Welcome to Wine Soundtrack USA. Listen to the passion with which producers narrate their
winery and their world team thirty answers discover their stories, personalities, and passions.
Hello, friends and listeners of the Wine Soundtrack Podcast. This is Kim
Kashmar and today you are going to experience the magic behind Nancy Gonzales. Nancy
is the founder and winemaker of Uyos Sellers in Paso Roblaz, California, and
we are currently sitting in her warm, cozy winery right now. So let's
get into it. First of all, welcome, Thank you so much,
thank you for having me. Okay, so Nancy, to kick us off,
will you tell us a little bit about your winery, where you're located
and the types of wines that you make. So I am based in Pasa
Robliz. I do specialize in producing obscure whites because that's what I like to
drink. So I want to say true to making wines that I will be
able to share with people and share the vision of what I like and what
I have discovered in the area. I specialize, like I said, in
obscure whites. Grner velt Leiner, it's my signature. I also make semeon
a vadino, the whole pinot blanc and more to come this harvest. So
I'm just super excited to be able to make wine that people want to drink,
and to educate people about these grapes and also about the area. Oh
my gosh, awesome. Yeah, I forgot to mention that it was obscure
whites. That is truly, I think obviously the best way to describe it.
But it really it's really interesting because I think your wines have a lot
of magic to them. And part of that is because you know, you
have these great varieties that you probably really have to tend to and you really
have to nurture as you you know, bring them in and turn them into
wine, and there's a lot of like magic and intention that goes behind that.
We're sitting in your tasting room right now. It's beautiful. There is
some pinkney on signage, there is crystal chandeliers, there's gold frames. It's
just I love it and crystals. We'll dive more into the crystal thing when
we get to like just talking about the wine that we have sitting here,
But give us a little overview of you know, your brand and also the
crystal part of this whole thing. Yeah, definitely. I think that one
of the funnest parts of building a business, specifically wine brand, is being
able to incorporate things that I love and care about. And so I realize
this freedom very early on, and I have been able to incorporate things that
I do care about and that I enjoy. And one of those things is
metaphysics, you know, whether it is you know, through witchy rituals,
crystal healing, magic, energy work plots out of affirmations, and really all
that started. I mean, you know, I've been a big fan of
spirituality and of energy work for over a decade. But in the cellar,
how it started is when I made my first vantage of wine. My wine,
I call them my babies, and so I would be super worried about
them when I was at home because I was like, they're there by themselves,
are they doing okay? I want them to know that they're love.
And so I started bringing some of my crystals into the cellar and putting them
on top of my barrels to protect the barrels, and later on I started
to incorporate other things that are also very spiritual. I would say, into
the wine making, whether it is bringing the crystals to infuse the winds,
but the energy or implementation and aging to adding names of different goddesses from all
over the world and different cultures on the barrel, so each barrel has a
name of a different goddess, which I think it gives the wine the essence
of that goddess, that energy and the power of them. I have recently
started incorporating Sanskrit mantra chanting and the celler as well, because everything including our
voice and our intention and everything that you can visually see and can't see,
is made up of vibration. So being able to infuse the wines with this
energy is something that I don't know. I don't know if it's place evo.
I don't know if like maybe it's just me and my mind thinking that
I'm infusing them. But regardless of what it is, just knowing that it's
bringing me joy and making my journey so much more meaningful. It just has
you know, rippled into this movement that I feel that a lot of people
are really following and have them very open and perceptive with the concept that I
am introducing to them. And you'll be surprised of how many people come in
here to do crystal parents, which is something that I offer as an experience
here in the tasting room. Oh wow, so you have a crystal for
ea each wine? Yes, each wine has a crystal pairing attached to it,
in which I basically and how that happened was, you know, I
know that I'm doing all these things energetically behind closed doors, and yeah,
I advertise it, but people don't get to see that. And once I
was going to open a tasting room, I talked to my boyfriend and I
said, can I pare my wines with crystals? And he said, it's
your brand, you can do whatever you want. And I was like,
say no more. And so I found this awesome crystal. I called my
crystal dealer. His name is David, and I found him. And it
just made it easier for me to be able to acquire these crystals and be
able to get them at a price that would be affordable for me, so
that I could also make them affordable for people. And so what I do
is I bring out the crystals for each of the wines, which I choose
the crystal based on the vibe of the wine and then I bring them in
front of people when they're doing their tasting. I talk to them about the
qualities of the crystal, how they relate to the wine, and how they
can utilize them in their everyday lives. And then people take the crystals home
with them and so I feel like I'm providing this like mystical, magical experience
for them where it goes side in with not just you know, this spirituality,
but also with mindfulness, which for me is a very essential part of
my life of how I see the world and how I again continue to show
up as a human being but also as a winemaker. And you know,
it just makes my journey so much more meaningful. That is so beautiful and
it's so it's so unique, and I think that is also like what draws
a lot of people to you and your wines. I mean, how long
have you been making wine? My first advantage I produce in twenty nineteen,
right, so you know we're four years in ish and I mean they're incredible,
and I feel like you're always kind of sold out. Yeah, it's
it's sad, but it's you know, it's something very positive. Because of
course I don't want to you know, be sitting on wine on inventory.
