Winemakers and restaurateurs are reporting soaring business even in what’s normally the slow season, ever since the movie “Sideways” sparked a burst of interest in California vintners and the scenic Santa Barbara vineyards where much of the dark comedy takes place.
Local merchants are bracing for more visitors after the movie’s five Academy Awards nominations. Meanwhile, real-life scenes echoing moments from the film have been playing up and down bucolic Santa Rosa Road ever since the film opened.
Tasting-room guests, for example, are uttering scripted lines such as, “If anyone orders merlot, I’m leaving! I am not drinking any [bleeping] merlot!” to knowing grins from friends and practiced amusement from the pour staff. At the Hitching Post, where Oscar-nominated Virginia Madsen’s Maya waits tables in the film, diners ask the hostess if the sweet-natured fictional character is working that night.
“We tell them Maya’s spending the week with Miles in Big Sur,” said Frank Ostini, chef, winemaker and proprietor of the popular restaurant, which also bottles its own pinot. Ostini says that not only has business “skyrocketed” at his eatery, but the Hitching Post label also is suddenly selling well in previously pinot-resistant cities such as Chicago, New York and Boston.
The Santa Barbara Visitors Bureau has even created a “Sideways” map, now in its second printing, covering major spots. Van tours already have begun. And pinot is the name to drop at by-the-glass joints.
Richard Sanford, whose Sanford Winery tasting room in Buellton was used in a pivotal early scene, was especially pleased and surprised at an early screening when he heard Paul Giamatti’s Miles utter: “Let’s go to Sanford Winery. They make the best pinot noir in California.”
Sanford, who said he had no clue the glowing recommendation would turn up in the film, has seen thousands of new wine buffs making the trek two hours north of Los Angeles to dine at “Sideways” locations such as the Hitching Post after sipping at some of the more than 60 wineries that dot the countryside.
“They did a great job showing wine appreciation doesn’t have to be snobby and intimidating,” the winemaker said.
Alongside top-notch actors Giamatti, Madsen, Thomas Haden Church and Sandra Oh, equal billing goes to wineries including Sanford, Fiddlehead and Andrew Murray, plus local eateries like the Los Olivos Cafe & Wine Merchant.
“Some of our bottlers are reporting a 25 percent increase in visitors and wine sales because of the movie,” said Shannon Brooks of the Santa Barbara Visitors Bureau. “We expect those numbers to jump this summer.”
Along with the map, tours of the area are offered at hotels up and down the coast. Interest is also being felt in Europe, where “Sideways” was screened for travel agents specializing in California two months ago.
“The buzz on the local wineries and the focus on pinot noir is going to spread wherever the movie makes an impact,” said Mary-Colleen Tinney, associate editor of Wine Business, a monthly magazine.
The film is honest but still fictional. Chris Burroughs, tasting-room manager at the Sanford Winery, wants to make perfectly clear that one of the film’s main plot points, while intoxicating, is entirely imaginary.
“Tell the male population of Los Angeles not to expect to come up here and hook up with a gorgeous pour girl [as Church’s Jack did]. It just isn’t gonna happen.”
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale (cdipasquale@tribune.com) and Curt Wagner (cwwagner@tribune.com)
