"Just tell your customers that we don't have any pinot noir. We can't get any pinot noir. And thanks to that damn movie Sideways, there is no pinot noir left in the city of Chicago!"
It was my first job in the wine business and this was honestly what we were instructed to tell our restaurants and wine shops after the movie Sideways came out. It's not as if pinot noir never existed before, but it certainly had not received such celebrated fame across all wine drinkers until we were introduced to such a hopelessly romantic character named Miles, nearly 10 years ago. I for one instantly fell in love with the movie but I can't say the same for all of my colleagues throughout the wine industry. Some found fault with the tasting techniques or descriptors used to talk about wine. Others just couldn't identify with the compromising characters and found them too extreme for how a true wine lover would behave. While many people shunned the personalities and opinions in the movie, perhaps it just touched a little too close to home.
10 years, just like that! I'm not sure what prompted me to think about this movie but I couldn't help but to reflect over the 10 years that I've worked in the wine industry. It was a great opportunity to dig out a few bottles of 2006 Hitching Post pinot noir that were begging to be opened. Hitching Post, in fact, was the restaurant and winery often featured in the movie Sideways, and this was one of the first gems that I purchased when we moved here two years ago. My wife and I invited another couple over for dinner and after preparing the menu, I just hoped that the wine, and the evening, would live up to the anticipation.
I can assure you that the effects of this movie are still being felt around the wine world. The demand for pinot noir has continued to rise and the prices right up there with it. Whole vineyards were ripped out and replanted, while gambling winemakers tried their hand at this fickle grape. Today we're seeing amazing pinot noir from Oregon, New Zealand, to Chile, and South Africa. Perhaps they were on to something! Merlot on the other hand has taken a hit, but maybe not as much as people would have thought given Miles' famous quote in the movie, "I'm not drinking any fucking merlot!" Merlot in fact continues to the #1 most popular grape in the United States. What many winemakers in California have done, however, is taken the word "Merlot" off the bottle and replaced it with a proprietary name like Meritage, Vintner's Collection, or Red Blend. Other winemakers didn't even have to do anything at all to convince you to drink merlot. That amazing 1961 Cheval Blanc that Miles had been saving for just the right occasion and ends up drinking it out of a styrofoam cup at a burger stand... Yep, that famous Bordeaux is made up of mostly Merlot. Or how about that great Super Tuscans from the rolling hills of Italy? Not a single grape mentioned on the label and sure, there is the local Sangiovese grape in there, but half the wine is probably made up of Merlot. The important point is just make sure you enjoy the wine, no matter what the grape.
The greatest scene in the movie takes place on the back porch where Miles and Maya take turns explaining what they love about pinot noir in rather poetic monologues. I can remember a slight tear in my eye the first time I watched this and still today I hold my breadth as I listen to their words about wine. "Haunting and brilliant, and thrilling and subtle, and... ancient." This movie isn't just about the supremacy of one grape but a window into the soul of anyone that has caught the wine bug. I'm not talking about even casual aficionado who knows a ton about wine and even has the cellar to back it up. I'm talking about the pour soul who tasted an unforgettable sip of wine, closed their eyes as time stood still, and realized that this is what they wanted to do for the rest of their life. These are the hopeless romantics, always in search of the soul and poetic nature of wine. Talk to any sommelier or wine professional and they can point to the moment, and bottle, that put their lives on a new path. For me it was the unlikely setting of a wine tasting course my senior year of university. Who knew that we would be tasting the 1952 Chateau Margaux from Bordeaux? It's almost as if I didn't have a choice.
Now pinot noir takes center stage in the movie because the grape does in fact excel in the Santa Barbara and Santa Rita Hills region, but also because of the analogy with Miles' character. "Thin skinned." "Temperamental." "Needs constant care and attention." Miles is certainly not the most enviable of personalities, but maybe you'd have to be a bit "sideways" to fall so completely in love with wine in the first place. Those of us who work in the industry know the toll that it can take on friends and family. When most people are out to play and celebrate, we're at work. We take something as simple as fermented grape juice and get lost in the subtleties and the romantic stories that surround the wine. It's this transcendent nature of wine that ignites our passion, fuels our quest for new wines, and reminds us that there is nothing else in the world that we'd rather do.
So the dinner party... Well we polished off several bottles of wine and tucked into a bit of whiskey at the end of the night so I think it's safe to call it a success. From the Sancerre and Grey Owl goat cheese to start, to the roasted beef tenderloin and pinot noir, the pairings matched brilliantly. The '06 certainly held its own and hinted of an aged Barolo, with an earthy truffle core surrounded by layers of dried fruit. This wine wasn't shiny and pristine. It showed the wrinkles under his eyes and scruffy beard covering the scars on his face. This wine had a story to tell and each sip delivered. We talked and laughed well into the night and often about my experiences in wine. It's hard not to show our passion when we talk about wine. Have you ever tried asking a question to someone who really loves wine? Maybe while they were reading over the wine list or even closing their eyes to have a sip of wine? I swear we're not ignoring you but instead having a moment where we feel the pulse and life of the wine, and just lose ourselves in the excitement. But of all the reasons that we discovered, drink, and love to talk about wine, it's as Maya said in the movie, "It tastes so fucking good."
Pinor Noir Recommendations
Hitching Post, Fiddlestix, Santa Rita Hills, California
Domaine Drouhin, Cuvee Laurenne, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Felton Road, Central Otago, New Zealand
Hamilton Russell, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, South Africa
Jacques Frederic Mugnier, Clos de la Marechale, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Burgundy, France
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