This one is a doozy, folks.
Last week, we finally tackled SIDEWAYS, one of the most culturally significant wine movies ever made, for better and for worse:
And now, this week, we are tackling a movie whose very genesis is about the most mind-bending thing you could imagine.
Thankfully, you don’t have to imagine. Because comedian Nick Corirossi made it exist.
THE NAPA BOYS is a brand new comedy that debuted last year at the Toronto Internatuional Film Festival (TIFF) and caused quite a stir. The film follows the two sons of Sideways main characters - Jack, Jr. and Miles, Jr. - and their entire “Napa Boys” crew which has become famous throughout the world because - get this - this is in fact the FOURTH Napa Boys movie in an ever-expanding Sideways-sequel franchise which also includes The Napa Girls.
The title screen for this film, when it displays, is THE NAPA BOYS 4: THE SOMMELIER’S AMULET. It’s a fake fourth movie of a never-made franchise of a film that never even spawned a sequel let alone a franchise and it is an SNL-style gross-out comedy-fest and it is going to be divisive.
We know this because…we were divided! Yes, this is the first episode where we strongly disagreed with a guest regarding their movie. Decarceration had seen it twice and enjoyed it and thought highly of it’s blackly comedic critical lashes while Dallas and myself were…less enthused.
We cover the backstory and making of the film, then spend a half hour being painfully polite, trying to express our differences while nodding to the talent involved, etc. But folks, we get INTO IT at around the hour mark. It had to happen eventually! Fight! Fight! Fight!
Decarceration and C. C. Simmons both praised the film to us, so plainly it has an audience. Decarceration even added it to his “Best Movies of 2026” list where it ranked #7:
In that post, he wrote:
Some of you may be unfamiliar, so here is the pitch: in an alternate universe, the Oscar-nominated “Sideways” ended up spawning a direct-to-DVD spinoff franchise about the sons of Miles and Jack, not unlike the extended world of “American Pie”. And this film is actually “The Napa Boys 4: The Sommelier’s Amulet”, allegedly the last in an overextended franchise that started out as “prestige” cinema and has now become a juvenile sex comedy. Nick Corirossi has directed (and stars in) a movie that relentlessly mocks the laziness and contempt that seeps into longform IP storytelling while exposing the misogyny at the heart of what fueled so much of 00’s-era comedy, resulting in a movie that, defiantly, rudely, almost cruelly might be the dumbest 90 minutes you’ll ever survive.
But for me and Dallas, another critic expressed our thoughts with the following:
Almost every punchline in The Napa Boys seems to preempt its own rejection and guards itself by hunkering down into its own bile. Watching the movie can feel like walking past a table of middle-school boys: it’s convinced of its genius but so terrified of dismissal that it steps out of its way to make you feel stupid for not getting the joke. The irony runs thinnest with Jack Jr. and Miles Jr. themselves. The Sideways paintjob veils a pair of horned-up alcoholics better fit for O.C & Stiggs than Alexander Payne, a duo bent on sucking and fucking their way down the West Coast. The sex comedies that litter the DVD shelves of VRBOs aren’t immune from criticism, but you can only hide so many boner jokes behind a feint before you’re making boner jokes yourself. The Napa Boys isn’t much smarter than American Pie, but it sure would like you to think so.
All these limp provocations and smarmy self-references might be forgivable if The Napa Boys was simply funny. Over 93 minutes and twice as many punchlines, this writer laughed roughly twice (both times courtesy of Doughboys’s Mike Mitchell). That’s not for lack of talent: the better half of the movie’s cast are alt-comedy veterans, Corirossi included, and many have produced enduring works well-deserving of their cult followings. Call it a problem of too many cooks. The Napa Boys might have been better served as a conversation in a writer’s room, a chance to blow off some steam about the decaying business and pitch a few jerk-off gags before turning attention back to something worthwhile. As it stands, it’s a betrayal of the better instincts of everyone involved, a sweaty parody that trips over its own feet before it can land a punch.
Which side will you fall in regards to THE NAPA BOYS?
You’ll have to watch it and let us know. It’s a unique oddity worth experiencing if nothing else.
