A drink with... Rex Pickett

Twenty years after the Academy Awardwinning film Sideways released, and its Pinot Noir-loving protagonist Miles Raymond uttered his now-infamous line – ‘I am not drinking any f***ing Merlot!’ – the author of the then-unpublished manuscript optioned for the film by director Alexander Payne reflects on the film’s impact. ‘The Sideways effect’, as it was dubbed, led to increased American Pinot Noir plantings and decreased consumption of value-priced Merlot wines. Pickett’s book was published by St Martin’s Press months before the movie debuted. In 2018, his stage adaptation of Sideways opened. And Blackstone Publishing has just released Sideways: New Zealand, with a post-Sideways trilogy to follow.

‘I was living in Los Angeles as a broke writer when I ventured to the Santa Ynez Valley to play golf with my friend Roy.

I was getting into wine, spending my Saturdays in LA at a place called Epicurus. But I couldn’t afford to bring expensive bottles to the after-parties that spilled out after the wine tastings. I felt excluded.

‘But in Santa Ynez, it was casual and fun. Roy encouraged me to write a screenplay about our trips. The screenplay didn’t work, so I wrote it as a novel instead. The title Sideways is in the dialogue. Jack says to Miles in the opening scene, ‘Give me the keys, brother, you’re sideways’. It’s rare British slang for drunk.

‘I remember, in screenings, how hard people laughed at the Merlot line. I didn’t get why they thought it was so funny. I still don’t. But I love that they love it.

‘I wanted Miles to believe in something. I love Pinot Noir, and so I hyperbolised my passion. His love for Pinot Noir is exaggerated but genuine. And it carried over to movie-goers. They had to know what this obsession was all about. Many people told me that after seeing the film, they drove to the nearest wine shop and said, “Do you have any Pinot Noir?”

‘Two weeks before the film was to begin principal photography, Frank Ostini, owner of The Hitching Post restaurant and bar that featured in it, somehow got hold of the entire script. He was appalled. He called an emergency session of the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association. He told them the script romanticised alcohol abuse and would be terrible for their emerging wine region and recommended they move to shut the production down! Chaos ensued. They wanted changes. Payne wasn’t going to change anything, especially not just before shooting.

‘There was fallout. Some wineries, much to their regret later, dropped out from being a location. Ostini had to be placated because his restaurant had had weeks of work done on it to prepare for shooting. I called him up. I said, “Frank, you’re not in the mineral water business. People get drunk up there. Don’t be a hypocrite.” In the end, Payne talked him out of the tree, and the rest is history.

‘The impact the film had on the Santa Ynez Valley was immense. The movie made wine tasting hip. Now, 20 years on, I’m living in Napa, I’m looking down the road, and Miles is due for an anniversary trip to Santa Ynez. He has scores to settle from his wounded wayward days.’

To read the full interview by Jonathan Cristaldi, visit decanter.com