Southern California's No. 1 Golf Source
SITE
SEARCH
GOLF RESOURCE GUIDE:
travel
|
||||
 SOLVANG—Wisps of low fog still snake through the trees on the nearby hills and the dew is still fresh on the blazing golden leaves of the adjacent vineyard as Robert Scarpati (call him Boo) smiles as he remembers Jack’s meltdown. “This was the hole where that happened,” Scarpati says with a quick laugh as he pokes his way down the cart path of the short par-4 eighth hole. “They got hit into right about … here.” It’s easy to recall: Miles, the tightly strung, neurotic wine lover, suddenly galvanized into action as one of the golfers in the foursome behind lofts a ball past him. Miles taking a quick drop and firing one back up the fairway at the offenders and Jack following up with a maniacal, screaming, arm-flailing, club-waving serpentine charge. It’s indelible. That goofball little memory is a scene from the 2004 film “Sideways,” a movie that Scarpati—and a few thousand other folks in this enchanted little corner of California—can quote almost verbatim, scene by scene and line by line. Depending on whom you talk to around here, “Sideways” • Put the Central Coast on the map as a tourist destination • Juiced up the local economy significantly in such prosaic little hamlets as Los Olivos, Buellton and Lompoc • Spurred production of pinot noir to unprecedented levels • Nearly killed merlot • Persuaded a steady stream of golfers to head up U.S. 101 to play the course so memorably (mis)played by Miles and Jack. It’s pretty much all true. And the River Course at The Alisal is where local native Scarpati has set up shop as the head pro and sometime “Sideways” tour guide. It’s a favorite golfing destination for players who like their courses gorgeous and natural, who like wine almost as much as they like golf, and who often use “Sideways” as a template for a weekend indulging both of those passions. Throughout the Santa Ynez Valley area, restaurateurs, hotel employees, tasting room pourers and others marvel at the continuing influence of a film that was released seven years ago, a modest independent production that was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture. Nonetheless, the adventures of the hapless writer Miles (Paul Giamatti) and the chronically unfaithful Jack (Thomas Haden Church) on a final golf-and-wine trip before Jack’s wedding continue to captivate. Here’s a look at several of the local delights that drew a visit from the “Sideways” duo: Where To Stay and Play Miles and Jack, clearly on a budget, stayed in Room 234 at the Days Inn in Buellton (known as The Windmill because of the architecture of its landmark central building just off U.S. 101 at Highway 246). However, if you don’t mind straying a bit from the true “Sideways” path in favor of a stay at one of California’s legendary destinations, book yourself a cottage at the Alisal Guest Ranch. The Alisal may be one of the toniest dude ranches anywhere, but the cheerful folks who run the place would likely take gentle exception to the term. Privately owned by the Jackson family of Montecito, the ranch traces its history back to an original Spanish land grant. It was established as a working cattle ranch in 1843, and wranglers continue today to tend nearly 2,000 head of cattle and nearly 100 quarter horses on the ranch’s 10,000 acres. When the Jacksons opened the ranch to vacationers in 1946, there were 30 guest bungalows. Today the facility features 73 California ranch-style studios and suites, high-end restaurant facilities and a list of recreational activities that are enervating just to read about. Meals, however, should not be missed. Executive chef and beverage director Pascal Gode oversees a kitchen that turns out imaginative, subtle and very fresh traditional American dishes such as prime rib, swordfish and John Dory, and wild boar. Dinners call for jacket and tie. The ranch is only a short drive from Solvang but the atmosphere is one of cocooned seclusion, which brings us to a warning for type-As: there are no telephones or televisions in any of the rooms. None. Just tasteful and cozy Western ranch-style furnishings, and a fireplace with all the wood you can burn. You come to the Alisal to get away from the world of gadgets, and it’s surprisingly easy to slip beneath the soft eiderdown of that sort of unavailability. Doing nothing is allowed. Or you can fill your days with canoeing, kayaking or fly fishing on the 100-acre spring-fed lake, take aim at archery or air rifle shooting, play tennis, work out or indulge in one of many treatments at the fitness and spa facilities, or ride over the 50 miles of horse trails. (The ranch is a very horsey place indeed; table talk over the generous American breakfast in the Ranch Room—there can be lots of friendly cross-talk between tables—often turns to riding.) Or you can play golf. A lot of golf. The Alisal has two courses: the Ranch Course, a private layout open only to ranch guests and members, and the River Course, where Miles and Jack went famously nuts. The Ranch Course is the more difficult of the two, a par-72, 6,500-yard track designed by William Bell Jr. in 1955. It’s lovingly tended, but the narrow fairways and barrancas that run throughout the course demand accurate play with every club in the bag. The hillsides and groves of oaks, sycamores and eucalyptus trees offer visual solace. The River Course, a local favorite, is public and can accommodate a much wider range of skills. Designed by Jack Daray Jr. and Stephen Halsey, this par-72 layout is longer than the Ranch Course by about 300 yards, but it’s much more wide open, and the scenery has benefited from the recent planting of 100 sycamore, alder and liquid amber trees. There are subtle elevation changes, the Santa Ynez River provides a picturesque water feature throughout, and the view from the river rock clubhouse’s River Grill Restaurant and Bar (and the adjacent patio) will force you to linger long after your round is over. Note the trees framing the fairway from the tee box on the first hole. “Sideways” fans will remember this as the spot where Miles hits a truly horrible first shot. The eighth fairway was the scene of the aforementioned tirade, and the path past the clubhouse