Alex Baer, owner/winemaker of ALLBAER Wines discussing his story of how he started in the wine industry and his journey to ALLBAER Wines.
want to uh welcome Pastor Robel wife
Fanatics uh I’m sure we’re going to have
people are going to join in here as we
go along but we might as well get
started I want to respect Alex’s time I
uh just wanted to make a couple uh brief
uh announcements um one uh the
glasses they’re coming okay I ordered
some so they’ll be available
shortly um some will be avail ailable to
pick up in
Paso
um uh so that’ll happen soon I’ll make
an announcement as soon as it all comes
together and one other thing is there’s
going to be another
party um the reason for that it is going
from November we had a party but we’re
going to move it to April is because
it’s really
um it’s it’s not November is difficult
we pulled it off but that’s not a
repeatable uh time frame with Harvest
Harvest was very early this year um so
the norm normal way would be and Alex
can attest it is that you start late
maybe right after Labor Day and it
should carry through
into early November would that be about
right Alex yeah for most years I would
say so so we’re trying to avoid that
that and then with the holidays pressing
up Thanksgiving and then course
Christmas we’re going to try to move it
the the weather is more predictable in
April so every April we’ll have an
another event and we’ll have a new set
of wine makers I’m not going to tell you
who’s participating at but the lineup is
good so April 22nd save the date if
you’re interested and I’ll uh be
releasing some information in the next
few weeks uh so you can uh
uh join in we’re hoping you’re going to
show up so anyways tonight we have Alex
bear from Al be wine and um we’re really
excited to have him he has quite a
resume and uh I think you’re gonna
listen you’re G to be interested in the
story and the wine is really really good
so I’m gonna hand it over to Jason and
carry it
away thank you
Mike give me just a sec while while I
get the video back up here there we go
Cheers Cheers uh by the way
um if anybody’s having a wine that
they’d like to
share I don’t know my camera never can
pick it up I am enjoying
the uh 2020 s vasy um ouch I have had uh
all of uh 2019s and love them all um
only the sarra and sanio of 2020 have I
opened to test so far and both have been
spectacular but we will uh come back to
that uh later on uh so let me kind of
talk a little bit about how while we
will go through the conversation uh as
we typically do though this one will be
slightly different and I’ll explain why
uh we generally like to get to know uh
you Alex as a person before you as a
wine maker so we’ll talk a little bit
about kind of your background non- wine
related uh just get to know you um you
have such uh an interesting uh
background in wine that will probably
allocate a little bit more time for that
uh and dig in less to your basketball
experience and that kind of stuff um and
a little bit more probably on the wine
just because we do have limited time and
there’s a lot uh a lot to dig into there
that uh is pretty exciting so U if that
works for you we’ll get started yeah it
sounds great all right wonderful well
thank you again for joining thank you
everybody who has dialed in uh we
apologize by the way that there any
confusion on the time uh initially
Facebook messed up and showed a 5:00 pm
time slot so hopefully we didn’t lose
anybody to that uh but thank you all for
uh dialing in um I’m personally super
excited about this conversation because
I’m a big fan of uh these wines that you
are making Alex um but before we talk
about the wine as I stated we want to
know uh about you and what you did
before wine I know you uh grew up um
working in the CRA Craftsman stuff with
your parents a little bit and your dad I
think was a general contractor if yeah
yeah yeah yeah my dad uh was a general
contractor and uh we moved up here after
uh here is Paso we moved here after the
Northridge Earthquake so I was born yeah
I was about three at the
time um and uh yeah my dad um kind of
took a leap of faith my dad was born so
here’s the backstory of why Paso uh my
dad was born on the same
day at the same hospital as this other
guy named Tom and um they grew up three
doors apart from each other their entire
childhood and then uh as Tom senior my
Dad’s friend Grew Older his family came
up here and they managed the um cemetery
and they still do so uh that’s how we
became affiliated with Paso at the time
and uh after a multitude of vacations
and trying to get tired of uh the
traffic and the burden of being a
moderate developer in uh the Los Angeles
County at the time is so stressful so uh
my parents decided to upend us and drag
us up here so we could be with my
godfather and uh that’s kind of how we
landed in Paso you have any memories at
three years old of that
earthquake uh no no I’ve heard stories
