WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:06.120 Welcome to Wine Soundtrack USA. Listen to the passion with which producers narrate their 2 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:11.320 winery and their worlds. In thirty answers discover their stories, personalities, and 3 00:00:11.480 --> 00:00:15.439 passions. Hello, friends and listeners of Wine Soundtrack. This is Alison Levine 4 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:20.440 and today I am in Passo Roubles with owner winemaker a Full Draw Vineyard, 5 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:23.879 Connor McMahon. Connor, Welcome to Wine Soundtrack and tell us a little bit 6 00:00:23.879 --> 00:00:26.640 about Full Draw. Hey, thank you for having me on. I really 7 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:31.039 appreciate the time. So we at Full Draw Vineyard. My wife and I 8 00:00:31.079 --> 00:00:35.079 started this in twenty twelve. I purchased the property. During that time, 9 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:38.600 I was actually the assistant wine maker and vineyard manager for a winery called Booker 10 00:00:38.679 --> 00:00:41.840 Vineyard, which happens to be immediately adjacent to us. Right now. That's 11 00:00:41.880 --> 00:00:48.640 convenient, very very convenient. But we strive to farm organically and produce great 12 00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:52.119 fruit in the vineyard because what that translates to is great wine in the winery. 13 00:00:52.119 --> 00:00:55.000 It makes our of the jobs and lives a lot easier when you've got 14 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:58.520 great fruit coming in absolutely so. So speaking of that, you said you 15 00:00:58.600 --> 00:01:02.600 have your own vineyard, are you exclusively estate fruit and how many acres do 16 00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:07.519 we have here with planet here? Yeah, so we are actually completely a 17 00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:11.120 state. Everything that you taste in bottle is grown and produced by us. 18 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:14.840 So we have one hundred acres total, and we've got forty five of those 19 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:19.799 acres planted under vine. We are predominantly planted under Sarah and granache, but 20 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:26.319 we also have more Vedra, Claret Blanche, Grenosh, Blanc, Graciano, 21 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:33.680 Cabernet seven young, and we will have petite Bredoux next year. Wow. 22 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:38.200 Okay, and your total case production, we are only about eighteen hundred cases, 23 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:40.879 so we want to keep a small grow organically. We really like to 24 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:45.120 focus on people coming into the winery and learning about us that way. And 25 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:49.599 so does that mean you're all direct consumer or do you have any are you 26 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:53.599 in any markets? We do a little bit of distribution, very little. 27 00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:59.920 Actually, we are probably let's call it eighty five percent direct consumer. Okay, 28 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:01.760 okay, So now we got the basics out of the way. So 29 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:06.519 Connor, I know you grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, in the 30 00:02:06.519 --> 00:02:08.800 South. So I'm wondering, what is your first memory relevant to wine? 31 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:13.400 Oh my goodness, if we're talking relevant to wine, I moved out of 32 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:16.000 North Carolina when I was five, so my first memory really would be in 33 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:21.000 Iowa. So I grew up in a small town in southeast Iowa called Fairfield 34 00:02:21.479 --> 00:02:27.319 and went from basically being five through high school there. And my dad and 35 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:30.360 uncle's knew that if you wanted to eat good food, you had to be 36 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:36.199 able to cook. In Fairfield, Iowa, we're going to the local restaurant 37 00:02:36.199 --> 00:02:38.840 to get good food. So we're blessed to have a large family. We're 38 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:44.919 Irish Catholics, so we drink and reproduce, usually in that order. So 39 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:47.120 I've got lots of cousins. It's been a lot of fun. But I 40 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:53.719 just remember gatherings after either church or Sunday dinner with our family and friends, 41 00:02:53.719 --> 00:02:55.439 and there was always wine bottles on the table, and as a kid you 42 00:02:55.439 --> 00:03:00.039 didn't really recognize that. But once I was in my late teenage years, 43 00:03:00.120 --> 00:03:05.759 my dad would say, hey, come try this, and normally I would 44 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:07.919 say, yeah, that's fine, whatever, And finally a bottle came across 45 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:12.159 the table. I go, what is that. I understand now you're drinking 46 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:15.039 it for the taste, and he was why else would we be drinking it? 47 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:19.960 He goes, We're not nineteen drinks to get drunk and reproduced exactly, 48 00:03:19.960 --> 00:03:23.479 We're not nineteen drinking Jack Daniels and bush Light, And I said, no, 49 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:27.759 that's true, and that really just fuel to fire that I couldn't put 50 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:32.919 out and just started reading voraciously about wine and it's a long story, but 51 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:37.439 really fell in love with it. Wow. So I'm curious, you know, 52 00:03:37.639 --> 00:03:42.000 once you sort of recognized that wine was wine, was there one wine 53 00:03:42.039 --> 00:03:45.080 and maybe it was that wine that was one of those aha moments? Is 54 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:46.400 there a wine that sticks out to you, whether it was the place, 55 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:51.120 the time, or maybe that specific one that set you on a path or 56 00:03:51.159 --> 00:03:54.080 mentality. Absolutely so it was. It was very blest, but I had 57 00:03:54.120 --> 00:04:00.000 actually dropped a steel pipe on my head while I was working, and fortunately 58 00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:03.000 for me, even though it was a Sunday, our general practitioner was also 59 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:06.240 my dad's closest friend at the time, and I called him saying, I'll 60 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:09.759 do yard work, I'll do whatever you need, but I'm guessing I need 61 00:04:09.800 --> 00:04:13.199 staples or stitches in my head and you said meet me at your parents' house. 