Miles Raymond is an unpublished author, a wine aficionado, and a depressed, middle-aged English teacher living in San Diego. He takes Jack Cole, his soon-to-be-married friend and former college roommate, on a road trip through the Santa Ynez Valley wine country. Jack is an actor who now does commercial voice-overs and plans to enter his future father-in-law's successful real estate business. Soon after the trip begins, Miles insists on visiting his mother in Oxnard, as it is the day before her birthday. He steals $900 from her room that night. The men sneak out early the next morning to avoid Miles' mother's birthday gathering.
Miles wants to spend the week relaxing, playing golf, and enjoying good food and wine. However, much to Miles' annoyance, Jack wants to have one last sexual fling before getting married. In the wine country, the pair dine at The Hitching Post II. Jack sees that Maya, a waitress with whom Miles is casually acquainted, is interested in Miles; Miles thinks she is only being professionally friendly. Jack lies to Maya that Miles' manuscript has been accepted for publication, although it is only being considered. At a wine tasting the next day, Jack arranges a double date with a wine pourer named Stephanie, who is also acquainted with Maya.
During the date, Miles gets drunk and telephones Victoria, his ex-wife, after learning from Jack that she has remarried and will be bringing her new husband to Jack's wedding. The two couples go to Stephanie's home, where Stephanie and Jack adjourn to Stephanie's bedroom and have sex, hence starting an affair. Miles and Maya connect through their mutual interest in wine, and he kisses her awkwardly. As they part, Miles gives Maya a copy of his manuscript, which she had earlier expressed interest in reading.
Jack claims to have fallen in love with Stephanie and tells Miles he wants to postpone the wedding and move to Santa Ynez Valley to be closer to her. After spending time with Jack and Stephanie at wineries and a picnic, Miles and Maya return to Maya's apartment and have sex. The next day, Miles divulges that Jack is getting married. Disgusted with the men's dishonesty, Maya dumps Miles.
Jack and Miles go to a winery that Miles finds subpar. After hearing from his literary agent that his manuscript has been rejected, an upset Miles pesters the pourer for a full glass of wine. When the server refuses, Miles drinks from the spit bucket, creating a scene. Jack intervenes and drives Miles back to the motel. Upon arrival, Stephanie, who heard from Maya about Jack's marital status in the meantime, furiously beats Jack with her motorcycle helmet, breaking his nose, while berating him for his infidelity. Miles takes Jack to the ER and leaves Maya an apologetic voice message, admitting that his book will not be published.
That night, Jack hooks up with a waitress named Cammi, despite Miles's protests. Later, Jack returns to the motel naked; Cammi's husband had caught Jack and Cammi having sex. Jack begs Miles to help him retrieve his wallet, which contains custom wedding rings. Miles sneaks into the house, where he finds Cammi and her husband having sex. Miles grabs the wallet and runs, barely escaping Cammi's nude and furious husband. On the drive back to San Diego, Jack intentionally drives Miles's car into a tree to support his alibi that he broke his nose in a car accident, since he cannot allow his fiancée Christine to know of the affair with Stephanie. The pair return to Christine's home, where Jack is warmly received by her family.
Following the wedding ceremony, Miles runs into Victoria and meets her new husband, Ken. Victoria says she is pregnant. Miles absconds before the reception and drives back to his San Diego apartment. Alone, he drinks his prized wine, a 1961 Château Cheval Blanc, from a disposable styrofoam soda cup at a fast-food restaurant. One day, after coming home from his teaching job, Miles receives a voicemail from Maya, who says she enjoyed his manuscript and invites him to visit. Miles drives back to wine country and knocks on Maya's door; what happens after is left unresolved.
A 2009 study by Sonoma State University found that Sideways slowed the growth in Merlot sales volume and caused its price to fall, but the film's main effect on the U.S. wine industry was a rise in the sales volume and price of Pinot noir and in overall wine consumption.[9]
A 2022 study in the Journal of Wine Economics found that Sideways caused a reduction in demand for Merlot and an increase in demand for Pinot noir in the United States, which led California winemakers to grow Pinot noir grapes in unsuitable land and blend those grapes with the grapes grown in high-quality areas just to meet demand, which may have led to worse Pinot noir wines.[10][11]
Sideways Fest is an annual 3-day event hosted by the Sta. Rita Hills Wine Alliance celebrating the movie's release featuring the local viticulture and scenery.[12]
Sideways Pinot noir
In 2013, Rex Pickett, author of the Sideways novel, released his own Pinot noir named Le Plus Ultra.[13] In 2020, he released a Pinot noir named Sideways.[14]
The original soundtrack album features 15 jazzinstrumentals composed and produced by Rolfe Kent and was orchestrated and arranged for the band by Tony Blondal. The album was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for "Best Original Score", and the music proved so popular there was demand for a national tour. Eventually, a few cities were chosen to perform in as the composer was too busy to commit to more. The romantic leitmotif shared by Miles and Maya is excerpted from Symbiosis by Claus Ogerman and Bill Evans.
