Sideways affected my Merlot consumption (and I didn’t even see the movie) but it swung me the other way. I had been off Merlot because it had been such the hot wine but after seeing the “Merlot” scene for the 1000th time I said “F it; I’m going back to Merlot.” I’m such a rebel.

I’ll be honest: I drank less merlot after that movie. I’ll be honest again: I just drank my first merlot in years just week.

Oak is a winemakers tool used to cover up bad fruit…

Never been big on Merlot unless its Petrus or a QPR from Chile.

It is best used as a blending grape to take the edge of harsh young Cabernet rendering it drinkable earlier.

I hope I can stay up for Conan…

QOTD: When SIDEWAYS hit the cineplexes, I was just starting to enjoy wine, and I began with pinot noir. My Dad liked merlot, so the film justified my thinking and limited experience at the time: I was a cool guy in the know, while my Dad was a dinosaur.

I soon realized that pinot is an easy way to segue into the more serious reds, and I also began to find many pinots watery, and gravitated more to the merlots, zins and cabs.

So, remember the “F” word when making evaluations based on Hollywood: FICTION!

QOTD: It wasn’t sideways it was the glut of merlot in the late 90’s so much crap flooded the market

I love Merlot!!

Q: I’m drinking more and more merlot these days, wasn’t really influenced by the movie.

Wasn’t a big merlot fan before Sideways or after. Didn’t even see Sideways until a couple of years after it came out. It was alright. I found Paul Giamatti hard to watch in that role. Sad how American decided to switch to Pinot right after that though. Shows you the influence of movies in this culture.

Congrats on the Slate write-up. I checked in to read Slate as usual and there you were. You’re all over the place right now. Mike Steinberger is a good wine writer — he’s taught me alot about wine.

I haven’t watched one min of this vid but don’t know how you would leave out WA merlot!! I’m bias of course because I live here but WA has been making D-I-N-O-M-I-T-E merlot for years!! I’m going to stop now and watch the vid otherwise I’ll type on FOREVER on how WA doesn’t get the respect it deserves!!

Oak monster: hahahhhahahha. Well, those guys in Chile can do the oak solid, but agree that many others don’t need to hide behind it.

QOTD – Started as a true Classic Chianti a decade ago and am happy to stay real and not trendy a la ‘Niors.

C to the GV, peace out!

Hey Gary, QOTD: I was only 21 when Sideways came out and wasn’t all that into wine but my first wine I was into was Chianti only becuase Da Vinci has a Chinati named after him and I was a sucker for that, and then I saw Sideways and got bit by the Pinot bug, but that’s what I know I really like, especially cause I can srink most Pinots (as a red wine) by itself. I also must mention that I had several bad impressions of the few inexpensive merlots I did try. I’m sure you can understand how a wine drinker can be a Sangiovese and Pinot Noir fan above other things. But that’s me. I still havn’t tried a Brunello! They’re too expensive!

Hey Gary, QOTD: I was only 21 when Sideways came out and wasn’t all that into wine but my first wine I was into was Chianti only becuase Da Vinci has a Chinati named after him and I was a sucker for that, and then I saw Sideways and got bit by the Pinot bug, but that’s what I know I really like, especially cause I can srink most Pinots (as a red wine) by itself. I also must mention that I had several bad impressions of the few inexpensive merlots I did try. I’m sure you can understand how a wine drinker can be a Sangiovese and Pinot Noir fan above other things. But that’s me. I still havn’t tried a Brunello! They’re too expensive!

QOTD: My taste in wine was not affected by the movie. Besides, the “Merlot” bashing was all a big joke: Giamatti’s prize possession in the movie is a 1961 Cheval Blanc, which he ends up drinking alone in a styrofoam cup at a burger joint. Isn’t Cheval Blanc a Merlot? 🙂

comparing bad merlot to the mollydooker line up??? – I guess I will dump my blue eyed boy. I liked the movie, and if Paul G can make it with the blond, there is hope for us all. Looking forward to your TV show tonight!

Your palate should be the only factor determining your wine preferences…nuff said!

Gary-

Thanks for the Oak Monster piece. Very helpful.

I was a big merlot fan before Sideways. In fact merlot is what got me into wine. When I saw Sideways if anything it increased my consumption of merlot, maybe because I didn’t really enjoy the flick. The most annoying side effect of the movie were people who obviously knew very little about wine, acting like they were wine snobs because they liked pinot.

I would say my pinot consumption decreased while the merlot consumption increased, just to be different than the lemmings. I suppose that makes me no better though.

Sideways didn’t affect my Merlot drinking but I have warmed up to Pinot Noir. It hasn’t necessarily been a good thing because I usually end up with $10 bottles that aren’t very good, but it’s nice to try different stuff.

Message for Randy B.: According to David Peppercorn’s book “Wines of Bordeaux” Chateau Cheval Blanc is a blend of 60% cab franc, 37% Merlot, 2% Malbec, 1% Cab sauvignon. I strongly suspect that these percentages change from vintage to vintage and blender to blender (over generations). I’ve never tried Cheval Blanc, but I hear that it many regard it as a cab franc based wine.
Miles affinity/obsession for pinot noir along with his comment “I’m not drinking any F’ning Merlot” did change the market drastically. It’s too bad we did not see Miles relish anything other Pinot and the Fiddlehead Sauv.Blanc, (yea we saw him enjoy some Syrah too). It’s too bad and ironic that the chain of events in the movie did not amplify his comments on how he “likes all varietals, but he does not like how they are minipulated”. Maybe the writer of the screenplay is more to blame because it does not back up what the character says. Suprisingly Miles did not mention the notion of terrior in the movie. I’m sure that if someone poured him some Leonetti from Washington or Petrus from Pomerol he would drink that F’ing merlot. For whatever it’s worth, I think the filmaker did a pretty good job for establishing Miles as a round, psychologically interesting character, but fell short on presenting him as being a well rounded enthusiast that his comments suggests he is.

Correction: He does mention terrior, but he doesn’t emphasize location, varietal and wine making working together sufficiently.

I haven’t read all the comments…Has anyone pointed out that in Sideways the protagonist’s favorite wine was Cheval Blanc? And that is what, like 60% Merlot? The point of the whole “I’m not drinking merlot” thing was about character development. He was a self-loathing knucklhead trying to come to grips with his life. It was A MOVIE. Jeez. Also, I read that Christian Moieux was approached with the script. The writers wanted to use Petrus (100% Merlot… are you getting it?) but Moieux turned them down so they went with Cheval Blanc instead.

Gary, you, with a little bit of Conan, and some bitchen action figures, are changing the wine world.

Sideways movie alright (88 points), Book/Novel by Pickett brilliant (98 points) . Neither changed my wine drinking habits. Have always disliked merlots unless from Bordeaux Right Bank (Pomerol, St- Emilion, ect) or Tuscany (Bolgheri). In my experience the variety lets you down on the finish-drops offâ?¦..unless wine maker adds other ‘depth’ varieties (Cabernet Franc) or worse the Oak Monster— like the last wine you tasted.
Good luck tonight Gary.

holy shit, gary on conan was too funny.

Hey Gary loved the Conan episode. I expect you’ll give us a full report tomorrow. Kudos!

Math: GaryV + Conan O’Brien = Awesomeness. That was great to watch.

Nice job tonight!!!! Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Looking forward to the report tomorrow……..later today.

Gary – the palate training with Conan had me crying. Seriously (my husband and my 15 year old were crying too!). Conan spitting the rock was as good as it gets. Good job Gary – you stayed real EVEN in the late night spotlight.