World of KJ :: View topic - Business Boom in Wine Country over Sideways

NYTimes wrote:

Best Supporting Grape

Buellton, Calif.

AS the manager of Sanford Winery's rustic tasting room in the Santa Rita Hills just west of this crossroads town, Chris Burroughs usually greets visitors and pours wine. But since the film "Sideways" opened last fall, he has added a few duties: posing for photos with tourists, autographing their wine bottles and sharing his film-set memories.

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Mr. Burroughs's ticket to fame was just a few seconds on screen in "Sideways," pouring wine for the actors Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, who play Miles and Jack, two old college friends off on a week of wine-tasting and carousing in Santa Barbara County. The film corralled rave reviews and five Oscar nominations, as well as an audience that seems entranced by the wines that Miles and Jack consumed and the places they went, if not by their excesses.

For Santa Barbara County, removed by hundreds of miles and thousands of exalting words from far more celebrated wine regions like the Napa Valley, the "Sideways" effect has been profound. Unlike Napa, where multimillion-dollar wineries and top restaurants have helped generate a vast tourism industry, Santa Barbara County has been an overlooked and often ignored part of the California wine business. Now it is the wine region of the moment, with the film functioning as a feature-length product placement vehicle.

Tourism has boomed, particularly in the Santa Ynez Valley, where most of the action takes place, about 40 miles north of Santa Barbara. The county has distributed almost 40,000 copies of a "Sideways" map, detailing the wineries, restaurants, motels and other sites that appear in the film. It has printed a pamphlet, "The 'Sideways' Guide to Wine and Life," which is on sale countywide.

Hotels are promoting "Sideways" packages and offering "Sideways" limousine tours of the wine country. Restaurants are doing uncharacteristically big business in the off season. Pinot noir, the wine exalted so poetically in the movie, has enjoyed a burst of sales nationwide, while merlot, so memorably derided by Miles, is faltering, at least among those who have seen the movie. The wines mentioned in the film, along with bit players like Mr. Burroughs, are suddenly in demand.

"This culture is so geared to celebrity, but it's funny what passes for celebrity," said Mr. Burroughs, who has made a round of appearances on television, in magazines and on the Internet. "I have to admit it's enjoyable."

In the film Jack and Miles's considerable emotional turmoil and suffering contrast with the backdrop of lush, inviting vineyards, gorgeous green hills and pastel skies. The camera lovingly caresses local wine labels like Fiddlehead, Sea Smoke, Whitcraft and Hartley Ostini.

The bottles are poured by waitresses and tasting room assistants who can make a sauvignon blanc sound like the Song of Solomon. At least as much as it forces audiences to contemplate the foibles of the main characters, "Sideways" succeeds in making wine and winery hopping in Santa Barbara seem like great fun instead of an exercise in pretentiousness.

Instead of the neat north-south corridor in Napa Valley, vineyards here are spread throughout a rough triangle from Lompoc, near the Pacific coast, east to Santa Ynez and north to Santa Maria, the city where Michael Jackson is on trial. And unlike Napa, where it is hard to find anything growing but grapes, Santa Barbara still has plenty of other agriculture, like strawberries and broccoli, walnuts, beans and a thriving flower industry.

The wine industry itself is far different from Napa's. The biggest wineries, like Meridian and Cambria, are affiliated with even bigger wine companies - Beringer Blass Wine Estates in Napa and Kendall-Jackson in Sonoma - which concentrate their tourism efforts up north. The smaller places tend to offer intimate tasting rooms. Very few of them can accommodate the tourist buses so common in Napa. Some of the most important Santa Barbara wineries, like Au Bon Climat, don't even have tasting rooms.

"I've sold more pinot noir in the last year than ever, and all since November, when the movie came out," said Jim Clendenen, the owner and winemaker at Au Bon Climat...

