Pinot Noir Still Hot?

Filed in archive Wine News on January 24, 2007

After the movie Side Ways, we all know what happened to the little red wine called Pinot Noir - It jumped big time in popularity. I admit that it wasn't on my regular list of wines to drink until after that movie. But, I have never been as much of a wine aficionado as our hero, Miles. I like what I like.

So, what is the state of Pinot Noir today? Is it in? Out? Hot? Or not?

According to Mark Nothaft, it still has got "it," whatever "it" is:

With everyone gulping down dark and inky shiraz and zinfandel from California's central coast, it had me wondering what the state of pinot noir is in the marketplace.

The lighter-styled luscious red, after all, was responsible for putting the region outside of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo on the wine-drinking map a few years ago with those two knuckleheads Jack and Miles running around the area in the movie "Sideways."

Obscure and inexpensive Sanford brand pinot noir, Miles' drink of choice, seemingly tripled in price soon after the film's release. The stuff used to cost less than $10. ACNielsen sales data from national supermarket, drug and liquor store sales six months after the movie's release showed a 16 percent year over year increase in pinot noir sales. In California, sales spiked 30 percent.

But that was nearly two years ago. The film has gone to DVD, and Paul Giamatti has morphed from a lovable loser to boxing trainer to Fred Claus (as in, Santa's brother). Should pinot noir be tossed out with last week's Star magazine?

"I think pinots in general have sparked a lot of people's attention," says Mark Nowicki, owner of D'Vine Wine Bar and Bistro in east Mesa. "We're still selling quite a bit of it. People are getting to know it, and we're finding smaller boutique pinot noir (to put on the shelves)."