62 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:15.439 So I got ten staples on the top of my head, and I 63 00:04:15.480 --> 00:04:18.160 said, well, what can I do to repay you, and he said, 64 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:20.800 Oh, I'm gonna go down and your dad's wine cellar and we're gonna 65 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:25.199 pick out something fun. And my dad started laughing and they poured me a 66 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:28.040 glass. It was nineteen eighty nine Chateau to Book, a steal out of 67 00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:30.439 shots and if du Pop, And that was for sure my aha wine where 68 00:04:30.439 --> 00:04:34.759 I go. I love Granosh. Everything about Granash I to have to see 69 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:40.000 more. So that was definitely the wine. A head injury ye leads to 70 00:04:40.360 --> 00:04:43.680 a Granosh love. And you know, some people say, were you actually 71 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:46.920 coherent enough and awake enough to know the wine? But I absolutely was, 72 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:50.759 and it was fantastic, and you remember nothing else except Granash was good, 73 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:57.480 exactly exactly. So no, it was definitely the first wine that blew my 74 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:00.319 mind to the point where I couldn't put down a book. I couldn't put 75 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:03.319 down I couldn't get off the internet reading about it. So that's really the 76 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:06.319 wine that got me into it. So so wine was a path that you 77 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:10.920 started to follow as at a young age. So obviously you said, you've 78 00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:14.240 been studying a lot, and I'm curious. You have your own property here 79 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:16.839 you and your wife make wine. If we come into your home and went 80 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:21.519 into your wine cellar or your under will. You probably have a proper wine 81 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:26.160 seller. What would we find in there? Is it a lot of domestic 82 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:30.240 wines, Is it from particular regions of the world, certain grapes, or 83 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:34.680 is it a big smattering of cool stuff. It's I would love to say 84 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:39.439 it's a smattering of cool stuff. Everybody here that works for beck At and 85 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:41.959 I at the winery say I'm stuck in a rut, but I go, 86 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:45.120 it's a pretty nice rut that you'd like to be in a lot of gas. 87 00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:47.680 Yeah, well, there's a lot of granagh, but we make such 88 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:51.759 I don't want to say the big wines. We do make textually rich wines, 89 00:05:53.240 --> 00:05:57.000 and I'm around those red wines all day every day. So when I 90 00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:00.439 get home, my wife and I really like high acid, which you'll even 91 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:03.720 see in our reds because of our limestone soils. So I like things with 92 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:10.079 a lot of acidity. We drink a lot of white Burgundy, so Charnaetta, 93 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:15.160 France Champagne. But when we're talking reds, we're pretty much cut fifty 94 00:06:15.240 --> 00:06:20.040 fifty between domestic and French wines. I have some Italian wines, some Spanish 95 00:06:20.040 --> 00:06:25.839 wines, but really outside of California and France, it's it's hard for me 96 00:06:25.879 --> 00:06:29.199 to get out of that. So, like my employees Gary and Sarah and 97 00:06:29.240 --> 00:06:31.120 Madison say, I am stuck in a rut, but I enjoy my rut 98 00:06:31.399 --> 00:06:34.879 and I enjoy hanging out there, no complaints. So is there anything you 99 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:42.519 opened up recently that tasted really good? Oh? Man, a lot. 100 00:06:44.600 --> 00:06:48.240 So for Grenosh, we had a two thousand and one Clode Caio Quartz, 101 00:06:48.279 --> 00:06:54.199 which is out of shats enough, predominantly grenache. We've also had a two 102 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:58.600 thousand and seven Domain Marcou, which is vile Vin. They're they're high end 103 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:01.399 wine, which is one of my favorite wines because even though it is grenash 104 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:05.399 and it's made in a region that can we create massive wines. They did 105 00:07:05.399 --> 00:07:11.040 a nice job of kind of harnessing that tension and bringing in some lighter characteristics 106 00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:14.800 which made the wine beautiful but structured enough to be able to last a long 107 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:21.519 time. Two grenashes, I get you now, So okay, you love 108 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:25.879 grenache, you obviously work with other grapes. Do you think there's a such 109 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:30.120 thing as a perfect variety? Oh? Absolutely not. I mean the great 110 00:07:30.120 --> 00:07:33.639 thing about wine is really there's something for everyone. Everything is so diverse, 111 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:36.639 and even when you want to take it step back from the world and focus 112 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:41.399 on passos specifically. I think that's one of the cool things about pastor Robles. 113 00:07:41.560 --> 00:07:46.279 And I think there's something like sixty varieties planted here in the region, 114 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:50.560 and so you can go to multiple different wineries and never feel like you're stepping 115 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:55.800 on each other. Even my neighbors and myself we don't make the same wines. 116 00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:58.759 We may use the same varieties, but we do different blends, different 117 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:03.319 percentages of profile, and so it's a great region to travel too, especially 118 00:08:03.319 --> 00:08:07.639 when you like differing things. Instead of just getting nine percent of one variety, 119 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:11.319 you can go to different wineries and get something different everywhere. It's a 120 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:16.000 lot of fun. So no perfect variety, but people are always kind of 121 00:08:16.040 --> 00:08:20.800 looking for guidance in that way. So when it comes to wine critics and 122 00:08:20.839 --> 00:08:22.720 scores, what's your opinion on that? Oh, I don't know if I 123 00:08:22.759 --> 00:08:30.040 have an opinion. I think that those that are looking for some guidance on 124 00:08:30.120 --> 00:08:35.159 what they might like. Really what I've view a good relationship in that sense 125 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:39.679 with a consumer and with a critic, is it brings a little bit more 126 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:45.240 solidification on what you enjoy. So you may see a score taste the wine 127 00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:48.879 to go. I don't understand that, and I don't agree, or you 128 00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:52.720 say, holy cowt that is that's my style. I love that. So 129 00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:56.159 you're able to follow that critic and kind of get a little bit of guidance 130 00:08:56.200 --> 00:09:01.120 because wines you may not have the ability to go visit the winery or visit 131 00:09:01.559 --> 00:09:03.360 wine country for that matter. I mean, our country's big, the world's 132 00:09:03.399 --> 00:09:07.679 big. So I think that it is a good way to have a starting 133 00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:13.639 point on guidance. Right, So you've talked that, you said you like 134 00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:16.320 high acid wines. When you're at home. You make bigger style, a 135 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:20.519 little bit bigger style wines here. And I'm curious if you had to red 136 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:28.720 white or rose drink or drink drink, Oh my goodness, it's probably fifty 137 00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:31.320 fifty red and white. I don't drink much rose. My wife actually makes 138 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:35.759 our rose, which I think is fantastic, but it's never something that I'll 139 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:37.879 say, you know what, I want rose, I'm gonna go to the 140 00:09:37.879 --> 00:09:39.639 wine fridge and pull that out. We do have some, and there's a 141 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:43.759 lot of wineries here in Passo making great rose and I think we Becca has 142 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:48.759 made an outstanding one. It's just not something that I'm focused on. So 143 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:52.960 you're a red and white, won't pick one? Okay, still are sparkling 144 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:56.039 if you had to pick? Oh? Still, I mean I love champagne, 145 00:09:56.039 --> 00:10:05.799 don't get me wrong. But and again probably split fifty fifty. So 146 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:09.240 you're making like a bigger style wine. You're focusing on a lot of Rowan 147 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:13.720 varieties, which you know, we know grenache or all these beautiful wines. 