but I don’t quite remember the whole
Fiasco for those uh who aren’t in
Southern California the 94 North Ridge
earthquake was one of the most
significant in Southern California it
was uh 7 point something if I remember
right um I wasn’t here either I think I
was in Illinois at the time but uh I’ve
heard a lot about it uh it was a big
yeah it was significant I think it
cracked the foundation of the house that
we had owned at the time and uh yeah it
was just a perfect time to upend
everything and uh come up to Paso so
that’s how we made it here
so uh you got started early so there’s
not a lot of what did you do before wine
I know uh but you can tell us what do
you like to do when you’re not working
and and I get the sense that you come
from a family with a strong worth worth
e to a degree
yeah it what’s fun yeah and I think it’s
important um but uh I think I’m pretty
obsessive when it comes to learning
learning about everything I can about
wine I’m still trying
to look at everything in a dogmatic way
and uh see if there’s always ways to
improve but uh um I don’t know I think
besides wine I mean uh I think the next
biggest thing for me would probably be
Fitness or cycling and basketball and
trying to you
know keep my other side of my mental
capacity kind of strained to a degree I
think that that’s quite important and uh
um yeah I think that that’s uh the key
the key to uh the sustainability part of
this business is uh keeping your mind
and your body sharp so sure you probably
argue that for any business year in I
suppose but uh that’s a good point
biking Road or
Mountain uh
so um I used to do both um and I got in
a pretty significant bicycle accident uh
in July of
21 uh on a road bike and it was
ironically enough like right next to the
cemetery uh that was my H second
encounter having a kind of a significant
crash
and
um yeah I woke up in the hospital I had
no idea where I
was um
and uh after that I couldn’t uh risk you
know everything that we have going on
for a measle uh bite Trot around the
Vineyard Road so uh I had to trade it in
trade in my road bike for a pelaton so I
do that during the week and um the odds
of you know having a cycling accident on
that quite
low um and so I use that to uh kind of
do my Bas training and then on the
weekends I’ll you know RI my mountain
bike and uh we have some wonderful
Trails out here and um yeah it’s
something that I think also keeps you in
touch with nature a little bit and um
especially like dealing with uh Nature’s
variables like the rain so uh there’s
certain Trails right now that are just
absolutely singing and there’s some
other ones that uh you can’t we can’t
even touch for another month or so
so you get much basketball time
in uh I’m trying to uh reh rehabilitate
my knee so I’m trying to stay away from
um a lot of high impact kind of things
like that um so I’m doing like a lot of
knees over toes guys in between
intermittently and my uh
um uh workouts and then if anybody ever
has any knee issues I I went through uh
after a large training block last
year
uh I ended up straining myself and
didn’t even really recover until the end
of harvest and then still it was kind of
an issue so uh doing these knee workouts
and uh news over toe guy on Instagram I
mean he has in the last like four weeks
I’ve been able to make a pretty solid
recovery so I think basketball will be
in the future uh probably the end of
February so I could start training for
our we have a little men’s wck team that
we like to play on
so yeah if you’re if you’re watching
basketball and time who who are you
watching what’s your favorite team or
favorite player I was literally just
watching the Laker game before I popped
this on yeah um my parents when are big
Lakers fans when I was a child and I had
like a little Lakers bib that they put
on me like as they were exiting the
hospital um they’re big uh uh Magic
Johnson fans and classic um classic
Lakers so um for me
yes I’m Rider purple and gold are they
going to make the playoffs this
year I mean I you know I would hope but
uh with betray Westbrook or not huh yeah
well you have to give away half of your
life for that so um no I think they
should just be patient I think that’s
the most important key I don’t think
their star player wants to be patient I
don’t think he’s got enough time left no
no but the the player LeBron or the GM
LeBron no I don’t yeah same right okay
so let’s move into wine uh while
everybody why everybody is here so
you first introduced to whyne when your
dad and I’m super curious about this
your dad as a general contractor gets
his hands in a negotiation on one ton of
petite
sarra my question is first why as a
general contractor what does he know
about
whyne what’s he GNA do with a ton of
Petit s ra has he had an experience
prior to that no I wouldn’t say uh yeah
clueless we had no idea what was going
on and think we had uh uh just being in