"Asphalt Groovin'" – 4:00
"Constantine Snaps His Fingers" – 3:03
"Drive!" – 3:56
"Picnic" – 2:15
"Lonely Day" – 1:40
"Wine Safari" – 2:13
"Miles' Theme" – 2:59
"Los Olivos" – 2:43
"Chasing the Golfers" – 3:03
"Walk to Hitching Post" – 2:32
"Abandoning the Wedding" – 3:25
"Slipping Away As Mum Sleeps" – 1:00
"Bowling Tango" – 0:49
"I'm Not Drinking Any #@%!$ Merlot!" – 1:13
"Miles And Maya" – 2:26
Reception
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, Sideways has an approval rating of 97% based on 233 reviews, and an average rating of 8.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Charming, thoughtful, and often funny, Sideways is a decidedly mature road trip comedy full of excellent performances."[15] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 94 out of 100 based on 42 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[16] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[17]
Time Out described the film as "intelligent, funny and moving",[18] and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it four stars out of four, writing that, "what happens during the seven days adds up to the best human comedy of the year– comedy, because it is funny, and human, because it is surprisingly moving."[19]
Sideways was ranked 494th on Empire's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.[21]Total Film put Sideways on its list of 100 Greatest Movies of All Time.[22] In 2013, the Writers Guild of America also ranked its script as the 90th greatest ever written.[23]
Stage and musical adaptations
In 2019, it was announced that Sideways was scheduled to be adapted for a stage musical.[24]Kathleen Marshall is expected to be the director and choreographer for the musical, which was aiming for a spring or summer 2020 tryout in a regional venue prior to Broadway. The musical will have a book by Rex Pickett and the score by Anthony Leigh Adams.[25]
A play adapted by author Rex Pickett from the Sideways novel was produced at multiple theaters in the United States and the United Kingdom, including at the La Jolla Playhouse.[24]
In addition to the musical, it was reported that Pickett had written screenplays based on his two Sideways sequels already in print, Vertical and Sideways 3 Chile.[24]
The remake shifts the setting of the film to Napa Valley. Although listed as an executive producer, Payne was not involved with the remake, although he gave it his blessing.[59] Giamatti declined an invitation to make an unspecified cameo appearance in the film.[60]
Possible sequel
Pickett has written three sequel books to Sideways, the second of which being Vertical (2010) which follows Miles and Jack on a road trip to Oregon with Miles' mother. Fox Searchlight retain the film rights to the characters, but Payne has expressed disinterest in directing a sequel to Sideways, and no further adaptations have been made.[61]
Merlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to be a diminutive of merle, the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color of the grape. Its softness and "fleshiness," combined with its earlier ripening, make Merlot a popular grape for blending with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which tends to be higher in tannin.
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. His accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award and three Golden Globes, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and a British Academy Film Award.
Pinot noir, also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French words for pine and black. The word pine alludes to the grape variety having tightly clustered, pinecone—shaped bunches of fruit.
New Zealand wine is produced in several of its distinct winegrowing regions. As an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, New Zealand has a largely maritime climate, although its elongated geography produces considerable regional variation from north to south. Like many other New World wines, New Zealand wine is usually produced and labelled as single varietal wines, or if blended, winemakers list the varietal components on the label. New Zealand is best known for its Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, and more recently its dense, concentrated Pinot Noir from Marlborough, Martinborough and Central Otago.
Sideways is a 2004 novel by Rex Pickett. The novel is the first in the Sideways Series.
The state of Oregon in the United States has established an international reputation for its production of wine, ranking fourth in the country behind California, Washington, and New York. Oregon has several different growing regions within the state's borders that are well-suited to the cultivation of grapes; additional regions straddle the border between Oregon and the states of Washington and Idaho. Wine making dates back to pioneer times in the 1840s, with commercial production beginning in the 1960s.
Fiddlehead Cellars is a winery based in Lompoc, California specializing in Sauvignon blanc and Pinot noir, producing an average of 5,000 cases of wine yearly. It was established by Kathy Joseph in 1989. Fiddlehead uses grapes from the Santa Ynez Valley AVA of Santa Barbara County, specifically the Sta. Rita Hills AVA for Pinot noir, and Oregon's Willamette Valley AVA. Winemaker Joseph has a graduate degree in Viticulture and Enology from University of California, Davis. Fiddlehead Cellars is a member of the Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance and the Santa Barbara County Vintners' Association.
