"It's good when it happens, but it's hard to engineer," Payne said.
In the wake of "Sideways," the impact on the wine industry is clear. Nielsen's numbers show that while pinot was surging, 2 percent fewer households bought merlot in the 12 weeks after the film's release last fall, though volume sales did tick up slightly.
(Fox Searchlight Pictures Via AP)
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It's understandable that the movie's effect was far more dramatic on the tiny pinot business than on merlot, which is such a dominant wine that the movie's attack was a bit like throwing stones at an ocean liner.
As to any harmful effect the movie has had on merlot, moviemaker Payne feels little responsibility. The anti-merlot quip in "Sideways" evokes such laughter in theaters, he said, that he thinks the film simply "gave voice to a feeling that had been rumbling around."
In fact, several wine industry observers say they aren't surprised that merlot has lost some of its "cool" factor.
"Merlot has had that coming for a while because there's too much of it," Gillespie said. "So many people have rushed into the market just because eight years ago everyone said, 'Here's the transition wine for white-wine drinkers.' "
Gable's Chest
Now what should merlot producers do? Should they just sit back and assume the public relations hit the wine has taken won't snowball?
"My question, and I don't know the answer, is how long this "Sideways" effect is going to last," said Penn, the editor of Wine Business Monthly.
Some makers are feeling pretty confident. Duckhorn Wine Co. has gotten more positive press since "Sideways" came out because so many wine critics have written stories "about merlots that are good," said spokeswoman Belinda Weber.
"There was a little nervousness about what that movie is going to do to merlot," she said. But she said any trouble spots are more likely to be among less-expensive varieties in supermarkets "where people might go in and choose pinot instead of merlot."