But it's just such a blessing, honestly to see the response of people and
how they are always so excited every time I'm going to release a wine or
if I have a new wine, or if I change the crystals in the
wine, They're like, what's the next crystal going to be? And then
they come to me and share stories of how these crystals have helped them reach
and manifest different things. I just feel almost like they come in and it's
like they tell me about what's going on in their lives. They you know,
I had this woman who was taking a test to be a registered nurse,
and I was like, Oh, you're studying for it, here take
this crystal. And then later on she emailed me and she's like, I
passed the test. I took the crystal with me, and I just really
want to thank you, and it's so cute. I'm like, I didn't
do anything. I think it's the intention that you're putting into what you're doing.
I think the crystals there as a reminder of your purpose and your goal.
And I'm so glad that I could be that, you know, I
could be a little like middle woman and there to help people reach their dreams,
you know, but it's all them putting the work in. So oh
my gosh, would you say that your wine journey is similar to that,
Like you put in an intention and then over time it became something. Would
you mind walking us through that. Yes. I do not have a formal
education with whine making, which for a long time I thought it was an
impediment to being successful. I also felt, of course, you know a
lot of us feel the imposter syndrome. I feel that people would not take
me serious because I didn't have that degree. But to be quite honest,
I feel like if you have a dream, whatever kind of dream, it
is, as long as you take the necessary steps in the way that it's
intentional, you will reach that no matter what it is. And I always
remind people that we are so powerful, like or you know, as human
beings, we have so much power, and sometimes because of past you know,
ideas that were passed down to us through generations, we feel that we
have these limitations. But these limitations exist here in our brain, like they
are what's keeping us from reaching that full potential. And so when you start
seeing yourself as an unlimited human being with all these capabilities. I think that
you can see you can see boundaries, but or you can and limitations,
or you can see all the possibilities that are out there, and so knowing
that there's different ways, there's no one way of doing things, there's no
one way of learning why making, there's no one way of making wine.
When you see it that way, then the possibility is open and then you
choose whatever path you want to go through. You can you know for why
making. You can go to school, or you can learn through reading a
book, which is doable. I learned through mentorship. I felt that I
wanted that to be my path, not only because I would learn from experts,
but also I was able to build community through these relationships, which is
something that I always tell people. You, if you want to be successful,
you can make the most amazing wine. But if you don't have a
strategy and you don't have community, then why it's not gonna sell itself?
Like you need to show up for other people and then that in return will
come back to you and people will support you because of that. That is
so beautiful. I absolutely agree, and I have felt I'm not a winemaker,
but I felt the same effect in my career too, with just finding
people in community, you know, to kind of grow with. Speaking of
community, I know that you know you make your wine at a facility in
Passo, and you were doing it with or maybe you still are at another
winery facility. Can you share a little bit more about as an independent wine
maker without a vineyard, right, you're buying grapes and sourcing grapes and then
making your wine. How do you make that work as a small, small
winery. Yeah, I do not have a physical winery myself, although I
do make all my wine. Sometimes people are like who makes your wine?
And I'm like these hands, and so I do not have a physical winery
for myself. And the way that I was able to create this relationship is
through I mean, I always wear my heart all my sleeve. So I
feel like being able to be vulnerable about the things that you need and looking
for solutions. It's the key like to you know, getting things done.
So in twenty nineteen, when I had the purpose of making my wine,
I had purchased my grapes and there was an issue at the place that I
was supposed to make my wine, and so I was like, oh my
gosh, I'm homeless with my grapes. What am I supposed to do?
