By George Anderson
Sideways, the Academy Award nominated film about a couple of guys consuming mass quantities of wine while on a road trip along California's central coast, is being credited with substantially boosting the sales of local wineries in the area.
Pinot noir sales jumped sharply after the movie opened last year with sales up 16 percent, according to supermarket, drug and liquor store sales data from ACNielsen.
George Christie, brand manager at the Wild Horse winery, said his company has seen supermarket sales of its pinot noir jump 135 per cent.
"You just don't get those kind of jumps," he told the Canadian Press. "The central coast has been producing some incredible wines for quite some time. I think it's fabulous that a movie like this comes along and now people are trying the wines out."
Moderator's Comment: Do you agree that the increase in pinot noir sales can be tied directly to Sideways? Have you been influenced to purchase a product after seeing it in a movie or television show?
Okay, we admit it. We went to White Castle for the first time in years after renting Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. - George Anderson - Moderator