Sideways Uncorked: The Perfect Pairing of Film and Wine

Two stories unspool in Sideways Uncorked: the story behind Alexander Payne's modern movie classic adapted from a most unlikely source--an unpublished novel by a burnt-out ex-filmmaker and wine connoisseur Rex Pickett--and the world of Pinot Noir (and Merlot) winemaking before and after Sideways was released. For as Kirk and Mira Advani Honeycutt show, the movie was a pop-culture phenomenon that dramatically impacted the wine industry. Sideways Uncorked offers a tour of the lush Santa Barbara wine country that forms the iconic backdrop to Sideways, tracing the effect the story eventually had there and elsewhere. With ample narrative and special features (such as a wine lineup of recommendations from various wine regions), this is a one-of-a-kind illustrated book that will dazzle the palate of oenophiles and cinephiles alike.

Kirk Honeycutt is a longtime film critic, journalist, teacher, and author who wrote the biography John Hughes: A Life in Film (Race Point Publishing, 2015). He was a senior reporter and then chief film critic for The Hollywood Reporter for 20 years ending in 2012. Before that, he was chief film critic and feature writer for The Los Angeles Daily News for over seven years. He has contributed to The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Newsday, The San Francisco Chronicle, and magazines including Cosmopolitan and American Film. He taught several film courses at Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.

Mira Advani Honeycutt has more than 25 years of experience as a wine journalist. Presently she is the wine editor at 13 Stars Media, an Atascadero, California-based publishing house with a portfolio of 15 weekly and monthly publications. Her monthly column "Sip & Savor" focused on California's Central Coast wine region continues in the Paso Robles Press Magazine (print and digital), as well as additional wine articles in other 13 Stars Media publications. She is the contributing editor to The SOMM Journal and The Tasting Panel, a regular contributor to the Napa Valley Register and Sommelier India--The Wine Magazine based in New Delhi, India. Her articles on wine and film have been published in the Asian Tatler Group including the Hong Kong Tatler, The Hollywood Reporter and Los Angeles Magazine.

The couple lives in Paso Robles Wine Country on California's Central Coast.