And so I reached out to the person who was helping me. I was
paying them a fee to press my grapes because it's for white wine, so
I was going to press it. And I said, hey, do you
know any place that I could make my wine at? Because I don't know
what to do at this point. I mean, like, I have the
grapes here, but this is not going to work out. What do I
do? And he's like, let me make some calls and I was like
okay, and then he said, you know what, We're going to make
your dream come true. You're going to make your wine here. And this
person didn't know me first of all, but he saw the passion in me,
and he saw how committed I was to this, so he made it
happen. And not only did he open that door for me to allow me
to make my wine there, but he actually became my mentor. He took
me under his wing. He taught me most of what I know about wine
making, specifically white wine, and he continues to mentor me. I still,
you know, partner with him to do different things. And he's been
so amazing, and I think that that just shows the kind of support that
this community brings to individuals like me as a whole. You know, there's
a lot of people who have started like me and who work in wineries.
I think that the culture here and Pustle for the most part is if you
work at a winery and you want to make wine, that winery will support
you and allow you to make the wine there. And so I made my
wine at that place for three vintages, and then I've made my wine at
my job the last two years. My wines are actually at there at the
moment, my babies, my barrels are there at my job, which is
a small winery here in passer Robles as well. It's called Sevenox, and
they have been super supportive from day one. I think that there's no threat
or competition because we're making different wines. But even if we wear I feel
like just the fact that they see the potential and the passion and the love
for what I do, I think it's just a no brainer for people to,
you know, just be open to helping others. I think that's a
really awesome thing about passer Roblis is the fact that it really is a community
that everyone is willing to help each other out. And that's something we were
kind of talking about yesterday. And it really seems to create this beautiful,
welcoming culture here. And I think you can even feel that as a consumer
when you go to a winery, you just feel at ease. You know,
there's not this like pressure to buy cases. They're you know, like
buy wines, but you but you really connect with the owners and the wine
makers here and and I've even found, you know, if you ask for
suggestions of places to go when you're visiting a winery, everyone is really willing
to recommend others. And I just think that is so beautiful about the community
here. Yeah, I definitely feel that I came to the right place.
I was not supposed to land and passed, so I was supposed to go
up to Sonoma. That was my plan, and I had a boss at
that time that just like really was so adminant about me coming to pass.
So and it has been such a blessing. You know, the atmosphere out
here, like you mentioned, it's super casual, super chill. A lot
of people that come in to you know, either my job or they come
here. Yeah, they come for the wine, but more than anything,
they come for the people because we end up catching up on like what's going
on with our personal lives and just you know, we have created friendships,
and I think that's something that you won't see another wine regions. I think
that personal touch and also a lot of the time when you go to a
winery, there's a lot of very small wineries where when you walk in,
it's very likely that you'll be you know, tasting the wine with a wine
maker. It would be them that are going to be pouring the wine and
talking to them, talking to you about their story. And I think that's
something that really makes this place so magical and so unique. Absolutely. I
agree Sonianci. Where do you get your grapes from? Where do you source
them? So? I source them all from the Central Coast for Yos House
because I actually do have a sister label to Yos Sellers or YOA Sellers.
Most of the fruit comes from Edna Valley, which is down in San Lesobispo.
I source a lot of my grapes also from Santa Barbara County. Sometimes
I have source fruit from Monroe County. And then what we're drinking right now,
which is My twenty two verdejo is actually my only fruit that I saw
from Paso Robles, which makes it extra special. And you know what,
I feel like, I definitely have to go outside of this area because it
gets so hot here that I have to go to places that it's cooler for
the grapes to grow better. And also because these varieties are so obscure and
so hard to find, I always end up going outside of the area to
find them. Yeah, that makes sense. I mean if if you've been
to Passo as a listener, it's definitely more of a red wine land.
There are places where there are whites and many great whites, many rown grape
varieties. But for the different grapes that you produce, the verdejo, the
alberino all and what else do you do? Pinot blanc. We talked about
the semion gavers reminer I also make. Yeah, you need a cool climate
for those especially absolutely. Okay. Well, one other thing that I know
is very important for you in your brand, and that is bringing in your
culture. Can you share a little bit about that. Definitely. So.
I was born in Mexico and Uadalajara, Halisco, came to the States at
the age of twelve, and you know, I grew when I grew up,
I became part of the hospitality in the street of fine dining. That
was my introduction to wine. I didn't grow up with wine around. My
parents never drank wine. I didn't see anyone in my family drinking wine.
