A true love letter to the ever fickle Pinot grape this book intertwines the histories of film making and the California wine industry.

It gives you a back stage pass to how the book and movie both came to be as well as the spotlight it shone on the Pinot wine regions.

Suggestions of wine from California to France were a fun bonus. Especially for the ever complicated Burgundy wines.

As a fan of both the book and the movie 20 years ago, I loved the back stories of the major players involved.

Now I’m going to go grab a glass of Pinot and rewatch Sideways.

Thanks, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers | Applause, for the advance review copy via NetGalley. (Available 5 Nov 24)

My emotional connection to the Central Coast of California runs deep. In my 20s I made lifelong friends while stationed there with the US Air Force. Our daughter was born there. In my 30s, I returned to command a squadron - a highlight of my entire career. So many events and people were key to who I am as a person. Through it all, there runs a river of amazing wine. The area, the culture, the people, the air…it’s steeped in it.

When the quirky, darkly funny movie “Sideways” surprised the awards season in 2004-2005, many others discovered the uniquely gorgeous area, and tourism and the wine industry felt the effects. Interspersed with California wine and winery recommendations, this book details the timeline, starting with the history of the wine industry in California, from missions through prohibition, the writing of the novel that sparked the screenplay, the making of the movie, and the impacts it had on all those involved.

It gave me a better appreciation for a movie I already loved and the wonderful wines from the area. “This is where the coast meets the vines, vines that are influenced by soil, shaped by wind, cooled by fog, and kissed by the sun. Vineyards here are planted in a unique seabed soil rich with fossilized shells and marine shale that gives the wines a razor-sharp minerality, the result of an ancient collision of the Pacific and Continental plates.”

If you loved the movie or are just curious about what made it and the area it highlights uniquely wonderful, definitely get your hands on this book!