148 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:18.559 And then it comes down to food pairing. We talked a little bit about 149 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:20.039 when you were at home. You said, growing up you had to know 150 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:24.480 how to cook. How when you're cooking or going out to eat, how 151 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:28.159 do you how do you approach food and wine pairing? Do you follow rules 152 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:33.919 or do you have guidelines that you suggest or do you not care? I 153 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:35.919 mean, and I know a lot of people you're kind of shaking your head. 154 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:39.799 I know a lot of people say they don't have guidelines. But clearly, 155 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:41.360 if you're making a stake, you're probably not picking a reasoning. So 156 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:46.399 I'm just curious how you approach it. I probably do it backwards from most 157 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:50.240 people. I say, what do I want to drink? Tonight and then 158 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:54.080 I'll create the dish around that, and very similar to going to a restaurant, 159 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:58.360 I'll say I'm just craving a reasoning or champagne or something like that, 160 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:03.200 and so we'll bring a bottle by I always bring a bottle, buy a 161 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:09.440 bottle, but it's always based around what I want to drink. And my 162 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:11.840 wife and I don't drink Monday through Thursday, but the weekends of when we're 163 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:15.960 cooking and hanging out at the house and have the kids and other people over, 164 00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:18.759 and we just discuss what we want to have that night, and then 165 00:11:18.759 --> 00:11:22.159 we build the menu around that and other things you're looking for, Like let's 166 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:28.600 say you're going to have you know you said you do white burgundy. Is 167 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:31.600 you're gonna have a chardonnay. If you're gonna have acidity and texture, how 168 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:37.000 do you then translate that into what you're going to make. That's a great 169 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:41.879 question. And it can be that we know we want something bigger food wise, 170 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:45.120 but we want the white first. So maybe you open it at three 171 00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:48.200 thirty or four and have that bottle first and then move to red with the 172 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:54.799 food. But I don't really view there as as there being anything any written 173 00:11:54.879 --> 00:11:58.399 rules. I mean, if you're really craving a cabernet and you're having sushi, 174 00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:01.399 you're gonna figure out a way to make it work, and vice versa. 175 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:03.559 On the flip side, I mean, you compare lighter wines with heavier 176 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:07.399 foods, but make sure to have that acid that can cut through the fat 177 00:12:07.399 --> 00:12:11.639 and the savoriness. And so I don't think there's any rules. So for 178 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:16.039 somebody who hasn't had the pleasure or privilege to taste full draw wines, yet, 179 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:20.240 what do you think they're missing out on? Oh? Man, I 180 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:24.759 think you're missing out on everything. Really, what we love to show is 181 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:28.320 what we can make big wines. We like to show a little bit of 182 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:30.919 restraint on what we're doing. Is so we would like to focus on the 183 00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:35.320 finesse. You've got the acid backbone from our limestone soils. You've got the 184 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:39.279 color and the density from the way that we're farming the fruit and then bringing 185 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:41.840 it into the wine or any making. And you even have wines that are 186 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:46.039 a bit bigger and structured with a little more New French oak, And we'd 187 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:50.320 really like to focus on the texture in the mouth feeld. And so when 188 00:12:50.360 --> 00:12:52.720 you taste the wines, especially the suras, it's going to almost be like 189 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:56.799 you have velvet on your tongue and it just glides through your mouth. But 190 00:12:56.840 --> 00:13:01.120 then you've got this beautiful acid finish that helps carry out the flavor structure. 191 00:13:01.639 --> 00:13:05.120 And I don't know, I love our wines, but obviously I'm biased. 192 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:09.240 I hope you love your wines. Absolutely So, if space aliens were to 193 00:13:09.480 --> 00:13:13.200 land in your property and knock on your door, which of your wines? 194 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:15.720 So you make nine different wines, which of your wines would you want to 195 00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:20.440 welcome them with and say this is full draw? While I would love to 196 00:13:20.519 --> 00:13:26.159 say Grenosh, we do make only one wine that's one vital specific bets Grenash. 197 00:13:26.200 --> 00:13:31.799 It's called hard Point. I think our most user friendly, widely appreciated 198 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:35.759 wine is called Chopping Block, and it's usually a blend of Sara more Vedra 199 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:41.240 and Grenosh. And so you've got great fruit profile in there still because you've 200 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:43.840 got the more vet in the grenache, but then you've got the beautiful structure 201 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:48.639 and the texture in the mouth feel with a sarad and so it's it's very 202 00:13:48.759 --> 00:13:50.879 widely accepted wine. And so hopefully I'd like to do that. But if 203 00:13:50.919 --> 00:13:54.039 you're if you're really saying you get to choose one wine, it's hard point 204 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:58.559 and that would be our gnash. Well I'm going to get to try both 205 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:03.279 of them. So ha. So you've had your property for ten years now, 206 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:07.879 ten eleven years, and was it planted already or did you plant it? 207 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:13.080 There were thirty acres planted when I purchased the property, let it go 208 00:14:13.159 --> 00:14:18.679 through one harvest, and immediately ripped out fifteen acres after. When we ripped 209 00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:22.120 out those fifteen acres, it was predominantly cabernet. Wrong road direction, wrong 210 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:26.039 spacing, you type. There is a number of issues also not what I 211 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:28.279 was looking to focus on. I wanted to focus on road varieties. So 212 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:33.399 when we ripped that portion of the vineyard out, we've replanted in organic cover 213 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:39.799 crop. Let it lay follow for three years before replanting, because I wanted 214 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:46.039 to get the soil back to semi organic state before putting vines in the ground. 