Speaker 1: Welcome to Wine Soundtrack USA. Listen to the passion with
Speaker 1: which producers narrate their winery and their world team thirty
Speaker 1: answers discover their stories, personalities, and passions.
Speaker 2: Hello, friends and listeners of Wine Soundtrack. This is Alison
Speaker 2: Levine and today I am in the very hot Lodi
Speaker 2: Valley with giroder Espinoza, who is the CEO of Lodi
Speaker 2: Crush and the winemaker of Naya Vineyards. And we've popped
Speaker 2: up in a little refreshing Alberino to get us started.
Speaker 2: But Guerder, welcome and tell us about Anya Vineyards and
Speaker 2: where we are today, which is LOADI Crush.
Speaker 3: Yes, thank you, thank you for being here. And yes,
Speaker 3: so my name is like you just mentioned, and we
Speaker 3: just opened our twenty twenty one Albergo. It's Clemens Hills, Aba,
Speaker 3: very nice and refreshing and it's actually been Asian barrel,
Speaker 3: so it's going to be a little bit more mean
Speaker 3: and altease on the wine. So yeah, so yeah, we
Speaker 3: are actually sitting in our lounge at Lorda Crush. So
Speaker 3: this place, this place, we opened about a year ago.
Speaker 3: The front portion LORDA Crush has been in business for
Speaker 3: about five years. We've been making wine for about twenty
Speaker 3: different brands and including my brand, which is an Ia Vineyards.
Speaker 2: And tell us a little bit about a NYA vineyards.
Speaker 2: Do you what do you make?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so an I of Vineyards. It's actually I'm the
Speaker 3: owner and actually the winemaker and what basically, I'm a
Speaker 3: third generation farmer. So my family has been in the
Speaker 3: farming business for three decades already, you're in Loda. My
Speaker 3: grandfather immigrated from Mexico in the nineteen forties and work
Speaker 3: as a farm labor and throughout the years he made
Speaker 3: and saved money, purchased land in the Clements area. And
Speaker 3: my uncles are the ones that planted the vineyards after
Speaker 3: they finished their universities they decrease in Mexico. I immersed
Speaker 3: myself after having a career in the architectural field, work
Speaker 3: as a project manager for multiple years in this area.
Speaker 3: I started making wine as a home waymaker and then
Speaker 3: it became a Nao Vineyards, the actual brand.
Speaker 2: Yes, And when did you start a Nia Vineyards?
Speaker 3: So I started making wine back in two thousand and seven.
Speaker 3: The brand before an Vineyards, I had a brand. It
Speaker 3: was called Vignetosa, which it was in honors of my
Speaker 3: honors of my grandmother a Naya, I mean actually Alua,
Speaker 3: it's her first name. Vignettos is vineyards, so it's yeah,
Speaker 3: it was actually after her, honoring her, and the whole
Speaker 3: brand is actually honoring the family, honoring our heritage. So
Speaker 3: I have now an Io Vineyards. That's what I'm trying
Speaker 3: to do, just showcasing the family heritage.
Speaker 2: Fantastic. And you said your grandfather first planted the vineyards,
Speaker 2: So how many acres do you have and what do
Speaker 2: you have planted? What are you working with?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so my uncle's planted the vineyards and they planted
Speaker 3: the first two varieties that the planet was Cavernouso in
Speaker 3: young and patitira.
Speaker 2: Those were very typical here for Lodi.
Speaker 3: Very popular back then as well. So that was back
Speaker 3: in the early eighties and then throughout the years once
Speaker 3: I immersed myself, I started exploring with different brand of with
Speaker 3: different varieties, and I decided to talk to the family
Speaker 3: to plant some of the unique varietals like, for example,
Speaker 3: Tempornello Alberdino that we're going to be tasting today. We
Speaker 3: have neviolo, which is a very unique variety for California itself.
Speaker 3: And actually the us, and then we have Timpornello as
Speaker 3: well and Pinot green.
Speaker 2: And how many acres total do you have planted?
Speaker 3: So we have about one hundred and eighty acres total.
Speaker 2: Wow, yeah, in one hundred and eighty acres, yes.
Speaker 3: That's about yeah. So we have two different properties in
Speaker 3: plants area. And the actually the smaller blocks that wants
Speaker 3: the unique varieties that I just mentioned, those are smaller blocks.
Speaker 3: They're about two acres to five acres each.
Speaker 2: So you're selling fruit or are you making all of it?
Speaker 3: No, So the majority of the fruit, which is the
Speaker 3: patitzia in Caberneto when young goes to a different, big,
Speaker 3: larger production winery. But the smaller blocks that we have
Speaker 3: are pretty much for our brand, or we share some
Speaker 3: of the fruit to some of the local small producers
Speaker 3: as well.
Speaker 2: And what's your total case production?
Speaker 3: So right now we're under our ny vinyears, I'm producing
Speaker 3: about eighteen hundred cases. It's a small brand. We're hoping
Speaker 3: that in the next two or three years make it bigger,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 2: And for now the wines are available here in the
Speaker 2: tasting room or are they available in any other markets?