Author:	dolcevita [ Wed Feb 23, 2005 1:40 pm ]
Post subject:	Business Boom in Wine Country over Sideways
NYTimes wrote: Best Supporting Grape Buellton, Calif. AS the manager of Sanford Winery's rustic tasting room in the Santa Rita Hills just west of this crossroads town, Chris Burroughs usually greets visitors and pours wine. But since the film "Sideways" opened last fall, he has added a few duties: posing for photos with tourists, autographing their wine bottles and sharing his film-set memories. Advertisement Mr. Burroughs's ticket to fame was just a few seconds on screen in "Sideways," pouring wine for the actors Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, who play Miles and Jack, two old college friends off on a week of wine-tasting and carousing in Santa Barbara County. The film corralled rave reviews and five Oscar nominations, as well as an audience that seems entranced by the wines that Miles and Jack consumed and the places they went, if not by their excesses. For Santa Barbara County, removed by hundreds of miles and thousands of exalting words from far more celebrated wine regions like the Napa Valley, the "Sideways" effect has been profound. Unlike Napa, where multimillion-dollar wineries and top restaurants have helped generate a vast tourism industry, Santa Barbara County has been an overlooked and often ignored part of the California wine business. Now it is the wine region of the moment, with the film functioning as a feature-length product placement vehicle. Tourism has boomed, particularly in the Santa Ynez Valley, where most of the action takes place, about 40 miles north of Santa Barbara. The county has distributed almost 40,000 copies of a "Sideways" map, detailing the wineries, restaurants, motels and other sites that appear in the film. It has printed a pamphlet, "The 'Sideways' Guide to Wine and Life," which is on sale countywide. Hotels are promoting "Sideways" packages and offering "Sideways" limousine tours of the wine country. Restaurants are doing uncharacteristically big business in the off season. Pinot noir, the wine exalted so poetically in the movie, has enjoyed a burst of sales nationwide, while merlot, so memorably derided by Miles, is faltering, at least among those who have seen the movie. The wines mentioned in the film, along with bit players like Mr. Burroughs, are suddenly in demand. "This culture is so geared to celebrity, but it's funny what passes for celebrity," said Mr. Burroughs, who has made a round of appearances on television, in magazines and on the Internet. "I have to admit it's enjoyable." In the film Jack and Miles's considerable emotional turmoil and suffering contrast with the backdrop of lush, inviting vineyards, gorgeous green hills and pastel skies. The camera lovingly caresses local wine labels like Fiddlehead, Sea Smoke, Whitcraft and Hartley Ostini. The bottles are poured by waitresses and tasting room assistants who can make a sauvignon blanc sound like the Song of Solomon. At least as much as it forces audiences to contemplate the foibles of the main characters, "Sideways" succeeds in making wine and winery hopping in Santa Barbara seem like great fun instead of an exercise in pretentiousness. Instead of the neat north-south corridor in Napa Valley, vineyards here are spread throughout a rough triangle from Lompoc, near the Pacific coast, east to Santa Ynez and north to Santa Maria, the city where Michael Jackson is on trial. And unlike Napa, where it is hard to find anything growing but grapes, Santa Barbara still has plenty of other agriculture, like strawberries and broccoli, walnuts, beans and a thriving flower industry. The wine industry itself is far different from Napa's. The biggest wineries, like Meridian and Cambria, are affiliated with even bigger wine companies - Beringer Blass Wine Estates in Napa and Kendall-Jackson in Sonoma - which concentrate their tourism efforts up north. The smaller places tend to offer intimate tasting rooms. Very few of them can accommodate the tourist buses so common in Napa. Some of the most important Santa Barbara wineries, like Au Bon Climat, don't even have tasting rooms. "I've sold more pinot noir in the last year than ever, and all since November, when the movie came out," said Jim Clendenen, the owner and winemaker at Au Bon Climat... I think its kinda cute, the comment on what passes as celebrity. Now all these vineyard owners and workers get to feel like the objects d'desire. I could just picture how much fun they are getting now that people assume they are sociable and flirtatious (which I'm sure they are). I wonder if some of the policy of vineyards have changed in the area? For instance if there was a certain sense of propriety that was inforced previously about how much to pour, how to speak with clients, etc. That maybe now they've changed and the owners are like, go out and be yourselves and make everyone welcome. I think that would be best, people end up buying more when they're at ease anyways. Its cute how these little places get attention through a movie in a big way.

Author:	Jeff [ Wed Feb 23, 2005 1:53 pm ]
Post subject:
I thought about seeing Sideways today actually. Haven't decided yet (it's either Sideways or Hitch).

Author:	Erendis [ Wed Feb 23, 2005 1:58 pm ]
Post subject:
My recommendation is to see Sideways. You can always see Hitch later since it just came out. Sideways is getting old and will probably be pulled from theatres right after the Oscars (unless it wins.)

Author:	Jeff [ Wed Feb 23, 2005 2:03 pm ]
Post subject:
Thanks. I shall do that.

Author:	Anonymous [ Wed Feb 23, 2005 2:15 pm ]
Post subject:
RogueCommander wrote: I thought about seeing Sideways today actually. Haven't decided yet (it's either Sideways or Hitch). Rogue see Sideways or else.

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Author:	Plot [ Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:58 pm ]
Post subject:
This is a pretty funny commentary on all those people who are contributing to the increased wine sales. http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=sideways

Author:	Jeff [ Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:42 pm ]
Post subject:
loyalfromlondon wrote: RogueCommander wrote: I thought about seeing Sideways today actually. Haven't decided yet (it's either Sideways or Hitch). Rogue see Sideways or else. I did. And I loved it. My #4 of 2004 (behind Million Dollar Baby, Hotel Rwanda and Finding Neverlan). I would have to give it an A- or A. Simply superb. I'll post a short review in the "Your Take" forum later.

Author:	MovieDude [ Wed Feb 23, 2005 11:25 pm ]
Post subject:
Haha, that's really funny actually. I always look out for these articles, I remember reading one about how much business boomed in that little area where Captain Corellia's Mandolin took place (I'd assume from the book, not the movie :wink:)

Author:	Maverikk [ Wed Feb 23, 2005 11:33 pm ]
Post subject:
I heard about this the other day. Myself, I can't think of wine anymore, without seeing Giamatti's nose in his glass, or seeing him drinking that disgusting urn full of everybody's tasting samples.

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