215 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:48.000 So we really focused on that first. But during that time, we 216 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:52.759 planted fifteen acres in twenty thirteen and then again in twenty fifteen, so we're 217 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:58.159 up to forty five acres now. Okay, So you live, you own 218 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:03.080 the vineyard you spend time. I mean, that's your baby because you replanted 219 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:07.480 and everything. So I'm curious in the time you've been here and even going 220 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:11.279 back to prior to having this. We know every vintage tells a different story, 221 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:13.519 but do you find more commonality year to year or do you see big 222 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:20.320 variation? We don't see big variation. It was actually fun. So every 223 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:24.600 year, if you're a wine club member, which we call automatic Allocation, 224 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:31.120 we throw a party in the spring and it's a member appreciation party and it's 225 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:35.080 something that we get to have fun with. We bring in bands and do 226 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:39.159 amazing food. But what we did last year was we opened up a vertical 227 00:15:39.240 --> 00:15:43.120 of every vintage of our Sara based wine called Honey Bunny. Here I said, 228 00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:48.440 I didn't think that there was a big variation, but each vintage I 229 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:54.080 could tell based on my memory of the growing season that there was differences. 230 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:58.440 Now what we do is we try to farm the same every year. The 231 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:03.039 vintage is definitely going to tell the story. Sir A. We farm down 232 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:06.120 to two to two and a half tons an acre granash we take down to 233 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:10.440 three tons an acre, so we're very involved with the cropload that we're carrying 234 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:12.759 because we know that that's going to translate into what we want in the cellar 235 00:16:12.840 --> 00:16:15.879 and make it easier on ourselves. So while I want to say that the 236 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:21.320 vintage of vintage doesn't play a big impact, there are definitely nuances and different 237 00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:25.960 differences in each vintage and you're adapting to that. So are there any signs 238 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:27.919 or predictors that you look for that are going to tell you what a vintage 239 00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:30.679 is going to be? Well, I can definitely tell you right now that 240 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:34.480 has been June gloom for six weeks and I'm ready to see the sun. 241 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:38.840 I like how June gloom for six weeks in June isn't six weeks long. 242 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.279 Yeah, I know it's crazy, and I understand that people in southern California 243 00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:48.440 actually see this weather every year in Passo. It's not that it's normally bright 244 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:52.600 sunshine at this time. We should be seeing eighty eighty five degrees, just 245 00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:57.600 beautiful weather, and it's it was missing and raining this morning, in which 246 00:16:57.639 --> 00:17:00.559 I don't know if I've seen I'm sure I haven't June, but not off 247 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:06.200 memory. But it's going to be an interesting year to see when the sun 248 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:11.160 comes out and how the growing season develops. My first vintage in Passo was 249 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:15.759 twenty eleven, and it is definitely reminding me there are different There are differences 250 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:19.559 but similarities in these two vintages, at least in the growing season up until 251 00:17:19.559 --> 00:17:23.400 this point. Now, only time will tell. Once the clouds clear and 252 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:26.839 see what sunshine we have, and we pray for sunshine, but not too 253 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:32.000 much like last year it was one hundred and fifteen for ten straight days, 254 00:17:32.039 --> 00:17:34.240 so we can take a pause on that. So there are no sort of 255 00:17:34.279 --> 00:17:37.799 predictors, but there are things that you see that you're like, oh, 256 00:17:37.880 --> 00:17:41.119 too much heat or need more heat? Yeah, I mean the only predictor 257 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:47.119 really that we have is forty inches of rain versus no rain. So that 258 00:17:47.240 --> 00:17:51.480 has only been a complete blessing for us, and not only us, the 259 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:56.920 entire state of California. See the reservoirs build. And I finally looked at 260 00:17:56.920 --> 00:18:00.119 my wife the last storm we had and I go uncle done. I'm over 261 00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:03.720 it. We've got all the raid we need. But I know that it's 262 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:08.119 only a positive thing for everyone. Now, some people did see issues with 263 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:12.599 their properties, and that's clean up work and we'll all get back to a 264 00:18:12.599 --> 00:18:17.119 normal growing season. But we needed that water bad, And in a way, 265 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:19.839 this gloom is good because it's letting the water really settle into the land. 266 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:22.400 If it was if it jumped to one hundred and fifteen degrees, you'd 267 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:26.319 be burning it all out right exactly. So I mean getting into the growing 268 00:18:26.359 --> 00:18:30.559 season and a little bit cooler temperatures is not worry for us. It's actually 269 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:36.160 helped our vines really grow and developed nicely this spring versus just coming out of 270 00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:40.680 the gate hot, which I don't know anything different because I've only been here 271 00:18:40.680 --> 00:18:44.160 for twelve years, and that's what all twelve years have been so well. 272 00:18:44.279 --> 00:18:47.039 So in those twelve years, I mean, you obviously spend time in your 273 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:48.519 vineyards, and you were just talking about how your vines look now. But 274 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:52.559 when you're walking through the vineyards, do you talk to your vines? What 275 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:57.960 kind of communication do you have with them? More of a spiritual connection than 276 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:03.039 a verbal connection. That's actually not true. I curse it some vines, 277 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:11.759 I hug some vines each each We're blessed to have almost every exposure so north 278 00:19:11.799 --> 00:19:15.319 southeast west, we have six different soil types on the vineyard, so really 279 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:21.359 we had to dig a lot of soil pits and really get an understanding of 280 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:25.720 how each rootstock was going to pair with the soil, what varieties to plant. 