Speaker 3: Yes? Yes, so we have it here at the tasting room.
Speaker 3: We sell online. We have it by allocation, so sign
Speaker 3: up in your and our mailing list through our website
Speaker 3: and when we release the wines, that's when we send
Speaker 3: the email for people to purchase the wines. We're starting
Speaker 3: to open the market in different restaurants Southern California, San. Yeah,
Speaker 3: it's been very attractive to the brand. So that's where
Speaker 3: we focus in our brand out of the Southern California.
Speaker 2: That's great. Yeah, So I'm curious. You said that you're
Speaker 2: a third generation farmer and that did you grow up
Speaker 2: here on Lodai.
Speaker 3: Literally pretty much in my life, I came to the
Speaker 3: US or immigrated to the US when I was in
Speaker 3: end of high school, finished my high school here in Lodai.
Speaker 3: I decided to do the farming. I wanted to do,
Speaker 3: you know, more of a office work and I love architecture,
Speaker 3: so that that was my profession for a long time.
Speaker 3: But the roots were in the farming.
Speaker 2: So I'm curious, what is your first memory relevant to wine?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so the first memory, you know, it's actually been
Speaker 3: in the vineyards. You know, I remember since I planted
Speaker 3: the first viniard And like I said, that's back in
Speaker 3: eighties literally was just my seeing my grandfather out there
Speaker 3: pruning every year, taking us as kids, you know, to
Speaker 3: to help them. You know, that was that was literally
Speaker 3: that's probably the best memories that I have had. Uh.
Speaker 3: And then after that, and then after that, you know,
Speaker 3: I started once I knew what the grapes were producing,
Speaker 3: you know, which I wish it was wine. That's when
Speaker 3: I really emerged myself into the wine.
Speaker 2: So is there one particular wine or an experience that
Speaker 2: was one of those aha moments for you that kind
Speaker 2: of either set you on the path that you decided
Speaker 2: that you were going to give up architecture and become
Speaker 2: a wye maker, or maybe just you know, enjoying wine.
Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely so. So like I said, I started making
Speaker 3: wine for our you know, as a home wine maker
Speaker 3: and my literally in my garage. I created the first barrel,
Speaker 3: which it was a BATITSI ra out of our vineyard, Vinoda,
Speaker 3: and and I remember that, you know, we all liked it.
Speaker 3: I was giving it away to families and friends, the
Speaker 3: bottles we bottled it. We did everything ourselves. And then
Speaker 3: I decided to enter the State Fair Home Winemakers competition.
Speaker 3: I want a double gold, right, So I was like,
Speaker 3: all right, I did something right, I did something good. Uh,
Speaker 3: And that's what Literally, this kind of made my mind
Speaker 3: to open a brand, you know, talk to star a brand,
Speaker 3: and you know, and I, you know, to start talking
Speaker 3: to multiple friends and families about you know, let's just
Speaker 3: open a brand and and start you know, talking to
Speaker 3: other winemakers. You know, Hey, you know what's it take
Speaker 3: to open a brand or what I need to do.
Speaker 3: And the nice thing ABOUTTA is that I can go
Speaker 3: talk to any winemaker literally and knocking the door and
Speaker 3: then we'll open it and then we'll talk to you.
Speaker 2: That's great, that's community. And so I love the fact that,
Speaker 2: like one of your first AHA moments was making your
Speaker 2: own wine and winning awards. If we were to come
Speaker 2: to your home today, what kind of wines do you
Speaker 2: have in your cellar, in your collection your refrigerator. Is
Speaker 2: it all load eye wines? Is it your own wines
Speaker 2: or is it certain certain greate varieties, certain regions or producers.
Speaker 3: Yeah. You know, one of the things that I always
Speaker 3: say about myself, I like to explore. I like to
Speaker 3: find different styles, find different unique varieties. So if you
Speaker 3: go to my cellar, you will find a good variety
Speaker 3: of different wines from all over the world. I like
Speaker 3: to explore. Right now, I'm in a trend of finding
Speaker 3: what's the natural wine, you know, and that's the trend
Speaker 3: that everybody's talking about. So I'm I'm drinking a lot
Speaker 3: of natural wine classification wines. I don't know if they
Speaker 3: are natural, but I just wanted to see the style.
Speaker 3: And and also I do that because with a lot
Speaker 3: of crush, I have clients asking me, hey, we'd like
Speaker 3: to do a full cluster fermentation, you know, and I
Speaker 3: don't want to use no addition, so I want to
Speaker 3: go as natural as possible. Okay, well, let's you know.
Speaker 3: So that's kind of been my literally my school, you know,
Speaker 3: kind of just drinking the wines and exploring the styles
Speaker 3: and finding out what the style is supposed to take
Speaker 3: stastes like. And by doing that, it's just by opening bottles.
Speaker 2: And so, is there anything you opened up recently that
Speaker 2: tasted really really good?
Speaker 3: Yes, you know what. I just got back from Mexico
Speaker 3: and I was able to meet with a Michelin star
Speaker 3: chef in Wahaca, Mexico, and she started her own brand
Speaker 3: and Baya the Wallalupe. So she asked me to try
Speaker 3: her greenage blanc, which is natural wine.
