11/21/06 Sideways Revisited

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran and today we are going to talk once again about the movie Sideways. I was recently working as a guest wine speaker aboard a small cruise ship going up the Napa River to visit California wine country. During the social hour, the guests could ask their wine questions. Well I spent three weeks doing this, with six different groups of people, never once skipping a question referencing Sideways. Even after all of this time, there are people who are deeply influenced by the movie and it astonishes me. This film alone has been responsible for a dramatic decrease in the sales of Merlot and an increase in the sales of Pinot Noir. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to see folks giving Pinot Noir more of a chance, but come on  many of us were fans of the cult film Rocky Horror Picture Show but it didn't increase the sales of fishnet stockings. To me the deeper question is what does it say about us, that when it comes to drinking wine we are so afraid of not being cool, that we will abandon a grape varietal we have enjoyed for years based on the pompous comments of a looser who steals money from his own mother's purse? Wine is just a beverage; don't ever let anyone intimidate you with it. Once again, I will repeat the mantra I discuss in my basic wine classes. Your mouth is the only mouth drinking your wine  if you like it then it is good. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.