POP NOTES | OPINION: ‘Sideways’ gave Merlot bad reputation

February 29, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.

by Philip Martin

Sandra Oh, Thomas Haden Church, Virgina Madzsen and Paul Giamatti in Alexander Payne's 2004 film “Sideways,” which tanked Merlot sales and gave Pinot Noir a huge boost.
Sandra Oh, Thomas Haden Church, Virgina Madzsen and Paul Giamatti in Alexander Payne's 2004 film “Sideways,” which tanked Merlot sales and gave Pinot Noir a huge boost.

I have an interesting relationship with Alexander Payne's 2004 film "Sideways," which I recently screened for my LifeQuest class. A few years before the movie came out, my wife Karen and I took a wine-oriented trip to Solvang and the Santa Ynez Valley in California where the film was set...

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