Speaker 2: We're not seeing the quote marks he's using here, So
Speaker 2: I said, hey.
Speaker 3: You know what, this is perfect. I'm just exploring this
Speaker 3: new style. I said, would like to try it. So
Speaker 3: she actually pour a glass of wine for me, and
Speaker 3: it was it was nice. I liked it. It was
Speaker 3: very nice and refreshing. But to me, those wines have
Speaker 3: a little bit of oxidation and a lot of the
Speaker 3: wines that I've been drinking with a style, and this
Speaker 3: wine in particular didn't have that. You know, it was
Speaker 3: a little bit more fresher, a little bit more. You
Speaker 3: can taste the yeast, you can taste the wild yeast
Speaker 3: in the wine. But it was it was a nice wine.
Speaker 3: I was very surprised with that. Yeah, yeah, some.
Speaker 2: Good wines coming from there.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, yes, that's actually and that's where we got the
Speaker 3: idea of planting neviolo in Lora. My uncle actually, we
Speaker 3: we go a lot to Mexico and my uncle was
Speaker 3: in the Wallaalupe, Mexico, and he started tasting Nevolo's, so
Speaker 3: we noticed that there was no Nevollo's planted in this area.
Speaker 3: So we were like, all right, let's plant, you know,
Speaker 3: a couple of acres and see what it does.
Speaker 2: It's very very curious. Nebyola doesn't usually like heat.
Speaker 3: The nice thing about where we are, which I think
Speaker 3: is growing. That's why we've been very successful where it's
Speaker 3: growing is because we're right at the beginning of the hills,
Speaker 3: which is the Clemens Hills ABA, and we.
Speaker 4: Get a lot of the delta breeze, so we get
Speaker 4: a lot of hot days, but then we have a
Speaker 4: lot of drop on the temperatures at night, you know,
Speaker 4: So we can be one hundred and then a night
Speaker 4: can be sixty, you know.
Speaker 3: So it's like a forty degree difference in a during
Speaker 3: the heat season.
Speaker 2: Which allows your wines to have a lot of vicidity exactly.
Speaker 3: Yes. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So do you think there's a such thing as a
Speaker 2: perfect variety?
Speaker 3: I don't. I don't. I don't think so. I think.
Speaker 3: I think every variety has its unique you know, And
Speaker 3: I think every variety, for me, it's a it's a
Speaker 3: it's a unique wine, and not just the variety about
Speaker 3: the style, the wine making style, you know, it's unique.
Speaker 3: So I think we can all be made. I mean,
Speaker 3: we do this all the time. We we I sell
Speaker 3: to other producers producing the same variety grapes, and uh,
Speaker 3: and I taste their wines against mine, and they're unique,
Speaker 3: you know, and nothing wrong with either, well though, either
Speaker 3: are the wines. But they're just unique wines, so.
Speaker 2: No sense of perfection. So I'm curious as a wine drinker, red,
Speaker 2: whieter rose.
Speaker 3: Depending on the mood, Still are sparkling? I prefer sparkling?
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, yeah, those were easy questions. So I'm curious
Speaker 2: when you're you know, you're tasting all these wines. You're
Speaker 2: an equal opportunist with your red, white and rose depending
Speaker 2: on the mood. What about depending on the food? How
Speaker 2: do you approach food and wine pairing? And do you
Speaker 2: follow rules? Do break rules? Do you have rules you
Speaker 2: can share with us or guidelines?
Speaker 3: I do all of them, right, I break rules, majority
Speaker 3: will break the rules. But I am very particular with
Speaker 3: the wines once I gonna, once I'm at the table,
Speaker 3: I try to do as close as possible the pairing.
Speaker 3: But I just believe that each palady is different. And
Speaker 3: I can be drinking an Alberino with a peanut butter
Speaker 3: and jelly sandwich and I will enjoy it. And there's
Speaker 3: nothing wrong with that. So to me, I don't think
Speaker 3: we have to put ourselves as there's has to order
Speaker 3: or or believe that there has to be rules, you know.
Speaker 3: I think there's you. You should enjoy it the way
Speaker 3: you want to. Uh. And that's actually one of our
Speaker 3: newer brands that I just started. It's a can wine.
Speaker 3: It's under Los Cuernos Wines. And the concept with that
Speaker 3: is that there's no rules, you know.
Speaker 2: So yeah, drink out of a can, com pair it
Speaker 2: with anything, yeah, yes. So what do you think that
Speaker 2: you know, you're a small brand, You're trying to get
Speaker 2: your name out there. You you know you can build
Speaker 2: a following locally, but how do you get your name
Speaker 2: out beyond? And what do you think the role of
Speaker 2: wine critics and scores play in that for someone like
Speaker 2: you or just in general and how you look at wine?
Speaker 3: Yes? And and I think they're important for the brand
Speaker 3: when they're starting, uh, and not not just when they're starting,
Speaker 3: but I think they're they're important to get them reviewed.