281 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:30.960 I got great guidance from mentors at the time, also some soil scientists, 282 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:33.960 because we really wanted to know. We knew what we had, but 283 00:19:34.039 --> 00:19:38.119 we wanted to make sure that we were making the correct connection with the varieties 284 00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:42.519 in the rootstock, because we do view our vineyard as a life source, 285 00:19:42.599 --> 00:19:47.960 not only for us, but for the next person to take over. We're 286 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:49.640 only we're renting the land. Yeah, while we may be the owner, 287 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:52.599 we're just the steward of the land for our time, and we want to 288 00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:57.160 make sure that we're setting up our vineyard to really be able to blossom for 289 00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:03.319 a long time. We're very We think about that consciously a lot and talk 290 00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:06.519 about it openly. And sometimes you have to reprimand your vines. Yes, 291 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:10.559 we definitely do. Sometimes they don't act the way I want, and that 292 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:12.960 might be the time I curse them, but it is what it is. 293 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:17.319 And we've now come to an understanding with each other. And then I know 294 00:20:17.400 --> 00:20:22.200 you're really into music. You were what top five percent of Spotify? Yeah, 295 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:26.680 I have music on all the time. So do you play music to 296 00:20:26.839 --> 00:20:30.240 the line or is the music for you depends on the time of the year. 297 00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:36.720 It's mostly for me, but in the fall, and I used to 298 00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:41.720 catch a little flak for this. Not really. During harvest, you have 299 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:45.880 what we call night shift, and so we do punchdowns later in the evening, 300 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:49.519 so night between nine and ten o'clock, if you walk in on me 301 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:53.880 unannounced, you might hear Glenn Miller band radio. I mean, you'll hear 302 00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:59.359 a big orchestra. I just I dig that. I love it during the 303 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:06.240 daytime if it's harvest, lots of rock and roll. But outside of that, 304 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:10.200 we are all over the map, e edm country, and I enjoy 305 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:12.319 everything. I think. I think each genre has a place. And do 306 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:18.519 you think the grapes enjoy the genres? Oh? Absolutely absolutely. I think 307 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:25.920 that's why we find during harvest the first couple of weeks is Saraw based and 308 00:21:25.960 --> 00:21:30.000 we're really trying to get in a good mood because you've got picking, processing, 309 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:33.039 pressing, you have a lot of things happening, so there's a lot 310 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:36.720 of rock and roll, so you get that that feeling in Honey Bunny, 311 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:40.039 which is our Saraw based wine, because it's bigger, it's richer, it's 312 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:41.680 got some muscle behind it. And then towards the end of the year, 313 00:21:41.720 --> 00:21:45.240 everybody's little burned out and we play a lot of country and so it's a 314 00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:47.880 little more than mellow. And you've seen that with the grenache based wines. 315 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:49.759 I love that. Well, we're gonna we're gonna talk about wine and music 316 00:21:49.799 --> 00:21:53.519 in a little bit. But before then, I'm curious, have you and 317 00:21:53.559 --> 00:21:57.519 your team established any sort of good luck rituals at the start of harvest to 318 00:21:57.640 --> 00:22:02.640 kind of mark the time. Now, by that time of the year, 319 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:07.160 I'm so fully invested in being in the vineyard and being meticulous on the days 320 00:22:07.160 --> 00:22:11.599 that we're picking, the times that we're picking, we also have clients. 321 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:15.079 So I'm out in the vineyard with the clients talking about their fruits. We 322 00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:21.160 sell fruit to I think six other wineries, and then it's a twenty four 323 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:25.119 hour notice. It's a let's go. You guys better be ready because now 324 00:22:25.160 --> 00:22:29.000 for the next six weeks it's a lot of work. But we also know 325 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:33.160 that all of us have done a number of harvests. We view it as 326 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:36.319 a fun time. We don't look at it, Oh God, we're gonna 327 00:22:36.359 --> 00:22:38.759 work one hundred hours this week you high five and say let's do this together 328 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:45.279 exactly. And so it's one of those things that it's a short time period 329 00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:48.319 and that sets you up for the entire year. So, no, we 330 00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:52.920 don't have any pre I guess the only pre harvest from ritual that we have 331 00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:56.759 is we probably do it too close to harvest. But we have a little 332 00:22:56.759 --> 00:22:59.480 bit of a party that goes a little too late at night and we're drink 333 00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:03.319 too many ball but that we don't view it as a ritual. It's me 334 00:23:03.480 --> 00:23:07.039 getting everybody pumped up and say all right, this is my my saying thank 335 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:08.839 you preemptively for what I'm gonna do. Kind of a ritual. Yeah, 336 00:23:08.920 --> 00:23:12.039 yeah, it is kind of a ritual. It's meant to be a good 337 00:23:12.119 --> 00:23:18.599 ritual. But some people go, oh, it's happening. So you fell 338 00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:22.480 in love with wine and started studying wine when you were younger. Was that 339 00:23:22.519 --> 00:23:26.359 always what you wanted to do or when you were a little boy, did 340 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:27.720 you have other dreams of what you wanted to be when you grew up. 341 00:23:29.240 --> 00:23:32.960 Definitely an athlete when I was when I was younger, so I started swimming 342 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:36.799 competitively. I think at the age of six. I really love soccer, 343 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:42.240 golf, swam competitively up until I was fourteen, and that's really when I 344 00:23:42.279 --> 00:23:47.079 started to fall in love with football, and football consume my life for the 345 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:52.640 next six years. So that's that's what I focused on. And I'd love 346 00:23:52.680 --> 00:23:56.519 to say that I was also a good student, but I was a student 347 00:23:56.519 --> 00:24:02.559 so I could play football, and then wine was something that you pursued immediately. 