the community I think a lot of people
just some people just make wine for fun
and uh I think some of his friends were
getting into it and um um the guy who so
the background is uh we’re building
um an apartment in a farm Barn more or
less and uh in that contract we uh
wanted a ton of grapes from the site
that we were building the barn on and uh
um that was my first initial experience
in the wine industry not wine industry
just home wine making kind of thing and
um
uh I think it was just he wanted to make
his own booze you know at that point I
didn’t think he anybody was taking
anything too seriously at that time
um and um for nothing more or less than
for the fun of it which is kind of fun
and uh uh I still think he would have no
idea if he did it again if I would ever
have the same path or end up in the same
position that I am in today I think it’s
a lot of luck and happen stance and uh
uh so yeah that’s kind of it was kind of
like a fun little niche of make a ton of
grapes you know make 600 bottles of wine
and kind of drink it throughout the year
to friends the B PE ladies at the bank
love it and uh um yeah he still makes a
little bit here and there and uh we
passed it around to the community and uh
yeah I think he has some fun and it was
made all on the same property that they
were doing work on that first that first
tunnel
yeah yeah actually uh I was making wine
there still uh 2020s were made out there
and this is uh Solana yeah yeah yeah so
not really a winery um but we can make
it clean enough to where it was
acceptable to you know be able to have
fruit intake and Barrel downs and have
my own little stuff and allows me to be
pretty meticulous in terms of you
know I think we did one lot and for one
ton it took us four hours to sort
through it so um there was no really
time constraints out there um which is
quite nice yeah so uh before jumping
into then your next move uh the other
question I forgot to ask you your
favorite adult beverage that is not
wine adult beverage yeah adult
beverage I would say a course light
light is that is that your Harvest wine
yeah I haven’t ripped one in a while uh
honestly because it’s been so cold but
I’m sure when the spring comes around
I’ll be uh taking a sip or two off of of
those yeah okay
soing your dad introduces you why after
he negotiates a ton of ptite
SRA you guys play around with this on
that property kind of make your first
vintage you get interested in this and
that leads you to pop am I am I getting
that right yeah actually uh I was
studying to become a doctor um because
uh my dad had been doing a bunch of Uh
custom wood working typee stuff for um
primarily doctors and lawyers in the
area um and so I was garnering a lot of
influence from them
um and uh I was starting to go on that
path and I had done a a program which
kind of like an entry-level nursing
program and it just wasn’t for me well
even though I had some you know decent
grades going into college and um
I just couldn’t see myself doing
especially when I’d spent you know a
majority of my life e either in the
Woodworking Shop uh after school or um
outside with you know uh building stuff
and houses and uh it was just like a
very Stark difference to what I had
experienced previously and I think this
that was the
biggest uh eye opener for me in terms of
switching my career path and um going in
a different direction
so at what point uh at school or you
didn’t go to Kali study that did you or
did you were you studying uh were you
going to Cali to be a doctor no so I was
actually um a derel the first couple
years of high school and uh didn’t
really take my grades too
seriously um and so Junior and Senior
year I started to pick up pace but I had
already blown the whole university
opportunity uh I got into quest of and
then from
Questa I was taking all of
the um nursing prerequisites just to
start and
so um yeah so I mean when it came down
to it I already had all of my
uh
um uh prerequisites essentially all of
my chemistry and science classes done
before I even went to
kpali got it so CP anology
and agriculture or agricultural
business uh yeah act business uh I had
to take like an extra class or two to
secure that so I was like oh might as
well um throw a little you
know tip at the end there just in case
this whole wine making thing doesn’t
work out uh um but yeah I mean uh our
class was super um the camaraderie for
our class and kpali was pretty
remarkable and it’s really intimate uh
we only had uh like 35 people in our
graduating
class um and so all of us were uh very
close by the time we were getting ready
to graduate and every I think uh um we
left an imprint on one another and I
think even our our college professor our
primary college professor for anology
also took away this kind of uh sense of
camaraderie that we carried from one of
the one another and uh there’s a bunch
of people around in the area that are
