February 8, 2019

What Makes Wine Sexy?

In honor of Galentine’s Day and Valentine’s Day, Karen MacNeil is asking the big question: What makes wine sexy? Watch as Karen interviews some of the top women in the wine industry about what they think makes wine so irresistibly, deliciously, undeniably sexy. And tell us your thoughts at [email protected].

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The title of the film Sideways (about two single men’s adventures on a road trip through wine country), refers to:

A. The fact that the men often drink so much, they’re “sideways”

B. The fact that the wine valleys where the film takes place run east-west

C. The fact that the men are such screw-ups, their lives and careers are “sideways”

D. The fact that there’s a lot of unconventional sex in the film

While the protagonists of the film, Miles and Jack, are certainly screw-ups, the title actually refers to geology. Thanks to millennia of shifting by tectonic plates off the mid- and northern-California coast, most of the state’s wine valleys run essentially north-south. But the Santa Maria and Santa Ynez Valleys in Santa Barbara County where the film takes place run east-west. Because the western ends are open to the Pacific Ocean, the two coastal valleys act as big wind tunnels funneling cold air inland from the Pacific. Thus, even though the valleys are in the southern, theoretically warmer part of the state, they have some of the coolest temperatures. This makes them ideal regions for grape varieties that thrive in cool environments—notably pinot noir. The 2004 cult film Sideways was named for this fact.

“It’s like Audrey Hepburn in the perfect little black dress. It’s not just a black dress—it’s a perfectly-lined black dress, with the perfect strand of pearls, the wrap, the whole thing. It’s not fancy, it’s not overdone. In winemaking, I do that. I don’t make blousy wines. I don’t make wines that are heavily out front. I make wines that you need to pay attention to.”

—Eileen Crane, CEO and Chief Winemaker at Domaine Carneros who retired after 33 years, on her winemaking style.

What Makes Wine Sexy?

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