The Wines
Dallas’ Pairing
Difficult - this movie is difficult.
Mostly because it flips from the low-brow to the slightly less low-brow without much modulation. The filmmakers clearly have some acid for the things they are attempting to critique and skewer in the piece. I may be wrong, but there seems to be an inherent bitterness toward hollywood’s IP over-exploitation. Which is, admittedly, a lofty aim.
The intent is clear, but the execution left me with a bitter taste in my mouth regarding the writing and execution. It’s as if they simply put all their critiques and gripes into a script with great intent but never bothered to take us any place other than the bitter critique.
When considering all the bitterness that the film has from the bitter critiques of their archetyes and themes to the bitterness I’m left with after watching flavors and notes like Gentian root which is described as a bittersweet, tangy, and dusty come to mind.
Also the Chicona Bark - which is where that flavor in Quinine comes from to mind.
Because of that, I wanted something that takes all those bitter components, plays and experiments with them but then takes them someplace pleasant and satisfying, which is what this film failed to do.
I went with Nicola Centonze’s White House which is a distinct Sicilian vino amaro (bitter herbal liqueur) produced in the Marsala region of Italy.
Marsala is a fortified wine which usually comes from a formula of Grillo, Inzolia, and Catarratto grapes. It is presented in four age categories: Fine, Superiore, Riserva, Vergine (1, 2, 4 and 5 years respectively). The color of the wine usually comes in three classes: Oro (gold - like White House), Ambra (amber), and Rubino (ruby).
It uses a Marsala wine base blended with Mediterranean botanicals like gentian root and cinchona bark to create a unique balance of sweet wine and bitter flavor.
All those bitter notes are clear and present but they are blended with a skill and complimented by a host of complex other flavors and notes and that sweetness that creates something pleasant and overall enjoyable.
It can be found for around 35 dollars a bottle at many local specialty shops.
Dave’s Pairing
This movie wants to be “shitty Sideways” - dumber, crasser, grosser, possibly more crowd-pleasing (depends on the crowd). In one of its most memorable and comedically effective scenes, Miler, Jr. drinks a wine filled with Jack, Jr.’s shit and cum. Like, filled with them. They show it clearly being poured into the wine glass. Then Miles, Jr. sips it multiple times before sputtering a bit that sticks to his mustache.
Miles in Sideways, of course, is a Pinot Noir - difficult, tempermental, can be coaxed into greatness but is not simply great by default. So I if Napa Boys is shitty Sideways, I had to consider: what is the Shittiest Pinot Noir in the World?
Yes, it’s MEIOMI Pinot Noir. Originally founded as part of “The Sideways Effect” and the explosion of Pinot’s popularity in California following the film’s release. Jow Wagner, while working at Caymus, first invented the Belle Glos Pinot Noir, named after his grandmother. You’ve seen the bottles - half encased in red wax:
When Sideways sent Pinot sales into wrap drive, Caymus spun out Bell Glos into its own brand.
Then Wager wanted to make an affordable California Pinot but with consistent quality. He sourced lower priced Pinot grapes from Sanata Barbara, Monterey, and Sonoma. The wine was $22 back in 2009 and recieved 92 Points.
But in 2015, Wagner sold the brand - just the brand, there were no vineyards or wineries attached - to Constellation Brands, one of the largest beverage brand owners in the world.
Now, in 2026, MEIOMI contanis 19-21g of sugar, halfway to a can of Coca-Cola (39g) and is often the worst thing any taster has the displleasure of tasting. Barefoot, Yellowtail, Charles Shaw - wine professionals blind taste these and find themselves liking them more than expected. It happens all the time with blinds. But not so with MEIOMI. It is always the worst wine in the lineup. Cloying, artifical in flavor, bitter in aftertaste, just awful all around.
And it still costs $22. Sometimes more.
So whether you enjoy the comedy antics of Napa Boys or find yourself held at arms length, MEIOMI is still the wine to match the experience. It’s shitty Sideways, it puts everything that’s wrong with “industries”, be that the film or wine industry or both, into instant perspective.
