Boutique wine's recent tipping point

We saw Sideways about a week ago, which was a very good movie getting a ton of acclaim now that award season is upon us. The story is about two guys. One is getting married in a week and as a send off his friend takes him on a tour of wine country as a final hurrah. I'll put aside my own review, as there are plenty of those out and about now. The more interesting part of the movie, to me, is that the whole story uses wine as a metaphor - for the characters, for the story, for the plot, etc. Wine becomes a plot device and the central binding theme throughout the movie. And if you've seen it, you've probably come out desperate to try some of the wines they describe - because the descriptions are so enticing and evocative.

Well, rest assured - you are not alone. Thanks to Sideways, the wine producers of California (especially those of Pinot Noir, the finicky varietal that serves as the metaphor for Paul Giamatti's character in the movie) are enjoying a huge Sideways-inspired boom. There was an excellent story on this on NPR's marketplace - proving, once again, that product placement is an excellent way to hawk your product. Malcolm Gladwell has an excellent book talking about "Tipping Points" - where something goes from semi-big to huge thanks to one event - a tipping point. I think Sideways could very well serve as the tipping point for boutique wines in America.