Director Alexander Payne on ‘Sideways,’ 20 Years Later

Paul Giamatti sn’t nearly as amused as fans think he will be when they send him over bottles of Merlot in restaurants. And, after two decades of hearing it—sometimes yelled in his face at great volume—the Sideways star could definitely do without people repeating the film’s iconic line to him. Giamatti isn’t even all that into wine, but Alexander Payne, the film’s director, says he couldn’t see anyone else in the role. In fact, according to Rex Pickett, the author of the novel that served as its basis, production had stalled until Payne finally found his Miles in Giamatti. Payne and Giamatti teamed up again in last year’s gem, The Holdovers. “I would do anything that guy wants me to do, anytime,” Giamatti said to Deadline of Payne. “He’s one of the greatest American directors alive…I’ll do anything he wants.”

We asked the Academy Award-winning filmmaker to look back on Merlot and more, two decades after the making of his iconic movie.

Alexander Payne, seen here on location in Santa Ynez, chose to shoot Sideways on 35mm / Image Courtesy of Picture Lux, The Hollywood Archive / Alamy Stock Photo / Photo by Merie W Wallace

How has your interest in wine changed or evolved since you made Sideways?

Payne: Before making the movie, I’d been interested in wine mostly as an extension of an interest in cooking. Then, just like Maya, I was forever marked by one particular bottle—a 1988 Sassicaia shared with my then-girlfriend’s family in Florence in 1991. I was thirty and had drunk some pretty
good wine but hadn’t known wine could taste that good. What Sideways did for my knowledge of wine was to take me out of the wine store and magazines like yours and get to know farmers and winemakers. I came to respect and admire the entire process.

Paul Giamatti is so associated with Miles. It’s almost impossible to imagine someone else
playing the role. Was anyone else considered for the role?

Payne: Once I had auditioned Paul Giamatti in New York City, I had no one else in mind for the part, even as actors more well-known than he at the time were expressing interest. One other actor who made a strong impression on me in an audition was Ty Burrell, later the star of Modern Family.

Image Courtesy of FOX Searchlight Via Maximum Film / Alamy Stock Photography

You used the wine industry as a way to poke and prod at elitist attitudes. If you were tackling similar territory today, what industry might you look at instead?

Payne: Cheese.

What’s the most significant way in which your relationship with the film industry has changed since Sideways?

Payne: I’d say that the unexpected success of Sideways, its Oscar nomination and our winning one for screenwriting helped make my cowriter Jim Taylor and me “made guys.” Don’t get me wrong—finding financing for movies is always hard, only degrees of how hard. But I think I can attest that I never started smoking the Hollywood crack pipe. I was never attracted to making increasingly “big” films, although I’m not opposed to it—it all depends on the screenplay and its requirements. Now, 20 years later, I’m still striving to make basically the same kind of movie—human comedy-dramas with
good, unusual stories and rich characters. I think it’s very nice that the movie I have out in theaters now, 20 later, also stars Paul Giamatti.

On the set of Sideways, Alexander Payne (Center) shows cast members Paul Giamatti, Virginia Madsen and sandra Oh a wine book. / Image Courtesy of Movie Store Collection LTD / Alamy Stock Photo

How do you feel about the very real effect the film had on the wine industry and wine tastes? Is it something you gave much thought to over the years?

Payne: I could never in a million years have foreseen the impact that movie would have on the wine industry, probably more for wine awareness and consumption than just for the Merlot-Pinot thing. I think it was likely a matter of timing—the film came out at a time when bourgeois wine awareness in America was already burgeoning, so it squarely hit the zeitgeist in that way.

Do Pinot producers still send you free bottles in gratitude?

Payne: No, dammit. Turns out winemakers are pretty cheap. The only guy who still gives me a case of wine when I see him is Frank Ostini of the Hitching Post. Whenever I dine there, he’ll typically walk me out to the car with a mixed case. The only other perk I sometimes get is that when I’m dining out with fancy people, they hand me the wine list and tell me I’m free to pick. Usually, I call over the sommelier and ask for recommendations. After all, I know what I would pick, but I want to learn and try something new.

Do you have a go-to wine varietal these days?

Payne: For taste and budget, I default to Spanish reds—always delicious, always easy on the wallet. For Italian wines, I often default to Sicily, both reds and whites. With age, I’ve come to treasure the tremendous versatility of rosé. You don’t have to ask your guests red or white, it goes with a
great variety of food, and I’m astonished by the plethora of varietals used. Oh, I almost forgot: One very specific red varietal I often enjoy, when well done, is Cabernet Franc.

Image Courtesy of FOX Searchlight Via Maximum Film / Alamy Stock Photography

What’s the last bottle you imbibed?

Payne: Funny you should ask. In 2008, three buddies and I—we’d all attended UCLA film school together—used my Sideways connections to buy a ton of great Pinot grapes from Fiddlehead Cellars’ vineyard [in Lompoc, California]. We got the call one day that they were being picked, and the
next morning we bombed up there from L.A. and returned with a truck full of restaurantgrade plastic garbage cans brimming with grape juice. We matured it in a two-year-old French oak barrel at an apartment in Santa Monica, and two years later had a big bottling party. Each of us cleared about eight cases—most of it’s gone by now, but I still have some left. I popped a bottle recently, and damn, it’s drinking really nicely—15 years later!

Why was Merlot singled out by Miles in that now-infamous scene?

Payne: It had been in the book. The choice for Merlot was simple: Back then, it was the over-produced, over-marketed, over-consumed flabby wine. When asked to order at a restaurant, people with little idea about red wines would stammer, “Merlot.” But I never, ever could have imagined that one little joke in the movie—one line—would enter popular culture. I guess it hit a chord. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the movie, and at any celebratory events, I’m going to insist we serve only Merlot.

Do you feel bad about what happened to Merlot producers after the film?

Payne: No. See above. Plus, now Pinot has become the over-produced, over-marketed, over-consumed flabby wine. What goes around comes around. Personally, I like Merlot. You know, good Merlot. Good anything.

This article originally appeared in the April 2024 of Wine Enthusiast magazine. Click here to subscribe today!

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