They actually called vino anything that has alcohol, you know, So it's cute
for them to be like, oh, vino, and I'm like, that's
not veno, that's you know, varka or something I don't know. So
to me, it's so important to be able to provide a place for people
to learn about wine, for particularly the Latino community or on the rippers center
communities, because I mean for me, I mean personally, I do feel
that that we have been excluded from the conversation. And not only that we
have been excluded, but the wine industry sometimes uses a particular vocabulary that is
very hard to understand for some people, and so that vocabulary I think brings
a lot of I would say a lot of people feel intimidated to try wine
because they don't know how to pronounce the great variety, or they don't know
what the right etiquette is. They don't want to sound dumb, and so
my passion is to take terminology, the wine terminology and breaking it down to
the point where people can understand, and whether it is with the tasting experience
or actually something I love to translate to people and translate not only to Spanish,
but translate in terms that could be understood. It's a wine making process
and how the grapes are grown in a certain way and how that affects the
wine. And the perfect person that I would say I have to be able
to test out this translation or this knowledge is my dad. My mom won't
touch wine, like she'll try once in a while and she'll be like,
oh, this is too strong. But my dad, on the other hand,
once I started to produce wine, he started to pick up this interest
in wine where every time they come and visit, because they don't live in
the area, they come and visit, He's like, what are we going
to drink? And I'm like, oh, what do you want to drink?
And he's like, I don't know, you tell me, And so
one day like it's okay, I tell people. One day like he came
into the cellar because when they come visit and I'm working during harvest, I'm
like, you know, yeah, I'm gonna put you to work, right
like, and I come in and help me with the fermentations or steaming barrels
that kind of So he was helping me, were doing punchdowns, and then
he looks around the cellar and he's like, so, where's the alcohol that
you put to, you know, for it to become wine. And I'm
like, oh, oh, that's not how it works out. Let me
explain this to you. And so it's been such a treat to be able
to teach people like my parents and some of the things that I've been doing
to be able to achieve this. At first, I started with dressing the
parts, so wearing traditional Mexican attire to events and with my marketing so that
people could see the image and be like, she's Mexican and she's making wine.
I think maybe we can buy her wine, you know, to support
her. But then they'll be learning. And then from there I started pairing
my wines with Mexican cuisine, you know, which is not very commonly done.
And then another tactic that I started using was the language. Right.
So with my marketing and social media, I taught you know, in my
social media I think I get a little witchy or metaphysical. So I started
to do that in Spanish, like showing content in Spanish, I had to
do with metaphysical stuff and it was resonating with people. And the last thing
that I just recently incorporated into the experience here in the tasting room is translating
the whole menu into Spanish. So that's something that I'm doing because I was
like, I can offer a tasting in Spanish, but if they're reading it
and everything's in English, like, it just doesn't make sense, Like I
need to If I'm gonna do it, I have to do it right.
And so that is my next challenge, you know, to be able to
do the tastings in Spanish, because even though I was born in Mexico,
I still like sometimes you know, if you like, I don't pronounce everything
right in Spanish. And when it comes to the tasting experience, the translation,
it is not a direct translation. There's a different, completely different language
that encompasses wine terminology. And so that is my next next challenge, I
would say, and I'm really I'm a little scared, but they're excited to
be able to just get familiar with it, to like be able to do
it right. Yeah, oh my gosh, that's wonderful. And I know
you've also written articles for the SOM Journal about this. Is there anything from
that article in particular or a particular idea that you feel like you really want
to share and get a mixture? Is said, Yeah, definitely. So
the article that I wrote was for the tasting panel, and you know,
when they reached out to me to see if I was interested in writing,
I was like, I'm not a good writer, Like I feel so self
conscious about writing something because I feel like like I applied to go to grad
school and my writing was not the best way. I always felt that that
was why I didn't get into grad school, although the universe had a different
plan for me that I didn't know at that time, so I wouldn't be
making wine at this point, which is, you know, like the biggest
blessing for me. But when they approached me and I was like, what
do I talk about? That, like, well, what do you want
to talk about? And I was like I think I would want to talk
about marketing to the Latino community. And they're like, okay, let's do
it. And I was like okay. So I started doing research and trying
to figure out what kind of things that we talk about. So I did
share that one of the things that is super important is being able to incorporate
the language. Another thing would be to incorporate the values that people and the
Latino community have, whether it is or you know, or work ethic or
being an immigrant, or you know, just family being such a strong foundation
too that you know, just drives everything that we do. And then the
last thing I said is like, if you want to market to the Latino
community, you gotta let you gotta hire Latinos. You gotta hire them to
be part of your team so you can have a better understanding of what you
need to do to cater to this community. And so it was super well
received, and to be quite honest, even though it was so scared,
like it really showed me how capable I was to write, and I realized,
like, when it comes to things that I love and care about,
it's actually a lot easier to write. And then also it has brought so
many opportunities my way, whether it is to do public speaking. I actually
got invited to go to the Bridge conference in Brooklyn, New York. I
had never been to New York and so I was able to travel out there
to be a panelist to talk about the things that people can do to cater
to this, you know, to market to the Latino community, and just
you know, literally it just now beople are reaching out to me and me
like here, Mexican, we want to pour your wine you know, and
represent and have that you know, diversity and our program. So honestly,
like it just everything has been a blessing and I'm so excited to receive all,
you know, all the support. Well major congratulations, and I am
sure that things are just going to keep growing and there's going to be so
many more amazing opportunities coming down the line. Okay, so we are sipping
on your Verdejo right now, can you tell us a little bit about the
goddess that is assigned to this label and this wine and the flavor profile that
you were hoping to get out of this wine. Definitely. So each of
my labels pays tribute to a different goddess or feminine energy or someone in my
life that I love and care about. Sami Verdejo, it's a tribute to
my mom. She is a goddess. Oh yes, you are right.
