Hitching Post Pinot Power

It was my first visit since the restaurant made its silver screen debut in the Oscar-nominated movie Sideways. On that Monday night the parking lot was filled with cars, and so was most of the road a hundred yards either side of the restaurant. There was a line-up inside the door.

The Hitching Post II opened in Buellton in 1986 (the original Hitching Post, in nearby Casamalia, has been a fixture on the Central Coast since 1952), serving "Santa Maria Style" barbecue and has been widely praised ever since by no less than Gourmet magazine, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and many more.

But it's the power of Hollywood that has the place hopping most nights now.

Filmed on location in the Santa Ynez Valley, Alexander Payne's Sideways tells the story of two buddies, Miles and Jack (Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church) who set out to spend a wine weekend in the valley prior to Jack's wedding. Along the way Maya (Virginia Madsen) and Stephanie (Sandra Oh) come into their lives. Madsen, as it turns out, plays a waitress at the Hitching Post.

"Sideways started more than five years ago as Rex Pickett [author of the novel, Sideways] would often hang out at our bar on his visits here from Southern California," says Frank Ostini, owner and chef of the Hitching Post II and co-owner of Hartley Ostini Hitching Post Winery.

Sideways was filmed in the region over 10 weeks in October/November 2003 and they used the Hitching Post location for three days.

As for dinner and the menu, little has changed. There is the famous grilled artichoke with smoked ancho chili mayonnaise, oak-fired salmon and vegetable torta, smoked duck salad and oak barbecued prime rib. Well made food served without any fuss. Combination steak dinners with duck or shrimp or quail and a salad, vegetable tray, rice or potatoes, soup or salad, are less than $35.

Best of all you can select any of the top Hitching Post pinots, from the famed nearby Santa Rita Hills AVA, from $42 to $53 a bottle. Ostini could double his prices and the tourists would never know, but it won't happen any time soon. It's simply not in the nature of this extremely modest proprietor.

There's no Hitching Post pinot for sale in British Columbia that I'm aware of, but it should be in private wine stores before Christmas. In the meantime, here are some pinots you can serve at your own Sideways barbecue this weekend.

Just like the '04, the Carmen Pinot Noir 2005 over-delivers in flavour and mouthfeel. Look for spicy, licorice, black-fruit nose with some celery salt, compost and black-cherry fruit. The nose is intense and fruity yet the wine is dry and elegant on the palate with black-cherry, smoky, spicy flavours. There is fine finesse in the finish with a touch of rootsy, strawberry compost flavour. Incredible pinot value.

Local favourite Mission Hill Pinot Noir Five Vineyards 2005 opens with smoky vanilla, cinnamon, spicy aromas. It's a richer, more full-bodied version than its predecessor. It's a well made and likeable red wine with a warm, spicy, celery-salt and black-fruit flavours. An introductory style, luncheon pinot noir.

The Vina Casas del Bosque Pinot Noir Reserve 2006 is all cool-climate Casablanca. Floral, strawberry-jam, celery-salt, spicy notes mark the aromas and flavours of this dry, fresh, round red. Good elegance in a cooler style but could be a bit cleaner.

From Hitching Post country comes the Mark West Pinot Noir 2005. This smoky, rootsy, carrot-top Central Coast pinot comes with flecks of strawberry, cherry and vanilla. The entry is soft and warm with more spicy, rootsy, black fruit, and smoky celery salt flavours. Solid, affordable American-style pinot.

The south of France is home to the Bouchard Aine & Fils Pinossimo Pinot Noir 2005. Pinossimo looks like fun but it's more stolid in nature. Look for white pepper and meaty notes on the nose with flecks of black cherry. On the palate it's a mix of sour, dry black-cherry flavours with stems. The finish is dry and warm with spicy sour cherry notes in the aftertaste.

If you are in the mood to splurge, try the Albert Bichot Pommard Clos des Ursulines Domaine du Pavillon 2003 from Burgundy. It has an attractive smoky, gamey, orange-peel flavours mixed with raspberry, compost and a touch of resin. The finish is warm with good fruit intensity if a bit coarse. Perfect for drinking now.