Swilling an elegant Pinot around your glass, the landscape before you, verdant with vines, undulates in the soft evening light. The little wine you've imbibed sets your senses aglow as you contemplate the cinematic beauty of California's wine country.
With the release of the Japanese version of "Sideways," set for Oct. 31, many movie-goers might find themselves rushing off Stateside for their next vacation, sold on the Californian wine country dream. But if you're not careful you might end up being transported into the living hell that is the package-tour bus trip: herded round monolith operations like the Robert Mondavi winery, where each visitor is served up an identical, costly and rather crowded experience — a sunset tour of the winery costs $45 with wine and cheese, and reservations must be made in advance.
Luckily, help is at hand for the more adventurous traveler, with the recent publication of "California Winetopia" by W. Blake Gray and Mami Ishikawa Gray. It's an in-depth guide to the more interesting wines and their wineries, straying off the beaten track to give the Japanese tourist a much more intimate experience of California's wine world.