She is a goddess. And this baby I'm sourcing from Pastor Robless is the
only Pasta Robblis fruit that I get for this project. I made this baby
in stainless steel because Paso gets so hot that it starts losing you know,
the fruit starts losing assets. So for me, it's so important to have
that asset component and my wines and all of my wines. And this baby
is definitely has like some nice herbaceous stones, a little bit of apple and
a little salinity. And this baby is paired with clear Quarts, which is
a stone that it's utilized to provide focus and clarity, and it's also really
amazing to expand a feeling of peace and ease. And I would say at
the moment my favorite crystal pairing, it's for my Semion, my Semon.
I'm pairing with a stone called blue coalside, which is actually sourced most of
the bluecalcide that you ever find. It's gonna be sourced from Mexico, just
like me. Uh. And this stone it's utilized to balance and amplify your
voice, whether it is and amplifying a lot of people. You know.
I have couples that come in and then the husband's like, she does not
need this, She's already loud, And I'm like, it's not necessarily to
be loud, but to be more assertive with being able to place boundaries and
to ask for what you need. I feel like, specifically for us women,
it's very hard sometimes to the vocal about things that we want, whether
it's in a relationship or at your job, or even with friendships. I
think that it's so important to be able to voice your needs and what you
stand for and then so that's one of the really awesome qualities that I love
about the stone. But another quality that I just recently found out about the
stone is that it has the ability to transmutate energy. So it acts as
a filter for any kind of energy coming into your realm and it turns it
into positive energy. So that's why I love this stone so much. I
think everyone needs that stone and that pairing. We all need that. I
mean, and with pair with the semion, I mean, that can go
wrong. Right, So awesome. Well, Nancy, thank you so much
for being here and it's been such a pleasure chatting with you. And before
we close out, you should we play a little game at the end of
each episode. It's usually like a movie or song pairing with a wine.
But obviously you know the crystals. So you've shared two great pairings but rapid
fire. What are your other favorite pairings that you offer at your winery.
Well, one of the awesome pairings that I offer here is the music.
I realized that once I having this space, I could talk about whatever I
want and play whatever music I want. And I'm a big fan of Carol
Gee, who is a Latina artist. She's very powerful. She just had
the most amazing year ever. She was all over the place, and so
playing her music here in the taste room pair with the wines, I feel
like it's very empowering, not only because I'm able to do exactly what I
want to, but it also gives pep one idea of like what the vibe
of my life is. So I would say, along with all the crystals
of the music, you know, being able to stay true and do things
that bring you joy is so important. So shout out to cattal Gee.
Well that's awesome. Thank you so much. Man, we got crystals and
music pairing. This was quite a quite a game. I love it all
right. Well, Nancy just again, It's been such a pleasure, and
I think for me and everyone here listening, thank you so much for your
time and for your and for your knowledge and for just sitting down and bringing
something so new to the wine space. I think that is something that sets
you apart and makes me excited to see where you're gonna go. So where
can people follow along with you, to see how you're doing and to get
some of your wines. So I think the place that I'm mos active at
it's on Instagram and my handle on Instagram it's U YOA Sellers U l l
o A c E l l A r s my personal handle it's at in
file period babe, and then my website. The easiest way to get to
it is Latina Winemaker dot com. So check me out there. Send me
a message say hello. If you heard this podcast episode, I would love
to hear from you. If you ever have any questions about crystals or if
you know if you want to know what crystal is pair best with a vibe
or a wine or anything, please hit me up. I love communicating with
people and sharing the knowledge and the magic, and I just cannot wait to
host you and my taste ram come visit me, come experience and magic.
Yes. Well, thank you Nancy and cheers. Thanks for listening to a
new episode of Wind Soundtrack USA. For details and updates, visit our website
windsoundtracks dot com. Um um