Not Merlot!

Even after A.O. Scott called it the most overrated film of the year (one of the most perceptive pieces about criticism I’ve read — I think it shows just how many great layers the movie has; a film for critics, destined to be critically praised — a triple-meta treat!), The City section reports how Alexander Payne’s Sideways has affected sales of Pinot Noir in Manhattan — affected them big time:

For a holiday dinner, a young salesman at Union Square Wine and Spirits named Kenneth Posner had his eye on Cristom Vineyards’s pinot noir, an Oregon wine that reminded him of the French Burgundies he adores. But after stepping out for a short break, he was dismayed to return and discover that the shop had just sold out of it. “I had to lower my sights and settle for something else,” Mr. Posner recalled the other day, still sounding a little stung. “A non-pinot, even.”

Imagine.

In recent weeks, the store’s employees have come to expect such brisk pinot action. Since the decidedly pro-pinot movie “Sideways” opened in October, the grape has ruled wine-soaked regions of Manhattan. By the end of the year, with “Sideways” popping up on many critics’ Top Ten lists, retailers and restaurateurs began to suspect they were experiencing a trend with legs. Suddenly, pinot, a fragile and difficult-to-harvest grape, was selling in unusually high quantities as the “Sideways” effect rippled through the city.

The Union Square store, for example, sold 100 cases of pinot in one week before Christmas. During the same period a year ago, it sold 50 cases. “People who’ve seen ‘Sideways’ can’t help but be curious about pinot,” said Jesse Salazar, the store’s wine director. “The way they talk about it in the movie, it’s like this mystical thing in a bottle.”

And never — never! — let it be said that New Yorkers aren’t shallow:

In an industry dominated by small companies that are tight-lipped about disclosing financial information, it is hard to determine exactly how much pinot has been sold citywide of late. But at Martin Scott Wines, a major local distributor, pinot noir sales were up an estimated 20 percent in 2004 over 2003, with some customers requesting the exact Santa Barbara-area wine – the Hitching Post’s Highliner – that was featured in the movie.

Other New Yorkers go even further. “Some customers walked in and asked for a soft tannin, like it was a new term,” said Chuck Simeone, the corporate beverage director for Jean-Georges Enterprises, describing a recent scene at V Steakhouse, a restaurant in the Time Warner Center that his company manages. When the sommelier directed them to the merlot section, the customers said: “Not a merlot! Not a merlot!” But when he pointed them toward the pinots, their reaction was: “Ah, yes, pinot! That’s it.'”