348 00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:07.759 I was still thinking about wine even while I was played football at Iowa 349 00:24:07.799 --> 00:24:11.880 State, and my last two summers off of school, was blessed enough to 350 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:15.240 have a job at a small retail store out in Colorado. I have cousins 351 00:24:15.240 --> 00:24:18.039 that own skiing somewhere bruntal shops out in Colorado, so I was able to 352 00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:21.839 spend time with them, And originally it was so I could go fly fishing 353 00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:26.119 before and after work. But then Ronda Black, my boss at the time, 354 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:29.799 she owns up shop called the Catherine Store. She knew that I liked 355 00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:33.279 shot enough Dupap and loved the wines coming out of that region. So one 356 00:24:33.319 --> 00:24:37.079 day she said, have you had roans from California? And I said, 357 00:24:37.079 --> 00:24:40.119 why would I have roans from California when I could have them from Rome? 358 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:42.480 And she told me to quit being a francophile on a snob and come taste 359 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:47.240 some wines. So she opened up a handful of wines from the Passa region. 360 00:24:47.319 --> 00:24:51.440 I was just floored with the density, the texture, the aromatics, 361 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:53.160 just everything about each of those wines, and I said, I have to 362 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:57.000 see how it's made, which led me into the internship at Booker Vineyard in 363 00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:00.839 twenty eleven. Wow. Wow, see how it all goes from there, 364 00:25:02.119 --> 00:25:06.720 from football to wine. Yeah, do you have a favorite football team? 365 00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:10.720 Well, if we're talking college, Iowa State because I played there. But 366 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:15.079 really it's hard for me to watch football anymore because of the time of the 367 00:25:15.160 --> 00:25:18.920 year. It's it's harvest. And if I do have a Saturday or Sunday 368 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:22.240 off, I'm definitely spending that time with my family and my kids and doing 369 00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:26.359 something fun because they don't know that I'm getting my ass kicked at the winery, 370 00:25:26.519 --> 00:25:30.920 so I still have to put on that chip or face and play friend 371 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:33.519 and Dad and all that fun stuff. That's how you spend your free time 372 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:38.559 is with the kids. Yes, almost exclusively. Yeah, if Iowa State 373 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:42.920 were to win a championship, which of your wines would you want to have 374 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:48.359 them celebrate? With Oh, they're definitely celebrating with Honey Bunny, the Big 375 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:51.440 Bad Wine. So that's the wine they're going to do. And if they 376 00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:56.599 get to a championship, you can guarantee it that I'll be there. So 377 00:25:56.680 --> 00:25:59.559 you don't have a lot of free time because obviously running a winery is a 378 00:25:59.559 --> 00:26:03.880 big bus and having two small children is very time consuming, and you and 379 00:26:03.880 --> 00:26:08.359 your wife work together. But when you're trying to create a romantic evening for 380 00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:11.359 just the two of you, not an average evening. What sort of wines 381 00:26:11.799 --> 00:26:15.880 set a romantic evening for you guys or you're just going to tell me every 382 00:26:15.880 --> 00:26:18.519 time you open wine, it's just that's what it is. That's what it 383 00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:23.000 is. Now, we're definitely opening up one of our favorite Champagne's, one 384 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:27.400 of our favorite burgundies, and if it's that kind of romantic evening, probably 385 00:26:27.400 --> 00:26:33.160 two or three more bottles after that. But it'll go all over the spectrum, 386 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:36.480 depending upon the time of the year, the location of the food as 387 00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:41.039 we're discussing earlier, but it will always start with a great bottle of champagne. 388 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:45.960 Always, absolutely. Now, you mentioned having some mentors, and you 389 00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:49.799 know we all have teachers and mentors and parents who give us advice along the 390 00:26:49.839 --> 00:26:53.200 way. Is there a piece of advice someone gave you at some point that 391 00:26:53.279 --> 00:27:00.839 you try to live or work by. Oh, man, I'm gonna have 392 00:27:00.920 --> 00:27:03.200 to think about that one. For me, there's a lot of good and 393 00:27:03.240 --> 00:27:07.519 bad advice, not bad, good advice for the time, and then it 394 00:27:07.559 --> 00:27:11.880 translates into something different that that was a wrong choice of words. I apologize. 395 00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:15.799 I think Eric Jensen at one point just said, keep your head down, 396 00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:18.480 work your ass off, and if you know you're doing the right things, 397 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:23.359 whether they're your as long as you're making your decision, you're following your 398 00:27:23.400 --> 00:27:26.680 heart, the wines are going to come out great. And he also said, 399 00:27:27.079 --> 00:27:33.559 never choose to make a wine based on money. Make the wine that 400 00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:36.039 you want to make, because that's going to translate in the model. And 401 00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:37.720 so I think that now thinking about it, that was one of the best 402 00:27:37.720 --> 00:27:44.200 pieces of advice I got what kind of goes back to the critics and scores 403 00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:45.519 in a way, like, you've got to make wine for yourself, not 404 00:27:45.640 --> 00:27:49.480 for so I mean it is for someone else, but it's for the people 405 00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:52.440 coming. We make wine for the people that are coming to our winery to 406 00:27:52.519 --> 00:27:56.920 taste and the great thing that my wife and I have done, I believe, 407 00:27:57.400 --> 00:28:03.519 is given every wine it's own personality. So there's so many different flavor 408 00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:07.599 profiles of what people enjoy out there that we really wanted to say, Okay, 409 00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:11.079 here, we're giving you a handful of red wines that you never really 410 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:14.599 feel like you're going to cross over into one another, because if you join 411 00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:21.160 our membership, you're getting two six bottle shipments a year, and so we 412 00:28:21.160 --> 00:28:22.839 don't want to have anything overlap. We want you to enjoy each of the 413 00:28:22.880 --> 00:28:26.920 wines as their own, versus saying, Okay, well I've got five suras 414 00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:33.519 and here you go. So I think that really coming here to the winery 415 00:28:33.559 --> 00:28:36.920 to experience that is the best way. And you differentiate these wines, each 416 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:41.079 with their own unique labels. Yes, the labels are definitely a fun way 417 00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:47.680 to do that. My wife and I started thinking about what we were doing 418 00:28:47.720 --> 00:28:51.559 for labels. Our first vintage, which was twenty sixteen, so we knew 419 00:28:51.559 --> 00:28:55.160 we had about two years of time in that window, and so for the 420 00:28:55.160 --> 00:28:56.599 first twelve months we were saying, oh, well, we could do this, 421 00:28:56.599 --> 00:29:00.720 this, this, And we were in a small town of Colorado walking 422 00:29:00.759 --> 00:29:04.559 through and there was an art gallery that had a painting of an airplane, 423 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:08.920 which is now Honey Bunny. We went into the gallery and I just said, 424 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:11.359 this is going to be one of our labels. This is amazing. 