doing a bunch of cool things uh so yeah
are so of any of your classmates that
are in the industry that you’re still in
touch with yeah um Lady of the sunshine
Gina um Alice Anderson she has her own
project going on right now um there’s a
bunch of people uh who have kind of like
flooded around and done kind of similar
things as I’ve done um kind of traveling
and working for some pretty cool places
and haven’t really landed at a rockstar
facility as a y maker yet but I totally
believe that one day they will so uh
yeah I think there’s more than a handful
of people who had the ambition to start
their own project and uh it’s really
invigorating and exciting to see people
come up with fresh new ideas and um well
traveling to exciting places is a good
segue so you’re you’re wrapping up cowp
uh time to figure out what’s next
and uh you’re heading to
Australia do you remember that area well
where you were working in
Australia yeah tanunda yeah you remember
Railway
Terrace no all right so if you’re taking
you’re taking Railway Terrace
to uh to the Wier you were working at
what is it Elderton yeah
and you take a right to go there or if
you go dead end and take a left to a
winery
there which makes the better
shiras I’m not sure are you talking
about penfolds yeah your name no um it’s
interesting to see um people work at a
really high level really high scale and
still be able to produce uh really high
level of wine
um uh it’s not something that
particularly excites me but um uh I I
was lucky to get that opportunity
because uh
um when I was graduating a bunch of
people that I knew were already going
down there and
um uh it was only through a connection
through somebody that I now consider my
French family um who linked me with them
when I was working at Justin during uh
an internship for c h so I worked at
Justin in
2013 uh wow 10 years ago how time flies
huh right
um uh and so uh yeah I worked at Justin
2013 uh met this French Guy and um his
now wife and uh uh he proceeded to go
down to Australia after I’d been there
and um I was scouring the internet and
sending my resume everywhere and the you
know this that and the other and uh no
one was getting back to me and it was
actually only because I the only reason
I got to go was because somebody else
wasn’t able to get their visa and so I
was like at you know an 11th Hour add-on
to their uh um intern pool so uh it was
quite nice and I went with the guy who
was my manager at at uh
um Justin so uh it was interesting
because he wasn’t my manager anymore but
we were still buddies and uh um yeah so
this is Elderton in Southern Australia
right yeah how do you say the name of
the
valley the barasa barasa that’s right um
and what all so what’s your what’s your
role there what are you doing there and
what all are you guys making there I was
just uh a kid with walkie-talkie that
they let me run around the facility with
um I think uh because of the experience
of being a Justin working with maybe a
little bit of a larger
facility um Brad and I kind of had a
semi uh leadership role because
everybody else was quite green kind of
fun um but uh uh the amount of history
that that place had um the wines are
still to this day fermented in U well
the the high-end wines for them are
fermented in concrete
Cubes but it’s an open top fermentor and
so every year they have to go through
with beeswax and melt off all of the wax
and then reeal all of the fermenters and
there’s no doors the the fermenters were
made uh in the
1880s and so uh um everything has to be
shoveled over essentially a 5 foot wall
and so it’s probably one of the hardest
dig outs you’ll ever do and uh um you
know it’s still ingrains you know the
sense of history that wine in these
places of the world really
carry um I don’t I don’t think a lot of
people especially in North America
understand how old uh the wine region
wine business is in Australia but you’re
working with 100e plus old vines in
Australia right yeah correct um yeah 100
120ish and if you think about it every
every year uh if you’re driving a
tractor and you take one out
accidentally or you know you do several
wrong pruning cuts it could be
detrimental to the vine um and so you
have to be very cognizant
and while I didn’t work in The Vineyards
it wouldn’t let me do that uh the it it
becomes a very Stark reality when you
have to you know very be very cognitive
of you know this is a special plot of
land that’s been nurtured for five
generations now um and so yeah is that
is the primary difference when you’re
working with vines that old just the
fragility the delicateness of of the
vines
or what all what all you would you
characterize as the difference no I I
think the
resiliency so like uh I think those
vines vines have an ability to adapt
over time and um I think there’s
something garnered by this having this
resiliency over you know changing global