Speaker 3: A lot of the times. What I have done myself
Speaker 3: is I get too stuck with the same wine every year,
Speaker 3: right and and and there's nothing wrong with that, I
Speaker 3: mean it's selling, but then I wanted to I want
Speaker 3: to be since I'm been in the architectural side of it,
Speaker 3: I like to get critique. So I do the same
Speaker 3: thing with my wines. I like to submit these wines
Speaker 3: to particular competitions or magazines for reviews because I like
Speaker 3: to get feedback of you know, or I'm at or
Speaker 3: or what kind of score are going to be getting,
Speaker 3: you know, depending on the wine.
Speaker 2: Right, And maybe you won't change your style, but it'll
Speaker 2: give you some context.
Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely, and like and like I mentioned earlier, you know,
Speaker 3: I like to be I like to explore. I like
Speaker 3: to be creative, you know, and I like to stay
Speaker 3: on top of, you know, what people are liking, you know.
Speaker 3: So so yeah, I think that's that's probably the main reason,
Speaker 3: you know, why I do that. But at the same time,
Speaker 3: you know, I like to to know that if you know,
Speaker 3: one of the wines is getting low scores or is
Speaker 3: getting you know, why is it getting lost? You know
Speaker 3: those scores? If and you know, so that's why I
Speaker 3: do it. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So for somebody who hasn't had the pleasure to taste
Speaker 2: your wines yet, what do you think they're missing out on?
Speaker 3: So again, I mean, these wines are one hundred percent
Speaker 3: truthful to the variety, truthful to the winiards, to the soils.
Speaker 3: I don't do no blending, very low. I don't like
Speaker 3: to use the word natural in my wines, but I
Speaker 3: like to use the word low intervention, so they're very
Speaker 3: low in you know, I don't I don't. I try
Speaker 3: to stay away with with any additions from the vineyards
Speaker 3: all the way to the wine making. So that's one
Speaker 3: of the main keys that I try. I like to
Speaker 3: promote about the wines that you're going to taste, truthful
Speaker 3: to the variety. Now, I do play a little bit
Speaker 3: with with with the wine making. So like for example,
Speaker 3: this wine that we're tasting, it's an Albadino. Uh. Typically
Speaker 3: Alberdinos are fermented on stain is still thanks uh, this
Speaker 3: one in particular, I like to do it in barrels,
Speaker 3: you know. So I like to fermented in barrels and
Speaker 3: let it age for twelve months in the in the
Speaker 3: barrel before I bottle it. And then even after that,
Speaker 3: I like to let it age a little bit on
Speaker 3: the bottle before I release it. So you know, that's
Speaker 3: just a different style that I'm trying to to bring
Speaker 3: you know, so again bringing that high acid. How are
Speaker 3: the sassets a little bit of crispy, But it's a
Speaker 3: little bit more mineral minerality in the wine. So you
Speaker 3: can enjoy it in a nice hot day, or you
Speaker 3: can enjoy it under the fireplace. You know.
Speaker 2: So the train just went through the town of Lodi,
Speaker 2: right across the train tracks, right across the street from
Speaker 2: your taste room. And we heard the train go by,
Speaker 2: and some space aliens got off the train, you know
Speaker 2: they didn't They came in via train this time, and
Speaker 2: they walk up to your door. Which of your wines
Speaker 2: would you want to say welcome to you know, Anaya vineyard? Welcome,
Speaker 2: Welcome and taste my wines?
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, yeah. I will probably get them started with
Speaker 3: an albino or probably get them the pino grease, which
Speaker 3: the pino gree is a skin contact fermented so let
Speaker 3: it let us let us sit on skins for about
Speaker 3: thirty six hours before I press it. So I just
Speaker 3: stem the fruit and throw the stans back to the
Speaker 3: to the to the to the skins, and then I
Speaker 3: press it all thirty six hours later. So that brings
Speaker 3: you more a little bit more tan its a little
Speaker 3: more acids, uh, and then also a little bit of color.
Speaker 3: So you know, that's always a fun wine because people
Speaker 3: get intimidated. This is a you know, this looks like
Speaker 3: like a little copper, like a little orange wine. But
Speaker 3: it's not. It's just you know, the style.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you're gonna welcome them with something a little weird,
Speaker 2: a little different, but textured and fun.
Speaker 3: To me, that just gets some motivated. Okay, so what
Speaker 3: else you have? You know? And then I start pulling
Speaker 3: out all the other wines and start showcasing all the
Speaker 3: other brands.
Speaker 2: So we're here. You said you have one hundred and
Speaker 2: eighty eight, one hundred and eighty acres. I can't speak
Speaker 2: right now. It's a number of big number. Do you
Speaker 2: spend a lot of time in the vineyard?
Speaker 3: I do. I do. That's probably where my wine making
Speaker 3: comes out of. You know, I have a good mentor,
Speaker 3: and with her we spend a lot of times in
Speaker 3: the vineyards. So her philosophy, which is now my philosophy,
Speaker 3: is the wine has to be produced in the vineyards.
