Pop culture has power - enough power to affect the wine industry.

In 2004, the feature film Sideways came out, and according to Sonoma filmmaker Rudolf N. McClain, merlot sales in the United States dropped.

Of those well-studied in wine statistics, McClain is among them, having just completed his first documentary on merlot in 2008. The dramatic effects of Sideways boil down to one pivotal scene, he explained at the Sacramento premiere screening of Merlove Saturday night.

It’s the scene where protagonist Miles Raymond, the oenologist in the film, says, “I’m not drinking any f***ing merlot.”

That one statement statistically curbed the sales of merlot, and pinot sales went up by 30 percent, McClain said. Seeing the results of the film as a resident of the wine country prompted him to play the devil’s advocate and make Merlove.

Attendees gathered around the bar to sample featured Route 3 and Black Hole merlots at the premiere, hosted by Revolution Wines urban winery and the Sacramento Institute of Fun. Sacramentan Carl Thomas arrived at Revolution Wines with Diane Smith from Calaveras County. A pinot fan himself, Thomas said he was nonetheless intrigued by the idea of Merlove as an objection to Sideways.

“There’s an awful lot of straitjacket [attitudes] about wine tasting and what wine should taste like,” Thomas said.

Merlove is everything but pretentious. McClain's quirky, low-budget documentary brings the world of wine back down to earth with modest discussions about winemaking and the industry between reputable merlot makers from Napa, the central coast, Washington and France.

“I think it’s a well-needed reaction to the movie Sideways,” said Kevin Fort, a former viticulture student of UC Davis.

As a friend once said, “The wine image is super-polished,” immediately associated with “windmills, fields of mustard and a sunset,” McClain explained.

It is the pompous mentality often found in the wine industry that McClain addresses in Merlove. McClain specifically noticed its intimidating effect on Americans who “don’t know about wine and they’re afraid to ask, [but] if [they] can fake it, it’s OK.”

He said it is also this mentality that led uninformed Americans to embrace a fictitious wine aficionado’s opinion in the film Sideways as superior wine knowledge.

Gina Genshlea, co-owner of Revolution Wines, remembers the impact of the film. Specifically, she remembers how it affected one of the winery’s business partners, a grower in Ukiah.

“His merlot was his favorite wine. After the movie Sideways, nobody was buying his merlot,” Genshlea said.

Rather than let them rot, the grower gave Genshlea two tons of his merlot grapes.

McClain wasn’t the only one compelled to respond to Sideways’ influence.

“The reason I made Black Hole is because of Sideways. Everyone is hating on merlot right now … [but it is] a serious wine that should be taken seriously,” said Chris Minnick, Black Hole winemaker and chief fun officer at Institute of Fun.

If the audience is to draw any conclusions from Merlove, the winemakers in the film urge people to broaden their wine horizons and try different wines, and lots of them – different varietals from different wineries — before passing judgments on any grape.

“I guess I should buy more wines,” said Sacramentan Mike Cutigni after the film.