If you follow the world of wine, you’re likely hearing a lot about the 20th anniversary of the movie Sideways. About how Alexander Payne’s 2004 film “changed the American relationship to wine,” how it caused the production of Pinot Noir in California to rise more than 170 percent, and how it spurred total wine production in California almost 10 percent in the decade after the film’s release. And, of course, how it depressed the market for American Merlot (boo hoo). Above all, there’s talk about the long tail of the so-called Sideways Effect, something that’s been studied by universities and trade associations. The conventional wisdom is that the Sideways Effect has been a great thing—and still is a great thing—for wine.

I do not agree with the conventional wisdom. The Sideways Effect may have been positive in the decade or so after the movie was first released. But two decades later, the Sideways Effect—its narrative, messaging, and tropes on wine—is a lingering negative.

How is it that this 20-year-old movie—one that hasn’t aged well, if we’re being honest—is still the most recognizable cultural reference point for wine? I wonder how many people have rewatched Sideways in 2024. Did we really find Paul Giamatti’s character, Miles—an insufferable, alcoholic wine snob with anger issues who steals money from his aging mother—likeable at one time? Is it a surprise that he fumbles his chance with Virginia Madsen’s gorgeous and deep Maya—for that matter, what did she ever see in him? At the very least, in our current cultural moment, one might think that wine people are seeking a less bro-ey, male-centric narrative.

Wine people tend to cite Miles’ monologue about Pinot Noir for its poignancy. But read this purple prose, and see how it has infected wine writing over the past two decades:

“It’s a hard grape to grow, as you know. Right? It’s thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It’s not a survivor like Cabernet, which can just grow anywhere and uh, 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, 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. Then, I mean, oh its flavors, they’re just the most haunting and brilliant and thrilling and subtle and . . . ancient on the planet.”

I still hear or read some version of this speech all the time in wine communications. It’s become cliché. A rewatching of Sideways shows how trapped we are in this sort of wine talk. Consider, for instance, the way that Miles schools Jack (played by Thomas Hayden Church) at their first tasting, giving him cringey tasting notes: “A little citrus. Maybe some strawberry. Passion fruit . . . and there’s just, like, the faintest soupçon of like . . . asparagus. And there’s just a flutter of, like, a nutty Edam cheese.” The scene is surely meant to show how ridiculous Miles is. But tell me this isn’t the type of wine discourse that most people have now taken for granted in tasting rooms, in classes, and at wine dinners.

In 2019, VinePair published a piece entitled, “Movies Come and Go, but the ‘Sideways’ Effect Seems to Last Forever,” which hinted at this. The article called Sideways “a movie that, more than anything, made us casual drinkers all feel a little inferior about our ability to understand the nuances of serious wine appreciation.”

What Sideways actually did, with Miles as its protagonist, was to normalize the rhetoric of the wine snob. Now, Miles’ myopic, joyless bloviating—presumably meant to demonstrate his sad-man character flaws—is what normal, everyday people expect to find when they now enter wine spaces. I cannot be the only one who sees this as mostly bad for wine? I do not want to live in a wine world where Miles is the default anymore, and a lot of people feel the same way.

Look, Sideways is not a bad movie. It won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay and a Golden Globe for best comedy. The performances by Giamatti, Madsen, Church, and Sandra Oh are great. Like most wine fans, I loved it when it came out. But the wine world needs to move on.

Why? Well, in case you haven’t heard, the wine industry is in crisis. It’s reported that young people hate wine and aren’t drinking it. Everyone is pointing fingers over why: fewer people than ever are drinking; more people enjoy weed on a daily basis than wine; traditional wine education is said to be too boring and uncool; wine media is boomerish and out of touch. But the biggest reason cited over and over again is this: wine is too snobby and complicated, a ladder of prestige to study and climb.

The Sideways way of talking about and experiencing wine—let’s call it the curse of Miles—it just ain’t working any more.