Speaker 3: So I like to, even with my clients and a
Speaker 3: load of crush, I like to visit the vineyards before
Speaker 3: they bring the fruits, or before we even commit to
Speaker 3: make the wines for them, you know, I would like
Speaker 3: to see how the farming procedures are. I like to
Speaker 3: see how the fruit is gonna look before it gets
Speaker 3: to the winery. My gold with that is to bring
Speaker 3: the fruit in and just babysit the wines through and
Speaker 3: have to manipulate the wines at the winery.
Speaker 2: So in the years that you've been now managing the
Speaker 2: vineyard and making wine, we know, every vintage tells a
Speaker 2: different story, and you're trying to make wines that express
Speaker 2: the grape. But how much variation do you see your
Speaker 2: toy year in a place like lod Eye.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, particularly the last couple of years, it's
Speaker 3: been the weather's been crazy, so it's been all over
Speaker 3: the war to be honest. So yeah, I mean that's
Speaker 3: that's probably, you know, the last couple of years has
Speaker 3: been very unpredictable for us, For me, for myself, just
Speaker 3: because I like to stay truthful to the to the
Speaker 3: variety and to the soils and to the you know,
Speaker 3: to the climate change.
Speaker 2: Previously, was it more consistent or has it always given
Speaker 2: you sort of a run for your money?
Speaker 3: No? I think it has been. It was a little
Speaker 3: bit more consistency, you know. I mean the last couple
Speaker 3: of years, we've been seeing wet years, we've been seeing
Speaker 3: hot years. You know, who knows how this year is
Speaker 3: going to be. You know, we're already seeing the heat,
Speaker 3: so I mean it's going to be a dry year,
Speaker 3: you know, so we might have to have the fruit
Speaker 3: pig earlier, you know, and and not enough you know,
Speaker 3: probably not enough ripeness, you know, So all of that
Speaker 3: is just going to be part of the fun, you know,
Speaker 3: when we're gonna pick.
Speaker 2: Are there any sort of signs or omens that you
Speaker 2: look for that tell you what a vintage is going
Speaker 2: to give you?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I think there is. I think there's
Speaker 3: a there's always during voration, you know, that's when we
Speaker 3: start seeing, you know, how the fruit is going to
Speaker 3: come out, I mean, or what we're going to be
Speaker 3: looking this year. I think we're seeing that the mines
Speaker 3: are a little bit heavier with fruit, so we've been
Speaker 3: doing a lot of thinning. But I think it's going
Speaker 3: to be a good year. I think, you know, we
Speaker 3: have enough water in the soil, and obviously this heat
Speaker 3: is not helping a lot but I think it's going
Speaker 3: to be a I think there's going to be a balance.
Speaker 2: So all signs point to a good harvest, but we
Speaker 2: never know.
Speaker 3: We never know exactly. Yes, who knows it might rain tomorrow.
Speaker 2: So I'm curious, do you, since you are making your
Speaker 2: wine in the vineyard and you spend a lot of
Speaker 2: time in the vineyard, do you have a tendency to
Speaker 2: walk through the vineyard and talk to your vines?
Speaker 3: If I have to tell you the truth, probably probably.
Speaker 3: I try not to do it when people as around,
Speaker 3: They're going to be thinking that, what is this crazy
Speaker 3: guy doing out there? You know. But but that's a
Speaker 3: that's a good, that's a that's a good. I'm going
Speaker 3: to tell you a little story because my uncle, he
Speaker 3: didn't knew that I was coming to the vineo one
Speaker 3: day and it was early in the morning. It was
Speaker 3: through right before harvest. So I'm walking through the vineyard
Speaker 3: and I hear someone singing and I got are and
Speaker 3: closer and it was my uncle. I didn't know who
Speaker 3: it was, so I was like, oh, he's just you know,
Speaker 3: and he was just singing into through the through the vines,
Speaker 3: you know. So I asked him. I say, what are
Speaker 3: you doing, he goes, So, I'm singing to the vines.
Speaker 3: So so yes, so so do you sing to the vine?
Speaker 3: I haven't done it. I haven't done it, but I
Speaker 3: have seen it.
Speaker 2: So do you have any aside from your uncle singing
Speaker 2: to the vines, do you have any sort of good
Speaker 2: luck rituals that you do at the start of harvest,
Speaker 2: whether it's you personally or for you and your team.
Speaker 3: You know, we I try to do like a pre
Speaker 3: harvest dinner, you know, but typically the fam my family,
Speaker 3: my uncles were pretty close. I think our main uh,
Speaker 3: it's during the first pick. We all get together at
Speaker 3: the vineor even if it's or if if it is
Speaker 3: a machine pick or if it's a hand pick, we
Speaker 3: all are all there at the vineyar and typically we
Speaker 3: stay there after after the harvest, after the worker leave
Speaker 3: and everything an open few beers or bottles of wine.
Speaker 3: And that's been, you know, pretty consistent. You know, like
Speaker 3: every year we do pretty much do the same.
Speaker 2: Yeah, family tradition.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, And it's not like we I think it's
Speaker 3: just natural, you know that we just all meet there.