temperatures that we’re dealing with
today
um but
uh yeah I think that that’s a primary
focal point and I think the older the
vine is maybe the less you have to work
with it because it self- mitigates
itself and self-regulates really well um
where these younger Vine that are in
Paso and planted in our area other than
the Dey of course maybe next time you
guys are up in town maybe take a look at
the The deucy Vineyards on either side
of the road that are head train those
are about 90 years old um but they don’t
do much leafing on any of them and
they’re very well regulated in terms of
crop and uh I think that’s
um
um an important factor in terms of what
makes Old Vine so good got it that makes
sense so from Australia you’re heading
home you connect with
Gom Gom Fab for those who don’t know who
has the postal L label and makes the
wine for his brother at Benham uh at the
time he was just leaving lavent tour
where he was making uh Reserve wine for
hurst’s ranch if I remember that right
yep and then you you join up with him
and you’re working with him in the
seller is this which seller is this that
you’re working in is it Hurst branch no
so uh the wine
the
the the reserved wine that he was making
at the time was being processed at his
facility in 10 city and so uh I actually
met him before I graduated
college and uh Scotty and Natalie um
from Hurst and Arbuckle Ridge uh
connected me and
um pretty much just for this one day of
working for them and uh at the time he
was sharing an intern with Aaron and he
it was becoming too chaotic I think both
of them needed to do something at the
same time and they’d have to play Rock
Paper Scissors to see who wanted to get
the
intern um this is Aaron Jackson Who
shared a space with him in ten City in
the Benham space before it was Benham
correct yeah it’s crazy how time flies
huh yeah and the two of them both shared
space previously in Paso underground or
yeah so it was a perfect strip for them
and uh um and so I was uh I worked this
one day with guom and he said you know I
quite like your work ethic uh
um you know we’ll figure something out
but I told him I was already going to
Australia so it’s pretty much as soon as
I came back from Australia I was working
for him
um which close to at the time was quite
small it was only me Adrien U Solan and
Gom
so
um it was fun to see you know where he’s
gone from now and uh it’s
crazy and he made a connection for you
for your next adventure which
uh for those that don’t know this Winery
one of the most sought after Wines in
the world um tell us about what that
next adventure
is yeah so uh I went through the Harvest
of 15 with Gom and
um I would have never I didn’t even know
at the time that his brother Nicola
worked at
pitus
um and uh it was we were right winding
down the new year uh because we went
through Harvest uh we were chilling a
little bit and he said hey I have this
opportunity
uh you can go work uh with my brother
Nicola in Petrus uh for the summer and
uh maybe take a little break and then
afterwards you can go work with Julian
burrow at um uh shat pop domain
Laos um so time out I want to know your
reaction when he says this to you yeah
it’s funny um I explaining it to my
parents they’re like okay so you’re
going to
France the wineries and they weren’t
quite aware of you know the significance
of the whole situation and uh um yeah it
was really exciting but uh the thing was
is it was my responsibility to
logistically figure out how to make it
happen and uh it’s quite difficult with
French legislation to uh work in two
different areas that have two different
um they work not in the same way so
you’d have to have a representative on
either side talking to the government it
this was way too difficult and uh um so
I actually had to get like a permission
uh that this was a master’s program from
C PA to be able to work at petus and
then I just carried that
over um to domain Laos were you you
working at both of them at the same time
no uh I was at petruse for uh the summer
so so
uh um I think May to Mid August I think
and there you’re doing more bordo ridal
at petruse right yeah almost 100%
Maro they have some other plants uh but
the significance is negligible yeah um
and then it’s ran over at domain correct
yeah so um they pretty much hit all of
the
major uh rone varieties they make a
little bit of s um a majority of it is
granach and
Sino um and mored and they made a little
bit of clar
blanch the year I was
there
and how would you contrast that
experience I know there probably a lot
of differences between just those two
wineries but in comparison to your
previous experiences what was that like
in in
France well I think uh I never really
worked at a a facility or Vineyard that
really took the amount of care that they
did in petus um I really think I learned
a lot and pretty much everything that I
apply to all of the pl plots that I
sourc
