....."Sideways," the independent film about two friends' escapades while wine tasting along California's Central Coast, jumped from a niche film to a hit over the last few months. As the film's popularity rose by word of mouth, interest in wine, and especially in pinot noir, is also gaining momentum. The quirky movie directed by Alexander Payne is up for seven Golden Globe awards; winners will be announced Sunday. Beyond its unexpected success, "Sideways" may make history as the first film to use a grape to explore character development. The hero Miles, played by Paul Giamatti, tells the woman he's trying to seduce that he likes pinot because it's sensitive, a little temperamental, subtle, sometimes great, and sometimes a flop. "Only the most patient and faithful and caring growers can do it, can access pinot's fragile, delicate qualities," he says. As the story progresses and the two men sniff and swirl their way from winery to winery, it becomes apparent that Miles is really describing himself.

Miles isn't alone in his enthusiasm. "I love pinot noir," says Len Rothenberg, who owns Federal Wine & Spirits near Downtown Crossing. Rothenberg saw the movie recently and says he thought "the parts that came out of Miles's mouth were right on. When pinot is good, it's sublime. When it's bad, it's mediocre in the worst sense." Pinot noir has a built-in sense of mystery. Americans, or at least those not well versed in wine, tend to associate pinot noir with California or maybe Oregon, says Rothenberg; they don't realize that French Burgundies are 100 percent pinot noir

When you drink a great pinot from Burgundy, says the wine merchant, "you appreciate it the same way you do a work of art." He chuckles at how much he sounds like the movie character. The wine's greatness is in its balance, integrating the qualities that show the soil of the growing region and the plot with the pleasurable elements of the flavors. "With Burgundy, you can actually taste different flavors from soils, different vineyards," Rothenberg says.

American pinots aren't the same as French, mostly because our West Coast climate tends to be warmer than Burgundy. As Giamatti muses in the film, American wines can be great or disappointing, and price isn't always the clearest indication. Finding good pinot often requires conversations with others who are interested in the wines.

Has the film made a difference at Federal's cash register? Pinots have been disappearing from the shelves at a more rapid rate than before the movie, says Rothenberg. "At one point after Christmas, we looked up and said, `We haven't got any pinot noir left.' " ....