The Sideways wine tour, today: where the film's stops stand now

*Sideways* came out in 2004 and sent a wave of visitors to the Santa Ynez Valley, where most of it was filmed. More than twenty years on, you can still follow Miles and Jack's route. Some stops look much as they did on screen. Others have moved, been renamed, or changed how they welcome guests.

Here is where each one stands today, with the hours each place posts on its own site. We worked from the location map Visit Santa Barbara published for fans of the film, then checked every stop against its current website.

Sanford Winery: the first lesson

At Sanford, Miles tries to teach Jack how to taste, as The Seattle Times and Sunset both described in early 2005. Sanford still pours on Santa Rosa Road in the Sta. Rita Hills the back road between Buellton and Lompoc that the film also uses for its vineyard drives.

Today the estate tasting room is at 5010 Santa Rosa Road, open daily 10am–4pm. The estate tasting is $40 a person. Reservations are recommended and walk-ins are welcome.

Kalyra Winery: a new home in Buellton

Kalyra is where Miles and Jack meet Stephanie, the pourer played by Sandra Oh. Sunset reported that the production built a new tasting room for the winery so the scene had somewhere to happen. On the 2016 map, Kalyra was still at 343 North Refugio Road in Santa Ynez.

That is no longer where to go. Kalyra says on its site that it has moved, and its tasting room is now at 140 Industrial Way in Buellton, in a building shared with several other rooms. It opens Monday and Friday noon–5pm and Saturday and Sunday 11am–5pm, with last pour at 4:30pm. It is closed Tuesday to Thursday.

The Hitching Post II: Maya's restaurant

The Buellton steakhouse is where Maya waits tables and where Miles settles in at the bar. On its own site, the restaurant says its link to the story goes back to 1998, when novelist Rex Pickett was a regular at that bar. For the film's 20th anniversary in 2024 it released a "20th Anniversary Sideways" edition of its Highliner Pinot Noir.

The restaurant is at 420 East Highway 246. Dinner runs Wednesday to Monday, 4:30pm–9pm, and the bar opens at 4pm. It is closed on Tuesdays, and reservations are strongly encouraged.

Next door, Hitching Post Wines pours Wednesday to Sunday, 11:30am–5pm (last tasting 4:15pm), and serves lunch 11:30am–3pm on the same days. The tasting room is closed Monday and Tuesday.

The Windmill motel, now the Sideways Inn

Miles and Jack's motel was the Days Inn Windmill at 114 East Highway 246 in Buellton. Discover Buellton, the town's visitor site, says it has been renamed the Sideways Inn. The Clubhouse bar from the film now goes by Sideways Lounge.

Firestone: the barrel room

The visitor-bureau map places a romantic walk through Firestone's barrel room in the film, and The Seattle Times listed Firestone among the vineyards the pair visit. Firestone Vineyard is at 5017 Zaca Station Road, outside Los Olivos.

Its site says it is open daily 11am–5pm, with tastings from 11am to 4pm. A tasting is $25 and walk-ins are welcome. The barrel room is part of the Estate Tour & Tasting, offered daily at 10:30am by reservation ($75, 21+ only).

Fess Parker Winery, the film's "Frass Canyon"

The busy tasting room the film calls Frass Canyon is Fess Parker Winery at 6200 Foxen Canyon Road. Fess Parker founded it in 1989, and his family still runs it.

Our listing shows it open daily 10am–5pm, with reservations recommended. The estate now leans toward seated visits. There is a 90-minute veranda experience, a family and dog-friendly oak grove, and private room tastings at $75 a person. It sits on the Foxen Canyon road, which has more wineries if you want to keep going.

Dinner at the Los Olivos Cafe

The four main characters share a long dinner at the Los Olivos Cafe & Wine Merchant, as Sunset recounted. It is still open at 2879 Grand Avenue in Los Olivos, 11:30am–8pm Sunday to Thursday and until 8:30pm on Friday and Saturday. The cafe recommends a reservation. Los Olivos is also easy to explore on foot; see Los Olivos on foot.

Solvang Restaurant, also on the visitor-bureau map, still trades at 1672 Copenhagen Drive in Solvang. It does not post hours on its site, so call ahead.

Stringing it into a day

The stops fall into three areas: Santa Rosa Road to the west, Buellton in the middle, and Zaca Station and Foxen Canyon roads to the north. A comfortable order:

1. Sanford at 10am, while the Sta. Rita Hills are quiet. 2. Kalyra in Buellton when it opens (Friday to Monday only). 3. Lunch at Hitching Post Wines, Wednesday to Sunday. 4. Firestone before its 4pm last tasting. 5. Fess Parker until 5pm. 6. Dinner at the Los Olivos Cafe, or back in Buellton at the Hitching Post II.

Because of the overlapping hours, Friday, Saturday or Sunday is the only kind of day when every stop is open. On a Tuesday, the Hitching Post closes and Kalyra is shut.

You don't need all five tastings. Five is a lot for one day, and our piece on how many wineries to visit in a day explains the pacing. Choose the scenes you care about and drive past the rest.

Plan it

• Book a driver. These stops are miles apart on country roads. Hire a wine tour, or have one person in your group stay off the tastings. Everyone pouring is 21+.
• Build it in [My day](/my-day). Add the stops and set your date, and the planner checks each one's hours for that day.
• Confirm before you go. Hours change with the season. Each listing links to the winery's own site.