My latest article is up over at Wine Sediments, In Defense of Merlot . Give it a read and get the scoop on why Miles from Sideways is actually a Merlot drinking hypocrite...

Episode 29: Merlot Madness In this installment of 'A Guy, a Girl, and a Bottle' wine podcast, Joe visits San Francisco to attend a seminar on Merlot and an attempt to restore the good character and decent name of this intriguing varietal after the damage that the movie 'Sideways' has inflicted upon the much maligned merlot. Chris Phelps and Stu Harrison of Swanson vineyards present...

[Link: "Sideways...

Readers of my personal blog know I’ve been checking out Hulu this morning, NBC’s video streaming service. While browsing the selection of programs one last time I noticed they had Sideways posted. It’s the full-screen version but it looks pretty nice in full screen mode on my Macbook. So if you don’t have this movie on DVD, just watch it below (sorry, Hulu is U.S. only right now so folks...

"Sideways Country" listed among top five wine-tasting weekends by Women's Day online . I'm sometimes asked whether it makes sense to operate a wine club under the "Sideways" brand, almost ... Laura Kath , who manages P.R. for Santa Ynez Valley Visitor's Association (Sideways Country). "The "Sideways" effect keeps on giving! This article is now online - a "photo travelogue" featuring Santa...

Because my blog and webstore show up on a lot of Sideways-related searches (not by accident, I ... were shown in Sideways?" Sideways was produced as an independent film, and had no budget for product ... Press "The Sideways Guide to Wine and Life" ($6.95 at our store and elsewhere), I've identified a few additional wines as well... The Wines of Sideways: Byron , 1992 Sparkling Wine (sadly, Byron...

This past weekend saw the opening of our much-heralded wine bar - "Tastes of the Valleys (a Sideways Wine Bar) " in Solvang. Solvang is the epicenter of Santa Barbara County's wine country, bordered on the West by the famed Santa Rita Hills appelation, on the North by Santa Maria Valley appellation (including the Bien Nacido Vineyard) and on the East by Santa Ynez Valley. "We had a great...

I finally broke down and read this book by Rex Pickett. During the first few chapters my reaction was 'ho-hum, it's just like the movie." But after a few chapters, as relationships deepened, I really began to get into it.    Paso Robles was only briefly mentioned in the movie, ...

... a struggling brewery. I was quite surprised by some of the ones I have seen that made the list. Sideways...

Sideways, the Academy Award winning film that has been both a positive and negative for the industry, has inspired a new wine bar in Santa Barbara County, entitled “Tastes of the Valleys, a Sideways wine bar.” The new spot will begin by featuring various Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays and Rhone varietals from 15 Central Valley producers. The bar will also provide visitors with a Sideways map...