"Not drinking fucking Merlot." My girlfriend's birthday gift (pics)
 

For my girlfriend's birthday, I decided to do something a little different. One of her favorite movies is "Sideways," so I decided to give her that experience. If you have never seen the movie, you are unlikely to get this.

Essentially, I drove her up PCH (both pugs in tow) to The Santa Ynez valley, scene of the movie. I chose a few spots that were famous locations from the movie and took her there. In most cases, I got things down to the exact tables and wine from the movie.

On an interesting note, Santa Ynez has long been considered one of the great wine country spots in the world, some believe better than Napa; however, it has taken the movie to really fuel the tourism aspect of it. Revenue has doubled for the town restaurants, hotels and merchants. You need reservations for practically everywhere.

Well, revenue has doubled all but for one winery, whereas they have lost a great portion of their business.

They grow Merlot.

Jack (to Miles outside Los Olivos Café before their dinner with Stephanie and Maya):

"And if they wanna drink merlot, we're drinkin' merlot."

Miles: "No. If anybody orders merlot, I'm leavin'. I am not drinkin' any fucking merlot!"

AJ's steakhouse.

This is the restaurant they ate at when Jack picks up the waitress. Jack gets caught in bed with the girl by her tow truck boyfriend. This later leads to Miles having to take Jack back to the scene and recover his wife's wedding ring.

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/ajs.jpg

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/ajs_1.jpg

The Hitching Post

This is the restaurant where Miles meets Maya, a waitress for the place. Not only did I get us the table that the scene was shot at, but I also ordered the Hitching Post Highliner Pinot Noir (the same wine Miles and Jack drink).

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/hitching-post_3.jpg

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/hitching-post_1.jpg


And that is how I woke up, "sideways."

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/highliner.jpg

Los Olivos Cafe and wine cellar

The night of their first dinner with Maya and Stephanie. Miles makes the drunken call to his ex-wife. The restaurant actually serves "The Sideways special." Yes, I had it.

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/los-olivos_6.jpg


http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/los-olivos_4.jpg

Tourist admire the wines.

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/los-olivos_5.jpg

The Sanford Winery

The first winery Miles and Jack visit. Miles tries to teach Jack how to taste wine.

"Are you chewing gum?"

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/sanford-winery.jpg

The Solvang Restaurant

The quaint Dutch town of Solvang is present throughout the movie, however, this restaurant gained notoriety for its scene whereas Jack and Miles have breakfast. The town is nearly like being in Europe at times, right down to the aebleskivers.

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/solvang-restaurant.jpg

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/solv...staurant_1.jpg

Cory I have not seen the hollywood movie; however, i like your version much better.....your romance is at an all time hi!



Mr. Romance

The Santa Ynez valley

The gorgeous countryside of central California, wine country. I tried to capture a little of it's immaculate lay of the land. The weather was gorgeous all days.

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/santa-ynez.jpg

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/santa-ynez_1.jpg

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/santa-ynez_10.jpg

The grapes lead you up to Firestone Winery.

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/santa-ynez_11.jpg


The dam at Lake Cachuma.

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/santa-ynez_3.jpg

cool! nice resto! one time i'll go there... lol!

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/santa-ynez_4.jpg

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/santa-ynez_5.jpg

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/santa-ynez_6.jpg

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/santa-ynez_7.jpg

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/santa-ynez_9.jpg

It gets hot in the country side of The Santa Ynez valley. They are very dog friendly, pretty much most hotels will allow dogs. Also, the town of Solvang (along with its' Dutch roots) loves having the dogs. You can bring them to almost any restaurant you like, so long as they have a patio.

Chloe takes a break underneath a water hose out by Lake Cachuma.

http://midgetarmy.com/santaynez/chloe.jpg

That was a great movie. So how was the wine? And, did you have any Merlot? ;)

my favourite wine is a chianti classico

italian red from Ruffino

I saw the movie in flight to somewhere, can't say I absolutely loved it, but once you were into it, it sort of dragged you along.:thumbsup Sounds like a nice trip to do :drinkup :drinkup

that's an awesome trip you took her on man, i bet that scored you some awesome brownie points! i loved sideways, so the pics are really cool to see.

I really liked that movie. Thanks for the pics.

Stephanie (at Kalyra Winery, to Miles, who has just sampled the estate chardonnay she poured for him): "So what do you think?"

Miles: "Mmm. Quaffable. But, uh, far from transcendent."

Jack: "I like it. Tastes great."

I love that movie, and great pics by the way

I hated that movie but love wine...the trip would have been awesome :thumbsup

see any smashed up saabs on the side of the road?

"It's a hard grape to grow. As you know. Right? It's, uh, it's thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It's, you know, it's not a survivor like cabernet, which can just grow anywhere and thrive even when it's neglected. No, pinot needs constant care and attention. You know? And, in fact, it can only grow in these really specific, little tucked-away corners of the world. And only the most patient and nurturing of growers can do it, really. Only somebody who really takes the time to understand pinot's potential can then coax it into its fullest expression."

My wife and I actually wanted to do that trip after seeing the movie (Great Movie BTW). Here is a map and info of the places they went to in that movie.

http://www.santabarbaraca.com/docs/sideways-map1.pdf

Nice post Cory.

Looks like an awesome trip! Definitely scored points with this trip. My girlfriends and I have been going up 2x a year (for Vintner's Weekend) for about 8 years now. Much more laid back than Napa.

Thanks for the pix...can hardly wait 'til our next trip in October!

We carried that map with us :)

You should do it, if you need any advice, let me know. We didn't do the Days Inn, we did the Marriot.

Did you rent a beat down red convertible Saab to complete the experience?

That's cool, I like that movie as well.


But that's pretty fucking sad that people actually don't drink merlot because of what a movie says. If you let movies pick your tastes for you, you have pretty serious problems.

haha...no....

How many days would you say is a good amount of time to spend on this trip? So I can plan it out. :upsidedow

We did three. But if you want to complete the circle, you do need five, just like the movie.

You wouldn't think there would be that much to do up there, but I could have stayed for months to be honest.

did you let her beat you with a motorcycle helmet?

that could be kinky....

Thank You! :thumbsup

There's absolutely nothing wrong with merlot. I thought that part was hilarious. The movie HAS gotten me to drink more pinot noir tho.

cool pics, and that movie is awesome

Sweet looking country pics. I love rolling hills like that.

great pics cory. looks like you had a good time

Nice pics Cory

thats an awesome birthday present...props to you for putting a lot of thought into it...

Solvang is Danish, not Dutch.. And the plural form of Aebleskiver is still Aebleskiver.. :-)

Nice pics.. :winkwink:

Wow.. What a great idea Cory! Makes me want to watch the movie with my fiance and do the same thing. :)

nice birthday present :thumbsup

hahaha i love that movie.

saw it this weekend again actually.

hahaha i love that movie.

saw it this weekend again actually.

That's right, didn't even notice that I said it to be honest.

I think if you see it a couple of times you will want to go.

The movie seems slow the first time through, but is compelling and humerous the second time through.

And you two would love the area. There is a lot more to it than just "Sideways," however, using that movie as a guide is great.

Thats one of me and my gf fav movies. We had plan to take that trip soon as well. Nice pics too! Could you e-mail me the addresses to the places? Would be much appreciated.

Get me your email address and I will.

Do you need recommendations on where to stay? Eat?

I pretty much got it all....

All that would help alot. Thanks. :thumbsup
[email protected]

amazing idea amazing trips

saw the movie but this looks a lot better :) and actually I love merlot

nice pics!

i love merlot too, sirah also.