White Zin saved Trinchero empire, or rather, set it on its way. All by making a huge mistake while making Zinfandel one day and ending up with a sea of blush Zin. Some quick thinking on marketing level said, "Voila, we can market this as WHITE Zinfandel", the rest is history.

Zin has never been a market leader in any form, even if you include white zin sales (which are HUGE, true), mainstream varietals have ruled the roost forever with Chard still number 1. And yes, Merlot at number 2 and increasing sales year to year.
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Forgot to add that it is eye opening to me just how many people are surprised when I start pouring a bottle of Zinfandel and they go: "Why is this wine RED?" When I tell them its a red grape they think I am joking...
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been drinking almost anything i can get my hands on. Sadly MI has a stupid shipping law for wines and we don't get a whole lot. But since i'm so new to it i'm still "in the weeds" trying to figure out what exactly i like and what i don't. So far i'm a whore for anything made by BV. When i went wine tasting out in cali during my vacation my mother and I went out to BV to do a tasting and they are the ones who i blame for getting me hooked on red wines.
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best place to start is winespectator.com. cellartracker.com is a good site as well.

Good luck!!! This slip is just as hard as cigars. Both very expensive habits but sooooooo fun.
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i am NOT drinking any f*cking merlot!
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Let me ask you if you understood the point of the movie? Sadly, about 1% of the people got it, all serious wine geeks.

So, what was it?
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loaded question there. You need to make it more specific. From which point of view do you want me to give my perspective? In reference to the main character self medicating trying to forget the ex? Or some overlying tone of now is the perfect time? or something as simple as thomas hayden church can still rock the screen? i don.t think you can just say "the point of the movie is" without making it relative to something. but i'll tell you one thing. That 61 chevel was drank exactly how it should've been.
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if you just want to look at the main character, he does know his wine but user it as a crutch to deal with his midlife crisis instead of enjoyment of a well made product as most other characters in the movie do. It's a complete contradiction to what the wine hobby is all about. i don.t believe he is a wine connosieur, but an alcoholic who prefers to drink wine.
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that being said, I.m very drunk off a frei brothers chard that - as fate would have it - I.m drinking by myself since the girlfriend fell asleep shortly after opening.
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+1 more wine for you!
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I.m not complaining! Though a hang over thread may be in order tomorrow.
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:-) i'm lucky, my hangovers consist of nothing more then the brain dead. a bad one is a little sick to the stomach and a head ache but nothing more.

Knock on wood.
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Irony/Sarcasm/Self denial Point:

Mies most prized possession, a bottle of Cheval Blanc is not even made from Pinot Noir, its made in Bordeaux (Pinot is not even grown there). Worse yet, Cheval Blanc is made from 2 different grapes, Cabernet Franc and yes, MERLOT.

Not mocking nor picking on anyone, the movie script should/could have been better done to at least explain this to movie goers. As is, almost no one got the real point save for remembering the "I won't drink no fffing Merlot!" catch phrase.

The movie has done great harm to Pinot Noir producers AND consumers when all of a sudden wineries who looked down at Pinot Noir (think Napa wineries and their "Pinot is crap" mantra for decades) and then jumped in making very expensive and sub-par Pinot only because it caught traction in the market place. Quality, in general, went down while prices went up and these days you really need to know what you're buying (Pinot wise) as opposed to having almost no bad Pinot Noir wines on retail shelves prior to when the movie came out. Oh well...
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I've always been a cab guy myself. Good to know about the goof in the plotline.although i most seriously doubt that was the point of the movie.
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Oh, forgot to add that in regard to the post above saying "... main character knows wine...", the ending obviously says otherwise (and hopefully my comment above explains that).

Drinking a $600 bottle out of a paper cup from under the table WAS classic, though...
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OK, then, what was?
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People with interesting hobbies can still be miserable self absorbed know it all pricks.
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Just as CA has turned out a ton of cheap Merlot, they have made many excellent ones too. Stags Leap is 1st brand I think of that has great Merlot in general. Merlot as you mentioned is a base grape in BDX. I am fan of Cab Franc too! Not so many are fans of straight Cab Franc wines; leave them for me!

Many of the joke in Sideways probably escaped 90% of the movie goers.
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Take off the skirt and start drinking Port! :-)


First investment should be in nice proper wine glasses, a decanter, a few yards of cheese cloth.

World of wine is so huge, it's hard to make a suggestion, but tackling wine country by country, region by region will keep continuity at least.
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If you take off your pants and throw in Tequila it's a partay.

I occasionally drink Pinot Noir and Zinfandel, but I don't make a habit out of it since I have no wine buddy and that means that whenever I buy a bottle, it probably will be finished by one person in one sitting.
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