When Sideways opened in four theaters on October 22, 2004, no one expected the film to linger much beyond that year’s awards season. The movie did very well in its opening weekend, grossing a little over $200,000 and scoring the highest per-screen average in the market. And it had legs. Word of mouth helped expand the film to become a hit for Fox Searchlight, crossing over from art house theaters to multiplex screens nationwide in what proved to be a 30-week theatrical run. An Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and Golden Globe for Best Picture—Comedy or Musical punctuated a successful $71.5 million run. The film’s true cultural impact, however, would be felt well beyond cinema screens for years to come.
Fifteen years on, the wine world is still recovering from what has been called the “Sideways Effect,” when consumers took note of the protagonist’s strong affinity for pinot noir and even stronger aversion to merlot. News reports went on to document a dramatic uptick in the sales and production of pinot noir grapes in the United States, while merlot suffered under the weight of Paul Giamatti’s infamous line in the film: “I am not drinking any fu-xxxx-ng merlot!”