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Celebrity in a bottle

Jay Morrissey, left, drinks a glass of Hartley Ostini 2002 Hitching Post Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir as Gary Marcaletti, proprietor of The San Francisco Wine Trading Co., pours a glass of the wine. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press
Jay Morrissey, left, drinks a glass of Hartley Ostini 2002 Hitching Post Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir as Gary Marcaletti, proprietor of The San Francisco Wine Trading Co., pours a glass of the wine. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

BERKELEY, Calif. — “Sideways,” the movie about two guys, a road trip and a whole lot of wine, may be sending pinot noir sales upward.

Pinot noir, the relatively obscure red wine beloved by the movie’s snobby but sweet character Miles, has been experiencing a gentle upswing in popularity for some years. But the numbers jumped sharply after “Sideways” opened last fall, according to supermarket, drug and liquor store sales data from ACNielsen.

Pinot noir sales reached 370,000 cases for the 12 weeks ending Jan. 15, up nearly 16 percent from the same period a year ago, according to an ACNielsen analysis to be released Monday.

Interestingly, domestic pinot noir was driving growth whereas a year ago both foreign and domestic pinot noir sales were growing. In California, the sales spike was higher, 33 percent.

Danny Brager, vice president of ACNielsen Beverage Alcohol Team, said in a news release that it’s difficult to quantify the movie’s exact impact but “it looks like more than a coincidence that this varietal’s sales have been stronger than ever since the movie’s release.”

Vintners and wine store owners say they’ve definitely noticed the “Sideways” effect.

At the Wild Horse winery on California’s Central Coast, the region where the movie is set, supermarket sales of pinot noir jumped 135 percent, to 480 cases, for the four weeks ending Jan. 15.

“You just don’t get those kind of jumps,” said George Christie, brand manager. “The Central Coast has been producing some incredible wines for quite some time. I think it’s fabulous that a movie like this comes along and now people are trying the wines out.”