Speaker 3: We knew that we know that it's going to be
Speaker 3: the first pig and we just all meet there and
Speaker 3: you know, someone brings the beers, someone weaves the wines,
Speaker 3: you know, especially I mean obviously I bring the wines.
Speaker 3: They expected the wine from me. But yeah, that's typically
Speaker 3: what we do before harvest, and we do it also
Speaker 3: at the end of harvest. At the end of harvest,
Speaker 3: I tried to do a barbecue for the family and
Speaker 3: for the workers every year.
Speaker 2: So yeah, you got to start with wine and food
Speaker 2: and end with wine and food and then eat in between.
Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely, yes.
Speaker 2: So when you were little, what did you want to
Speaker 2: be when you grew up? Did you always want to
Speaker 2: be an architect? Is that what you knew you wanted
Speaker 2: to do or did you have other aspirations?
Speaker 3: No? I always always knew that I wanted to be
Speaker 3: an architect. Yeah, I always did.
Speaker 2: And do you miss being an architect?
Speaker 3: I do. But you know, it's funny because now I'm
Speaker 3: taking architecture into a wine making you know. So I'm
Speaker 3: designing my own wines, I'm designing wines for other clients.
Speaker 3: I'm helping. I'm pretty active, so I like to help
Speaker 3: a lot with the graphic design portion of it or
Speaker 3: with the MSHO brand. So I think the creativity is
Speaker 3: still there, but now it's in a different, completely different industry.
Speaker 3: But I do kind of like compare all lot to
Speaker 3: the architecture side of it.
Speaker 2: And when you're not working making your wine or wine
Speaker 2: for twenty other people, what do you like to do
Speaker 2: in your free time?
Speaker 3: I like to swim a lot. I'm a big swimmer.
Speaker 3: I like to swim, and I like to bicycle. Now
Speaker 3: with my son, we've been riding a lot of motorcycles. Oh,
Speaker 3: we've been. He just turned eighteen, so he's he just
Speaker 3: bought his own motorcycle. So we've been riding a lot
Speaker 3: with him. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Do you think your son's going to follow in your footsteps?
Speaker 3: Yes, I think he's already. He already is. Yes, he's
Speaker 3: already working in the back and helping me with a
Speaker 3: with the wine making. I'm giving him two years to
Speaker 3: go work somewhere else before he comes back and works
Speaker 3: for me.
Speaker 2: He got to train him somewhere else that they don't
Speaker 2: take you for granted.
Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely, yes.
Speaker 2: So when you are when you're do you have a
Speaker 2: sports team, I should say, do you have a Are
Speaker 2: you a big soccer fan, a big American football fan?
Speaker 2: Or basketball?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I mean, I grew up playing soccer, and I've
Speaker 3: been watching soccer since I remember. That's been just in our,
Speaker 3: in our, in our, I like European soccer. Who's your team.
Speaker 2: Going into the finals here?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: So I'm curious if Real Madrid we was to win
Speaker 2: the euro Cup or any of the big championships, which
Speaker 2: of your wines would you want to present them with
Speaker 2: to say congratulations.
Speaker 3: I will have to stay with the Timpreneos, right, that's
Speaker 3: a Spanish, great Spanish, and I was starting with the
Speaker 3: Albo and finished with the Temporneo.
Speaker 2: So when you look back at your life, you know,
Speaker 2: people give us advice all the time, teachers, parents, mentors.
Speaker 2: Is there a piece of advice that somebody gave you
Speaker 2: at any point in your life or career that you
Speaker 2: carry with you and try to live or work by.
Speaker 3: Oh my god. Yeah, that's a good question. I think
Speaker 3: I have gone so many good advices throughout my life.
Speaker 3: But I think on the business side, I will have
Speaker 3: to say that Mark Nerd and my partner and loa crush,
Speaker 3: He's been very helpful with the with the business side.
Speaker 3: He's very successful and his own business. And but I
Speaker 3: think you know, between him and Heather Pile, which is
Speaker 3: my on the on the why makeing side, I think
Speaker 3: both of them are been very I mean I don't
Speaker 3: recall one in particular, advice in particular, but I think
Speaker 3: they are the ones that I can consider my mentors
Speaker 3: on both sides of my business.
Speaker 2: And if you could give a piece of advice to
Speaker 2: our listener's day, what kind of advice would you want
Speaker 2: to give them? If you can't tell me something you
Speaker 2: live by, what can you share in return?
Speaker 3: I think the main key for any type of business,
Speaker 3: uh is perseverance, you know, and and have a plan,
Speaker 3: you know, always find a mentor, you know. I think
Speaker 3: to me that's been probably my main key, finding the
Speaker 3: right person to help me when I don't have the
Speaker 3: tools maybe or when I don't have the knowledge, you know,
Speaker 3: finding finding that the people, those persons or those you
Speaker 3: know mentors to to help you see things different, you know,
Speaker 3: and I just get stuck on one thing.
Speaker 2: Well, it seems like your mentors gave you advice through action,
Speaker 2: not by words.