Rex Pickett is an American novelist and filmmaker best known for his novel Sideways, which was adapted into a 2004 movie of the same name directed by Alexander Payne.
The Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cast is one of the annual film awards given by the Boston Society of Film Critics.
Foris Vineyards Winery is an American winery located near Cave Junction, Oregon in the Illinois Valley region of the Rogue Valley AVA of Southern Oregon. As one of Oregon's pioneering grape growers, Ted Gerber planted his first vineyard in 1974. For 15 years, Gerber provided fruit to other winemakers, until 1986 when the winery was founded by Ted and Meri Gerber and the Foris label was launched.
Belgian wine is produced in several parts of Belgium and production, although still modest at 1,400 hectoliters in 2004, has expanded in recent decades.
An international variety is a grape variety that is widely planted in most of the major wine producing regions and has widespread appeal and consumer recognition. These are grapes that are highly likely to appear on wine labels as varietal wines and are often considered benchmarks for emerging wine industries. There is some criticism that the popularity of so-called international varieties comes at the price of a region's indigenous varieties. The majority of declared international varieties are French in origin, though in recent years the popularity of Spanish and Italian varietals has seen an increase in worldwide plantings and these may also be considered "international varieties".
Cono Sur Vineyards & Winery is a subsidiary of Concha y Toro Winery and is the third largest exporter of bottled wine in Chile. Established in 1993, its name is a reference to its location in the Southern Cone of South America and a play on the word connoisseur. In 2015, it was the official wine of the Tour de France.
The Pinot noir passing-off controversy arose in 2010 within the wine industry over the passing-off by French distributors of Merlot and Syrah wine as Pinot noir in the United States. The controversy involved the mislabeling of wines from vintners in southern France which were falsely sold to American distributors E & J Gallo Winery as Pinot noir. The mislabeling resulted in a French court convicting twelve people for fraud.
Giaconda is an Australian winery in Beechworth, Victoria.
Vertical is a 2010 novel by Rex Pickett and the second novel in the Sideways Series. It is a sequel to the novel Sideways, which was made into a successful 2004 film of the same name.
Twomey Cellars is a California winery. It was established in 1999 by the Duncan Family, who have operated the successful Silver Oak Cellars in California since 1972. The Duncan Family started Twomey Cellars to pursue varietals other than Cabernet Sauvignon. Twomey has three wineries: one in Calistoga in the Napa Valley; one in Healdsburg in the Russian River Valley; one in Philo in Anderson Valley, and produces mainly Pinot noir and Sauvignon blanc. Twomey’s Sauvignon blanc is a blend of Sauvignon blanc grapes from their estate vineyards at their wineries in Napa Valley, Anderson Valley, and Russian River Valley.
Daniel Baron is an American winemaker. He is best known for his work with the Duncan family-owned Silver Oak Cellars and Twomey Cellars, and was Director of Winemaking for both. After his retirement in 2017, he launched Complant Wine with his son, Sam Baron, to produce small production, artisanal, single vineyard wines. Originally a field worker for John Rolleri at Chateau Montelena, he gained experience in the Bordeaux region of France and was mentored by the likes of grape geneticist Professor Harold Olmo, and winemakers Jean-Claude Berrouet and Justin Meyer. He became general manager of Christian Moueix's Dominus Estate in the 1980s. He became winemaker for Silver Oak, an exclusive Cabernet Sauvignon producer, in 1994, and was trained by Justin Meyer to follow in his footsteps as Silver Oak's winemaker before Meyer’s retirement in 2001. In 1999, Baron was instrumental in persuading the Duncans to establish Twomey to pursue Merlot, Pinot noir, and Sauvignon blanc after discovering high quality Merlot grapes on Silver Oak’s Soda Canyon Ranch Vineyard. He has served on boards such as the American Society of Enology and Viticulture and the Napa Valley Wine Technical Group.
Sideways 3 Chile is a 2015 novel by Rex Pickett. It is a sequel to his two previous novels Sideways (2004) and Vertical (2010) and the third novel in the Sideways Series.
The Sideways Series is a collection of comedic wine themed novels by Rex Pickett which include Sideways, which was the basis of a 2004 film directed by Alexander Payne, Vertical, Sideways 3 Chile and Sideways New Zealand.
↑ "2004 Awards (8th Annual)". Online Film Critics Society. January 3, 2012. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
↑ King, Susan (January 6, 2005). "Producers' '04 nominees". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 21, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
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