Take a Sideways Tour, and Relive the Adventure of Miles and Jack

By Carol Johnson

Santa Barbara’s lush and fertile wine country is the setting for the 2004 Academy Award-winning film Sideways, which was a huge hit for an independent film. The landscape itself was probably the biggest star in the picture, grabbing most of on-screen time and drawing viewer’s admiration and envy even more than the film’s celebrity stars. Now fans of the film can taste their way through the Santa Barbara Wine Country traveling in the footsteps of Miles (Paul Giamatti) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church) on their road trip saluting Jack’s final days of bachelorhood.

The comedically mismatched pair of longtime friends had little in common other than their history as college roommates and the shared regrets of disappearing youth and missed potentials, but they decide that a road trip in search of wine and women is just what they need to dispel fears of a mid-life crisis. They soon find themselves drowning in both wine and women, and after a dizzying ride through glasses of pinot noir, and wistful conversations about future dreams and past yearnings, they must return to their lives. But the blissful headiness of their wine country safari will stay with them forever, as it will for everyone who saw and loved the film.

Special Sideways tour packages are available from the Santa Barbara Conference & Visitors Bureau and Film Commission. Santa Barbara is one of California’s premier wine touring and tasting destinations. Situated 29 miles northwest of Santa Barbara, the Santa Ynez and Santa Maria Valleys encompass a microclimate that is uniquely suited to growing a wide variety of robust grapes. The area boasts the warm, sunny days and cool evenings required for grapes to grow to their full potential, buffered by cool ocean breezes from the Pacific that keep yields low but quality high. The growing of grapes for wine in this area began more than 200 years ago, when Spanish missionaries brought in the first grapevines from Mexico. Today, wine is the largest agricultural industry in Santa Barbara County.

The Conference and Visitors Bureau provides a self-guided tour map of the area that features 18 of the locations highlighted in the film, including restaurants and wineries. The map is free for the asking by calling 1-805-966-9222, or you can download a PDF file of it from the Bureau’s website. You can also enjoy two new bicycle tours of the locations featured in the film. Most wine-tasting rooms at local wineries are open daily except on major holidays. Wineries have picnic areas available to the public, but not all offer tours. If a winery does not have a tasting room onsite, their wines may be available for sampling at restaurants or stores. For a free map with current specifics on winery hours, varietals, tours, and information on nearby hotels and restaurants, contact the Santa Barbara County Vintner’s Association at 805-688-0881, or you can download a copy from their website.

Come to Santa Barbara where Miles and Jack careened sideways, and enjoy your own taste of wine country!