It has been ten years since the release of the Movie "Sideways" which was the story of two guys who on a wine tour of the central coast propagated a theme of down playing the merits of Merlot and the wonders of Pinot  Noir.  It also played on the joys and pitfalls of over doing wine tasting. 
This movie proved to be a real vine shaking event, not only for the central coast, but national sales of Pinot Noir.
To mark the 10th anniversary of the Sideways movie many of the communities in the region from Oxnard, where the wine adventure opens, to Santa Maria where it ends are featuring showing of the movie as well as promotions by many  wineries and restaurants.
We have a CD of the movie, dusted it off, and looked at it  again.   We were not particularly impressed with the film on first viewing it and the rerun viewing in our den last week did nothing to change that original opinion.
However we were impressed on how well "Sideways" promoted not only the Pinot Noir varietal but also the wine industry as a whole. The movie also added to the popularity of wine tours and wine roads.    The 10th anniversary promotions show the impact still exists. 
Oxnard is using the movie as a promotion on how much the City has changed in a single decade with local wineries, restaurants and hotels involved in special pricing of wines, lodging and restaurant fare.  More on the Oxnard promotions can be learned by contacting the Oxnard Visitors Bureau at 805 395-7545, web at www.visitoxnard.com.
Many  of the central coast wineries are using their wine clubs for special "Sideways" promotions.