from um with this kind of mentality
um and just a uncompromising push for uh
quality at all
times um and also a meticulous attention
to detail um we spend a lot of time in
that Vineyard and uh uh 2016 was maybe
one of the best vintages that they’ve
ever had um and that’s
thanks strictly to Mother Nature um
there was a little bit of a late uh
rain uh in June and July which allowed
the vines to have a little bit more
Vigor but uh the rest of the time it was
quite dry and humid so uh it was really
good Growing Degree Days and um yeah I
think I carry that mentality quite uh
well in terms of my the experiences that
uh came after that uh
um and so yeah it’s uh petus is a little
bit of a bigger team uh working with
juli in uh typically my experiences are
with wine makers and just me and them um
so there’s lots of opportunities to be
asking questions uh thoughtful reasoning
behind decision making and uh um Baro
was very cool as well because
um uh there was a one seller that was
one year old at the time and then there
was the other seller where they still
make their Liberty wine is 90 years old
at the time so you you work with these
different uh uh challenges that
infrastructure plays in terms of uh wine
production so you have these incredible
experiences in France the world class
truly uh you know some of the best
wineries in the
world then you’re heading home after
what was sounds like a difficult
experience to navigate just because of
uh you know the government uh you come
back in is it
itch yeah it’s now itch it was um
formerly known as
ipac um but yes ITC is a mobile
filtration technology company that’s
owned by man
fantini uh husband of Jordan fantini of
Epic estate
wines um he also sells wine
infrastructure such as barrels and uh
these very pretty Niel
tanks um they’re
gorgeous and what did you I’m so curious
about that work and what did you do
there well I was primarily a filtration
guy um to find a job in January in the
wine industry is like uh finding a
needle and a stack and I had known uh
Manu from working with guom and um I saw
that he was looking for somebody and uh
it was a perfect fit for me and uh um
so yeah it was nice so just go around
and filter wines and it’s pretty
lackluster and it’s a wonderful job but
uh somebody had to do it and uh it was
grateful me at the
time so you did that for a little while
you’ve had these incredible experiences
already in Australia and some in Paso
and France uh but you had an itch to do
some work in
Napa so you land at another cult WI
in at realm in Napa during
during I mean I want to say fire season
but it’s like too often fire season
anymore I guess right yeah supposedly
every year we’re shooting 50% right now
uh um yeah so uh actually I had a
conversation with Manu saying you know I
really appreciate the opportunity to
support me and uh but uh my passion is
with wine and I want to continue my wine
career and um I had applied to uh real
and heard back quite quickly and they
were very excited to bring me on and
then uh happened stantially enough um a
position in 2017 opened up at
sanon and uh I remember uh when I was
talking with Guam one of my friends was
like uh uh in 2015 hey you should apply
s ni went on was looking for somebody
then as well and I was like there’s no
chance
uh they would take me I don’t have any
experience I worked at Justin one year
and well that’s it so uh it’s crazy to
see where uh two or three years in the
wine industry can take you in terms of
confidence if you uh really have the
really great opportunity and
uh um I applied in 2017 to work at uh
cinon and uh the day I remember the day
I applied I was doing a filtration job
in in St Louis and Manu called me and
normally we work pretty independently
but uh
um he’s like hey I’ll be there in uh 25
minutes and uh we had a meeting and uh
he like you’ll never guess who uh
emailed me he called me this morning no
idea Manford yeah he got on the phone
and he was like manford’s coming up next
week to meet with
me well that’s pretty exciting and so uh
they have meeting and uh um a few weeks
later I went down and had an interview
with Manfred and uh August and Devin and
um and um I love them mean we’re both a
very big motorcycle fans so um Moto GP
for us is uh kind of like a soccer for
Europeans or um yeah it’s it’s it’s kind
of our lifeblood
um so we talked a little bit about wine
and a lot about Moto GP and racing
and um I called my mom on my way home
and I was like hey Mom you know I’m GNA
have to apologize to the people in Napa
because uh I I really think I had this
job and two weeks go by three weeks go
by four weeks go by I’m following up
with
Devin not really hearing anything back
and
um um
they ended up giving the position to
somebody else and so um I packed up my
bags and uh um headed up north to Napa
which was a quite a defining year for
them they had a huge issue with fires
that year um only a small portion of the