patio was the spot where Jack makes a crude sexual reference, which draws the complaint of another golfer. Where To Eat Perhaps the most memorable meal featured in the film was the dinner shared by Miles and Jack and their romantic interests, Maya (Virginia Madsen) and Stephanie (Sandra Oh), at the Los Olivos Café. Located a short drive north of Solvang in the captivating hamlet of Los Olivos, the café—next door to Jedlicka’s Saddlery—offers some of the most creative farm-to-table food in the region, and one of the most extensive wine lists anywhere. (Wine side note: It was just outside the café that Miles spits out the line that all but doomed a basic grape in the region: “I am NOT drinkin’ any [expletive] merlot!” You, however, have no such restrictions. In fact, you can choose your vintage from an entire long, long series of wine racks that completely line one wall of the café.) Entrees include gourmet burgers, roasted local vegetables, individual pizzas, unusually fresh salads, pastas, lamb shanks and fresh albacore and salmon. It’s bistro food done right by executive chef Chris Joslyn and owners Sam and Shawnda Marmorstein, who opened the café in the late 1990s. Another pivotal restaurant on the “Sideways” tour is the Hitching Post II, on Highway 246 in Buellton. Here Miles meets Maya, a waitress at the restaurant, and introduces Jack to the Hitching Post’s own wine brand, the Highliner pinot noir. Owned by the often pith-helmeted Frank Ostini (who is also the executive chef), the Hitching Post II was a frequent hangout of Rex Pickett, who wrote the novel “Sideways” on which the film was based. The film’s director, Alexander Payne, oversaw a handful of scenes that were shot mostly in the bar. It’s a cozy, neighborhood-style place with a distinct steakhouse feel and is indeed known for its steaks, chops and barbecue. Duck and ostrich also are on the menu, and the french fries are considered to be particularly fine. Just a short walk from the Hitching Post is A.J. Spurs, an Old West-style restaurant decorated with a stuffed buffalo and polar bear, among other examples of the taxidermist’s art. Celebrated for its barbecue dishes and its 35-ounce top sirloin steak, it was the spot where Jack chats up a waitress with whom he later becomes disastrously involved. At 1672 Copenhagen Drive in Solvang is the Solvang Restaurant, a cheery, kitschy bit of imitation Denmark where, over breakfast, Jack counsels Miles to snap out of his usual funk. This place is known for the wonderful Danish aebleskiver—a kind of rich spherical battered confection. Warning: It’s difficult to stop eating them. Where To Taste Where indeed? The neighborhood is fairly infested with tasting rooms, the hills are joyously carpeted in vineyards, and if it seems that there’s a winery behind every tree, that’s because there almost is. You can taste yourself silly here—even sillier if you don’t make use of the spit bucket. The Santa Ynez Valley AVA (American Viticultural Area) encompasses 76,000 acres, with most of the hills in the area forming east-west valleys—perfect for the growing of delicate chardonnays and Miles’ favorite, pinot noir. The tasting rooms themselves range from minor architectural wonders (Sanford, Fess Parker, Foxen, Firestone) to the endearingly rustic (Alma Rosa, the original Foxen), and the folks behind the bars doing the pouring are universally disarmingly friendly and can tell you everything about that lovely liquid in your glass. A trip up Foxen Canyon Road north from Los Olivos will take you to three of the wineries visited by Miles and Jack. The northernmost, Foxen, is where the pair quickly sneak full glasses of wine when the tasting room attendant’s back is turned. Since 2009, Foxen’s principal home has been a large solar-powered winery and tasting room about a quarter mile down the road from the original roadside shed—which still serves as a second tasting facility. Pinots, chardonnays and Rhone-style wines are featured at the new digs, and Bordeax and “Cal-Ital” wines are poured at the “tasting shack.” At Fess Parker (called Frass Canyon in the film), Miles discovers that his book will not be published, demands a full glass at the bar and, when he’s refused, guzzles the contents of the spit bucket. This is one of the larger tasting room operations in the valley, surrounded by rambling lawns and grape arbors. It sees a good deal of traffic, in part because of its association with the beloved actor who played both Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett for years under the Disney banner. The winery produces a good variety of both whites and reds. Things get more prosaic in the film during a visit to Firestone as Miles and Maya, and Jack and Stephanie, enjoy a surreptitious romantic visit to the barrel room. Founded in 1972, the winery produces both reds and whites, and the tasting room sits on top of a bluff with excellent countryside views on all sides. Elsewhere, the “Sideways” bunch made use of two other tasting rooms. At the Kalyra Winery, just south of Solvang on North Refugio Road, Jack first meets Stephanie, who’s pouring at the bar. The tasting room could be described as extra-relaxed—a kind of homage to the surf culture of owner Mike Brown’s Australian homeland. Whites, rosés, reds and dessert wines are in the inventory. Out on Santa Rosa Road, at Sanford Winery, Miles instructs Jack on the finer points of wine tasting and catches him chewing gum. (The old Sanford tasting room where the scene was shot is now the tasting room for Alma Rosa Winery, which is owned by Sanford. Tasting room attendant Chris Burroughs, who appeared in the film in that role, continues to pour behind the bar at Alma Rosa. The new and far grander Sanford tasting room and production facility is just up the road.) Both wineries offer a full line of whites, roses and reds. The Full Tour If you insist on paying a visit to every “Sideways” location listed on the tour map (available online at santabarbaraca.com/includes/media/docs/Sideways-Map.pdf), you’ll be seeing Gaviota state beach, Mission Santa Inés, the Lompoc farmers market, Ocean Lanes bowling in Lompoc, and Ostrich Land. Contrary to Jack’s assertion, the ostriches are not mean. |
||||
RSS Subscribe
