead character of Miles was basically a self-destructive alcoholic.
The so-called “Sideways effect,” both economic and cultural, has been amply documented over the years. Wine lovers and would-be wine lovers flocked to their favorite ‘Sideways’ movie locations.”
Concerned by how their industry might be portrayed, Ostini and other restaurant owners and winemakers became reluctant to allow the movie crew access to their properties, a decision that would have delayed or even doomed the project. Fortunately, the filmmakers were finally able to gain their trust.
Smart move. The so-called “Sideways effect,” both economic and cultural, has been amply documented over the years. Wine lovers and would-be wine lovers flocked to their favorite Sideways movie locations.
Supermarket sales of Pinot Noir, championed by Miles in an impassioned monologue about his favorite wine, jumped nearly 20 percent in less than a year following the movie’s release.
Business at Hitching Post rose more than 40 percent; Ostini went from producing 3,000 cases to 22,000 cases a year.
As one winemaker explained in the book, “I was seeing people I never saw before. People with tattoos and earrings in limos from Hollywood . . . Sideways took the shine off the bottle and made it human. The tasting room went from two hundred to one thousand people a week. Sales skyrocketed.”
Meanwhile, poor Merlot suffered a decline of sales and California growers pulled out more than 10,000 acres of the unfairly maligned vintage.
The Honeycutts will be signing books and participating in the upcoming Harvest on the Coast on Saturday, November 2, at the Thousand Hills Ranch in Pismo Beach.
And Miles will be happy to know that no Merlot will be served.
The Honeycutts have other book signings scheduled in November and December:
- November 9, 1-5 p.m., The Garagiste Wine Festival, Paso Robles Event Center
- November 10, 4-6 p.m., Parr Collective at Stolo Vineyards, Cambria
- November 16, 4-8 p.m., Tudor Tasting Lounge, Paso Robles
- November 23, 3-6 p.m., Firefly, Paso Robles
- November 29, 12-3 p.m., Eberle Winery, Paso Robles
- December 7, 12-3 p.m., Etto Pastificio, Tin City, Paso Robles