Speaker 3: I think both of them right, I mean, I think
Speaker 3: it's been both. I think with you know, with Heather,
Speaker 3: she's been you know, we've been with actions. And then
Speaker 3: also we when we taste the wines, you know, it's
Speaker 3: just you know, we typically sit down periodically and taste
Speaker 3: through all the wines in the cellar and see how
Speaker 3: they're developing, and and and so I think both, you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So when you look back at your career, and
Speaker 2: this can go back into architecture as well, what would
Speaker 2: you say is one of your proudest achievements so far?
Speaker 3: Oh, that's a good one. I think having having my
Speaker 3: own brand it has been one of my products achievement.
Speaker 3: And being able to showcase my family's heritage. I think
Speaker 3: that's probably been one of the biggest being able to
Speaker 3: say that this brand was or is in honor of
Speaker 3: my grandfather. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, I'm now going to ask you a thought
Speaker 2: provoking question after you mentioned your grandfather. But we're sitting
Speaker 2: at a very big table here as the train goes
Speaker 2: by yet again. But we're sitting at a very big
Speaker 2: table in here. We've got a glass of your wine
Speaker 2: on the table, and I'm curious. There's an empty seat
Speaker 2: sitting next to you, and who from any walk of life,
Speaker 2: living or deceased, famous or not famous, would you want
Speaker 2: to be sitting there drinking a bottle of an Aya
Speaker 2: wines with.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think, I mean, I will have to say,
Speaker 3: the first person will be my grandfather.
Speaker 2: Right, did you ever get to taste your wine?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 3: Yeah, he did. Him and my grandmother. I mean they've
Speaker 3: been gone for quite a bit, but I think they
Speaker 3: were a yeah, they did taste in the wines. My
Speaker 3: grandmother was on my early station career when I was
Speaker 3: that she was able to see her brand her or
Speaker 3: the first brand that I that I did for her,
Speaker 3: or honor of her. But if I have to say
Speaker 3: who I want to be sitting next to in the
Speaker 3: out of the world, who would I Who would that be?
Speaker 3: I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 2: If it comes to you can let me know.
Speaker 3: I think I have too many, too many people in line, so.
Speaker 2: Complete this sentence. For me, a table without wine is.
Speaker 3: Like having no dinner.
Speaker 2: Now I'm hungry, you know.
Speaker 3: That's and that's one of the things that I say,
Speaker 3: you know, what, why why whine? I say that, I
Speaker 3: think it's part of just her, you know, for us,
Speaker 3: is for my family, uh and myself including myself, of
Speaker 3: you know, I have to have it at dinner. So
Speaker 3: when I do my wines. I'm always comparing and what
Speaker 3: I'm gonna pair with? You know what I'm gonna drink
Speaker 3: this wine with, and that's it, you know So I
Speaker 3: think it's very very important to for for me when
Speaker 3: I do the wines, you know what, I what am
Speaker 3: I going to be able to pair it with? You know? So?
Speaker 3: So I think, speaking for myself, I think there's always
Speaker 3: there's always a bottle of wine at dinner.
Speaker 2: So we're sipping the Saberina. What would you pair it with?
Speaker 3: Peanut butter and jelly? No? No, I think I think
Speaker 3: I think this wine is I mean, it's one of
Speaker 3: those wines that I can say seafood, you know, because
Speaker 3: that's the traditional right Alberino, nice Chris. But I think
Speaker 3: it's also very minerality. I think, uh a nice cheese.
Speaker 3: Will We'll go with good with it? You know? Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, but if there's something that I can say,
Speaker 3: because I just had it not too long ago, a
Speaker 3: fish stuggle. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So you were talking about how, you know the last
Speaker 2: few years have been kind of crazy with the climate.
Speaker 2: It's you know, Mother Nature has kind of thrown some
Speaker 2: some shockers, you know, in extreme directions of rain to heat, rain,
Speaker 2: to heat, and we know that climate change is happening.
Speaker 2: I think we'll be drinking wine in three hundred years,
Speaker 2: making wine in three hundred years.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I think we're gonna We're gonna be adjusting ourselves
Speaker 3: to mother Nature. Yes, absolutely, I think I think wine
Speaker 3: has been forever in our in our history, or you know,
Speaker 3: I think any sunway or you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and if if if somehow the world was ending
Speaker 2: and you were going off to a deserted island somewhere,
Speaker 2: what three wines would you want to take with you?
Speaker 2: Any wines. They can be yours or anything else. They
Speaker 2: can be grapes places. What three wines do you know?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I think so like I think I will bring
Speaker 3: I love maybe all is probably one of my favorite
Speaker 3: from where Piamonte, Yeah, Piamonte, Uh yeah, I think I
Speaker 3: will bring a uh you know, maybe allow. I like
Speaker 3: covering next on one Young's. You know, that's just the
Speaker 3: king of the grapes, you know, or the king of
Speaker 3: the wines. So I like a nice cap. I don't
Speaker 3: like a big cap, but I like a very nice
Speaker 3: French style wine Caverra nice one. Young Whish are a variety.
Speaker 3: I don't know, Probably those.