425 00:29:12.039 --> 00:29:17.240 And the owner of the gallery and I start talking, and I finally said, 426 00:29:17.240 --> 00:29:18.319 Okay, if I owned the rights and I own the piece because it's 427 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:22.119 an original, I get put it on a label. He said yeah, 428 00:29:22.119 --> 00:29:23.319 that's fine. I said, all right, well how much he was thirty 429 00:29:23.319 --> 00:29:26.799 five? I said thirty five on bad and he goes thousand, and I 430 00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:30.640 felt my heart draw to the floor. I go, We're at a different 431 00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:36.119 galaxy. I'm out of here. So I actually tracked down the artist who's 432 00:29:36.119 --> 00:29:38.119 from Huntington Beach. So if you have ever been in In and Out Burger, 433 00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:41.559 you see all the retrocar on the walls. Michael Brian was the original 434 00:29:41.640 --> 00:29:45.880 artist for In and Out and he was actually the artist for the airplane. 435 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:51.759 So I tracked him down. We had bunch together and he said he needed 436 00:29:51.799 --> 00:29:53.319 to taste the wine before he would let me put any of his artwork on 437 00:29:53.359 --> 00:29:56.759 the bottle. And I said, why, because I'm gonna let you put 438 00:29:56.759 --> 00:29:59.079 one of my beautiful pieces of art on a piece of show wine. I 439 00:29:59.079 --> 00:30:02.319 said, we're gonna get along great, You're going to enjoy it. So 440 00:30:02.359 --> 00:30:04.880 he actually commissioned that piece for us, which is hung in the winery, 441 00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:11.039 so anybody that comes to the facility gets to see that. It's a longer 442 00:30:11.079 --> 00:30:15.559 story, but basically, my grandfather on my mom's side of the family was 443 00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:21.119 in the Pacific Theater and I started reading a lot about World War Two in 444 00:30:21.160 --> 00:30:23.599 my early teen years, just because I was interested in that era at that 445 00:30:23.640 --> 00:30:29.480 time. So I started asking my grandfather questions, not necessarily about his time 446 00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:32.119 because I know he wasn't going to talk about that, but what the general 447 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:36.039 feeling was in the country on the West coast where he was stationed in the 448 00:30:36.039 --> 00:30:38.680 world, and we just got into some good conversations, and one of those 449 00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:44.039 stories happened to include the Flying Tigers, which is the airplane that is on 450 00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:47.319 the bottle. Because when I saw that painting, it brought back all of 451 00:30:47.359 --> 00:30:51.799 those memories and emotions came flooding back, and I wanted to keep something personal 452 00:30:51.839 --> 00:30:55.680 to us. And each label that we have has some sort of a story 453 00:30:55.720 --> 00:30:57.759 like that behind it. It's beautiful. So you got to come here to 454 00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:03.799 learn all the stories. So when you look back at your career so far, 455 00:31:04.519 --> 00:31:08.839 what would you say is one of your proudest achievements to date? Oh, 456 00:31:08.839 --> 00:31:14.519 my goodness, building a beautiful family. That's first and foremost for me. 457 00:31:14.599 --> 00:31:18.640 I start in your career because it's because I know it is a career, 458 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:22.000 right, I mean, you choose, I know, but it's always 459 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:26.119 fair. Children are always like you prays acomplishment. Well usually it should be. 460 00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:30.599 But that's why I sit in your career. No, I know, 461 00:31:33.359 --> 00:31:38.359 man, greatest accomplishment in my career that you feel so far, it could 462 00:31:38.359 --> 00:31:41.400 be a big thing, it could be a very small thing. I mean 463 00:31:41.559 --> 00:31:47.400 just being able to step away. Both my wife and I in twenty sixteen 464 00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:49.920 had full time positions and just to start full draw. We knew it was 465 00:31:49.920 --> 00:31:53.799 going to take both of us, so taking that leap of faith and jumping 466 00:31:53.799 --> 00:31:57.440 off a cliff head first and going all in both leaving our full time positions 467 00:31:57.480 --> 00:32:02.160 to start full draw. I think that was the biggest moment in our career, 468 00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:07.559 is just having the faith in ourselves to be able to started making wine 469 00:32:07.559 --> 00:32:10.160 at six hundred cases and just praying that there was water off after you jumped 470 00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:14.119 off that cliff. So well, I think it's quite an achievement because you 471 00:32:14.160 --> 00:32:21.039 have a beautiful facility here, You're you've tripled your production and it's been sixteen 472 00:32:21.240 --> 00:32:22.920 to twenty three. You know, you've got a good nine years on you 473 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:30.000 so far and going or seven years. Yeah, five vintages and bottles, 474 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:36.119 so yeah, yeah, and yeah, So we're things started to snowball quickly 475 00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:39.440 after we really started wine, which we've been blessed and fortunate enough to be 476 00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:43.039 able to recognize and see that, and people have really liked the wine. 477 00:32:43.119 --> 00:32:47.319 So building the facility, having our own home and taking another leap of faith 478 00:32:47.599 --> 00:32:52.200 in a short amount of time was something that we were excited to do. 479 00:32:52.440 --> 00:32:54.880 I love it. So we're sitting at a big table here, your bottles 480 00:32:54.880 --> 00:32:58.480 of wine are on the table, and there's an empty seat next to you. 481 00:32:58.799 --> 00:33:01.160 Who, from any walk of life, living or deceased, would you 482 00:33:01.240 --> 00:33:05.599 wish you could share a bottle of full draw wines. That's a good question. 483 00:33:05.680 --> 00:33:12.440 Wow, that's not hard. Winston Churchill, Oh yeah, definitely. 484 00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:15.160 I mean he has one of the greatest quotes. He has a ton of 485 00:33:15.160 --> 00:33:20.720 great quotes. Well, one of my favorite quotes of Winston Churchill is magnum 486 00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:23.200 of wine is the perfect size for two people having lunch, especially if one 487 00:33:23.240 --> 00:33:29.079 is not drinking. That's a great quote. But again, going back to 488 00:33:29.119 --> 00:33:35.319 me being a historian and buff and World War two, it's just hard for 489 00:33:35.359 --> 00:33:37.440 me to think of anybody else that I would want to share a bottle with. 490 00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:43.599 Good answer, so complete the sentence for me, A table without wine 491 00:33:43.759 --> 00:33:51.599 is like Friday night by yourself. I don't know, man, that's another 492 00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:58.960 good one for a table without wine. Like a glass without water, they 493 00:33:59.000 --> 00:34:01.519 go, they go hand and there you go, there you go. So, 494 00:34:02.640 --> 00:34:07.000 you know, we were talking a little bit about all the rain we 495 00:34:07.079 --> 00:34:10.800 had in this last year, being in a drought for a number of years. 