Speaker 2: Two two reds. Yeah, okay, well, I you know, I
Speaker 2: know those questions sort of throw you off a little bit,
Speaker 2: So I'm gonna throw you one more question, one more.
Speaker 2: It's it's just as we come to an end, we're
Speaker 2: gonna have a little funnier. You've been having fun so far, right.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, those questions.
Speaker 2: Hey, so we're gonna ask one more. We're gonna play
Speaker 2: our little game at the end. Now where we're gonna
Speaker 2: pair wine with music. You know it's called wine soundtrack, right,
Speaker 2: so wine and soundtrack. So I want you to tell
Speaker 2: me the soundtrack you want to pair with your wines.
Speaker 2: Let's start with your Alberino.
Speaker 3: Alberino okay, so Alberdinho. I think we were talking a
Speaker 3: little bit about it, salsa maybe you know, the generous
Speaker 3: auntshol some merenge. I think it goes good with it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, nice your skin contact, Pino Gray. I'm intrigued.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a little bit more uh more on the
Speaker 3: uh uh what can I pair it with? Maybe like
Speaker 3: a alternative kind of you know, kind of a little
Speaker 3: bit of the pad, you know, like maybe some slow
Speaker 3: rock and roll.
Speaker 2: Yeah, your temporneo tempornello.
Speaker 3: Well, I mean traditionally I think I will say flamenco
Speaker 3: you know, flamenco U. But I think I think that
Speaker 3: in Mexico we call it throva, which is more like
Speaker 3: a guitar plays, you know, like a solo.
Speaker 2: Okay, And Lodine nevolo, that's.
Speaker 3: A wild one. Well, I think that one. I like
Speaker 3: to me, that's like a party wine. I don't know,
Speaker 3: because it's it's a very it's a light wine in color,
Speaker 3: but high Tani's high acids, right, and it ages longer.
Speaker 3: So I mean I would have to say that one
Speaker 3: is a little bit more like a I don't know,
Speaker 3: like a classic, not classic, maybe like a classic rock.
Speaker 2: Kind of Okay, say not so bad. You got different
Speaker 2: styles of music with different styles of wine everywhere. It's
Speaker 2: all about diversity. Well you survived, you did great see
Speaker 2: Deep Breath down. So I have one last question, and
Speaker 2: it's a pretty simple one. It's got two parts. The
Speaker 2: first is I know you just got back from Mexico.
Speaker 2: I know you've been divided Guadaloupe. You've explored wine regions.
Speaker 2: What wine region is the top of your bucket list
Speaker 2: that you want to get.
Speaker 3: To and explore? Oh yeah, I do want to go
Speaker 3: and explore Italy and that's in April.
Speaker 2: You're going, Yeah, I'm going, You're going to check off
Speaker 2: your bucket.
Speaker 3: List, check out my fuckle list. That's been in my
Speaker 3: sense since we start, since we planted the first the vineyard,
Speaker 3: I said, I need to go to Italy, you know,
Speaker 3: and I haven't had a chance. I've been tasting a
Speaker 3: lot of wines from different regions in Italy, but I
Speaker 3: haven't actually been there. And I think me and my
Speaker 3: girlfriend are going to go in and in April and
Speaker 3: explore Italy. And the first region that I want to
Speaker 3: try is probably pi A monte Y.
Speaker 2: Sounds like a plan, yes, yes, And the other part
Speaker 2: of the question is if someone wants to come and
Speaker 2: taste your wines, how can they find you? Where can
Speaker 2: they find you? Tell us?
Speaker 3: Yeah, So are so load I Crush. Like I mentioned earlier,
Speaker 3: it is a custom crush facility. We're making wines from
Speaker 3: multiple brands, but the front portion, which is we call
Speaker 3: it the lounge a load I Crush. We are showcasing
Speaker 3: for different brands, including Mine or Plus Mind, so it's
Speaker 3: fight five brands totaled. So we're in the middle of
Speaker 3: down the heart of downtown Lodai, twenty one East Elm Street.
Speaker 3: We have a website, we have Instagram, the lounge, a
Speaker 3: load of load I crush. You can find us either
Speaker 3: way and for a naya you can buy online and
Speaker 3: again looking to your local restaurant. You might find it there.
Speaker 3: I yeah, you never know.
Speaker 2: You never know. Yeah, well, Jiarda, thank you for joining
Speaker 2: us on Wine Soundtrack. It is a charming tasting room
Speaker 2: you get to. It is in downtown Lodai, which is
Speaker 2: a charm little tone and it's nice and air conditioned
Speaker 2: in here, so if you're here in the summer when
Speaker 2: it's one hundred plus degrees, you can have a rare
Speaker 2: freshing glass of Albarino, some air conditioning and chill out
Speaker 2: in this super cool space. Suroda, thank you for joining us,
Speaker 2: and I hope you had a good time, and I'll
Speaker 2: say cheers, cheers.
Speaker 3: Hope to see you back again soon for sure.
Speaker 1: Yes, thanks for listening to a new episode of Wine
Speaker 1: Soundtrack USA. For details and updates, visit our website windsoundtrack
Speaker 1: dot com.