496 00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:15.039 You think we'll be making wine and drinking wine and three hundred years time, 497 00:34:15.239 --> 00:34:19.960 Oh absolutely yeah. I mean who would have thought that some of the 498 00:34:19.960 --> 00:34:22.039 greatest wines in the world would come out of California. I mean it was 499 00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:29.079 less than one hundred years ago that that came to be. For a long 500 00:34:29.119 --> 00:34:31.480 time people were wondering if wine could be made out inside of France or Spain 501 00:34:31.599 --> 00:34:35.960 or that area. Is So I think that we will for sure be seeing 502 00:34:35.960 --> 00:34:38.639 wine in three hundred years and as long as we cannot have a short term 503 00:34:38.639 --> 00:34:43.760 memory loss of the drought and everybody using more water than they need than we'll 504 00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:46.360 be all right. Well, if we weren't and you were being sent to 505 00:34:46.360 --> 00:34:49.559 a deserted island, you know, I had to lead up to that one. 506 00:34:50.119 --> 00:34:55.119 What three wines would you want to take with you? I'd take hard 507 00:34:55.159 --> 00:35:00.960 Point, which is our hundred Pconnash. I would take Oh, man, 508 00:35:01.039 --> 00:35:06.880 you don't have to be here wines. I know that that's what it would 509 00:35:06.880 --> 00:35:15.159 be. Uh, she's probably a coach jury Marceau, the perriers from from 510 00:35:15.159 --> 00:35:22.880 Burgundy. And then we're Champagne. Man, so many good I guess I 511 00:35:23.039 --> 00:35:25.800 just have to be Salon. Just go straight, go straight at the top. 512 00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:29.840 It'd be Salon. Any vintage, I'd be good. I do love 513 00:35:29.880 --> 00:35:32.679 how of all the wines you've talked about that you said you love Burgundy, 514 00:35:32.679 --> 00:35:36.039 which you picked white Burgundy, said you love Champagne, you picked one, 515 00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:37.880 and instead of picking a shot enough to pop, you picked your own. 516 00:35:38.559 --> 00:35:43.039 I love that. Yeah. No, I mean I think that our Grenasha 517 00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:47.760 is great. I really do, not comparing it to anybody else's, but 518 00:35:49.599 --> 00:35:54.840 that wine is one of the harder ones to really nail, not because it's 519 00:35:54.840 --> 00:35:59.440 hard to make in the winery, but in the vineyard you want to see, 520 00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:02.360 like I want to see three to three point two five tons an acre, 521 00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:07.320 and we get very meticulous about how to get there. Grenache bines want 522 00:36:07.320 --> 00:36:09.519 to give you eight tons an acre. So what we have to do is 523 00:36:09.559 --> 00:36:14.360 immediately green harvest fifty percent of the fruit. Then we wait for the barrios 524 00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:16.920 a swell up and start to go through creation. And then I work meticulously 525 00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:22.719 with our crew on going through, looking at each individual cluster with your hand 526 00:36:22.840 --> 00:36:24.199 and seeing if it's the crack size. If it's not, you're taking off 527 00:36:24.239 --> 00:36:28.599 the tip, you're taking off the shoulders, something to help reduce the size, 528 00:36:28.639 --> 00:36:34.280 because we're looking at color concentration, flavor concentration, acid concentration. And 529 00:36:34.599 --> 00:36:39.400 so when we taste the wine in bottle three years later, if it puts 530 00:36:39.400 --> 00:36:43.719 a smile on my face, it's because I remember all the hard work and 531 00:36:43.760 --> 00:36:46.239 all the meticulous attention to detail it took in the meneward to get there. 532 00:36:46.400 --> 00:36:51.480 I love it. Well. Speaking of that, why don't you pair that 533 00:36:51.559 --> 00:36:59.880 wine with a song or a genre or musing the grenache the hard point nineteen 534 00:37:00.039 --> 00:37:05.000 hard point, I'm gonna have to pull up Spotify from the name of the 535 00:37:05.039 --> 00:37:10.880 song, but it's definitely going to be Well hard Point. That's going to 536 00:37:10.960 --> 00:37:16.480 be by the Turnpike Troubadours. It's called bird Hunters and or the bird Hunter 537 00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:22.679 and partially because of the label having a German short hair pointer on it. 538 00:37:22.760 --> 00:37:28.280 But that song always remembers me of my childhood. Reminds me of my childhood 539 00:37:28.639 --> 00:37:31.239 and that takes me back to grenosh and bird hunting with dogs and family and 540 00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:36.000 friends, and so it's a very happy memory for me. So definitely that 541 00:37:36.079 --> 00:37:39.920 song. Okay, let's jump over to your grenashe Blanc. Well, actually 542 00:37:39.920 --> 00:37:44.960 your Drift, which is a blend of Claret Blanche with twenty percent Grenash Blanc. 543 00:37:45.039 --> 00:37:52.760 That is going to be paired with oh man, sorry, bear with 544 00:37:52.760 --> 00:38:00.199 me. I gotta have a little cheat sheet there. Yes, that's going 545 00:38:00.239 --> 00:38:04.920 to be Moonlight Serenade by Clon Miller. Yeah, because that was also the 546 00:38:04.920 --> 00:38:09.320 first song at my wife's on my wedding, so also another my memory there. 547 00:38:10.480 --> 00:38:16.000 What about your Sunshower your grenash moved Sarabland. You're definitely wanting that buy 548 00:38:16.039 --> 00:38:21.440 a pool, so you might need an e DM song, So Sweep a 549 00:38:21.559 --> 00:38:25.199 Psycho the remix by Morgan Page. And what about your chopping block, which 550 00:38:25.320 --> 00:38:30.559 is also a GSM but a reverse of Sara moved Grenosh, Yeah, that's 551 00:38:30.559 --> 00:38:37.599 gonna be paired with a Greta Van Fleet song. Let's just call it Highway 552 00:38:37.599 --> 00:38:40.079 tune. Okay. And last, but not least, the one you would 553 00:38:40.079 --> 00:38:49.119 give to your team if they won, the Honey Bunny, which is Sarab 554 00:38:49.199 --> 00:38:55.320 with movet that's gonna need to be Burden in my hand by Stone Temple Pilots. 555 00:38:57.519 --> 00:39:01.760 Very good. Wow, I wonder your rank so high. Yeah, 556 00:39:02.239 --> 00:39:07.760 I do enjoy music. Well, Connor, I have one more question for 557 00:39:07.800 --> 00:39:09.400 you, and we're almost finished. This is it. You've been so much 558 00:39:09.400 --> 00:39:14.840 fun to talk with. What wine region in the world is at the top 559 00:39:14.880 --> 00:39:20.159 of your bucket list to explore? Oh, that's a great question. Northern 560 00:39:20.239 --> 00:39:24.239 Roan. I've done shots enough, I've done Champagne, I've done Burgundy, 561 00:39:24.320 --> 00:39:30.679 but I have not done Corot San Joseph. So the Northern Ran region also 562 00:39:30.719 --> 00:39:32.559 because I want to go to Leone and eat at the amazing restaurants there. 563 00:39:32.599 --> 00:39:37.440 But definitely Northern Rone is the next next one. My wife and I have 564 00:39:37.480 --> 00:39:43.079 been blessed to see a majority of the wine regions in the United States on 565 00:39:43.119 --> 00:39:46.800 the West coast, and then like I said, majority of the regions in 566 00:39:46.840 --> 00:39:52.760 France, so yeah, northern rons next. And for our listeners coming up 567 00:39:52.800 --> 00:39:57.440 to pass A Robelists, how can they find you and explore Full Draw wines? 568 00:39:57.559 --> 00:39:59.920 Where can they find you? What can they find when they find you? 569 00:40:00.480 --> 00:40:04.679 Yes, so on all of our labels we do have. I believe 570 00:40:04.679 --> 00:40:08.559 our website, I shouldn't say that no knowing, but reach out to us 571 00:40:08.559 --> 00:40:14.599 directly at info at full Draw Vineyard dot com. Our phone numbers eight O 572 00:40:14.760 --> 00:40:17.559 five seven one two four four one two. We would love to host you 573 00:40:17.559 --> 00:40:23.400 for a tasting. You can find our wines in some restaurants in Paso Roblais, 574 00:40:23.480 --> 00:40:30.199 which would be Lapati can I in Bloom and bl Brasserie. Outside of 575 00:40:30.320 --> 00:40:34.199 that, the best way to find us is coming here to the winery. 576 00:40:34.519 --> 00:40:38.360 And when you come here in the winery you have these little lounges set up 577 00:40:38.400 --> 00:40:45.320 where people get tastings with like a dedicated server. Yes, so we like 578 00:40:45.480 --> 00:40:49.320 to set up our tastings flight style, so you'll have all the wines poured 579 00:40:49.360 --> 00:40:52.599 out for you beforehand, so when you sit down someone we'll be able to 580 00:40:52.639 --> 00:40:54.800 sit down with you, explain the stories behind the labels, talk about the 581 00:40:54.880 --> 00:40:59.440 wines, but also be there to have fun, maybe give me recommendations on 582 00:40:59.480 --> 00:41:02.480 winers ye've been to, restaurants you haven't been to, and just generally have 583 00:41:02.559 --> 00:41:07.280 a lot of fun. And it's great. It's a modern, very cool, 584 00:41:07.119 --> 00:41:12.639 sustainable winery set surrounded by the vineyards, so you can't really beat the 585 00:41:12.719 --> 00:41:16.719 view, or the scene or the wine. So Connor, thank you for 586 00:41:16.840 --> 00:41:21.559 joining us on Wine Soundtrack and I think it's time to go drink some wine. 587 00:41:21.559 --> 00:41:23.079 Absolutely, it's been a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me 588 00:41:23.280 --> 00:41:30.079 here. Thanks for listening to a new episode of Wine Soundtrack USA. For 589 00:41:30.239 --> 00:41:34.239 details and updates, visit our website wind soundtracks dot com.