fruit had been brought in and uh yeah
it’s the unfortunate circumstance of the
wine industry is uh Mother Nature yeah
um did you get a chance to meet Juan
marato while you were there yeah
actually we had dinner a
few month and a half ago or two months
ago um so yeah he’s a he’s a great guy
starting his own new project rise here
in Paso I think everybody should be
quite excited for this and uh they have
Anthony y as their wine maker and I
think they have a very very bright
feature so
um I want to slow down I want to explain
for not everybody on here as soon as you
mentioned sinquin on I saw Craig start
to smile a little
bit not everybody may be familiar with
them so I want to talk about kind of who
they are too but before we do that real
real
is Colt Winery in Paso doing you know
kind of
traditional uh nap of wine I shouldn’t
say tradition doing it really well uh
Juan marato who was there for a while uh
you didn’t meet him while you were up
there though you met him yeah no we met
him yeah yeah yeah and
now Juan is in passo doing his starting
a new label called rise that’s with two
eyes r i i s e we’re looking up and
getting on his list
um
and so you didn’t get a ton of time with
realm just because you had this
opportunity materialize at sinanan right
no I uh didn’t get the position at
sinanan to start um right so I the I did
my whole Harvest I did a whole harvest
in uh uh Napa in 2017 I moved up in um
June or something like this and um so I
had a good idea of how they work with
the wines when they’re in elevage and
bottlings and things like this I think
these are important aspects of the wine
making process that uh not all the
interns really get to see
um and so
yeah and so then it’s 2018 the following
year is when you’re back this
opportunity comes up with syic yeah so
uh they posted the people in 2017 ended
up not working out and um that’s when I
uh I uh wrote them a letter highlighting
my experiences and why I felt like I
would be a perfect candidate for the
position um and so it was only after
after that that uh they asked me to come
down to have another interview and
um uh Alex I’ve wondered this for so
long because I’ve heard it so many
different ways but as a representative
of somebody who used to work there
officially what’s the right way to
pronounce that uh that Wier his name
well I think it’s sanon okay s if you
can get
that yeah I think it’s sanon aninon okay
which is actually an an actual term that
that uh means oh shoot I don’t even want
to try and represent what it means now
the essential or something yeah without
this there’s nothing without
yeah this so so they’re you know they’re
they may be the biggest kind of cult
Winery in the Central
Coast um doing predominantly s gach some
whites uh and then a variety of
spin-offs they have where they’re doing
some Blends but
incredible Winery with a weight list 10
plus years fair to say to get on uh I
know I haven’t made my 10e Mark um maybe
longer maybe longer yeah probably longer
um but it sounds like they’re doing some
new things there recently that might
change things but I I’ll digress on that
uh so tell us about your experience
there and I’m going to drop some of
these names in the chat for people that
are interested in looking up a problem
uh
yeah so it was really nice because uh we
started uh uh very early in the vineyard
and I think uh 50 or 60% of my time and
the entire time I was there I was in the
vineyard um and I think I had a
competitive Advantage with the other
people that they had hired because it
already worked at puse so uh when it
came to pulling laterals when it came to
kind of shaping clusters
um uh I kind of had an idea or mentality
of the way and how these wineries really
work and function at this level
so um and you got a lot of that Insight
[Music]
from yeah yeah yeah I think petrice was
a really defining light in terms of
understanding
vulture um
and the vulture that uh um they
implemented versus the viticulture of uh
um seinan is quite similar to a degree I
mean of course there’s going to be some
changes in terms of aspects and stuff
like that but uh uh for the most part
it’s being meticulous and really
working diligently with each Vine and
each plant and each
shoot um and so that was uh
uh kind of going in through the summer
and then
um uh uh we did did um they have another
kind of Winery called uh it’s the same
Winery but uh they have the Avenue where
they do all of their packing and all
these kinds of things um so we spent a
good amount of time there and then uh
when it came down to harvest um it’s um
as you would suspect it’s
a
uh all handson deck that’s how I would
describe it um everybody participates
and uh are they bringing in
volunteers I don’t think so at the
moment um I mean while you’re there were
they bringing in volunteers or no I
think some high uh when I was there some
um people that I was familiar with in
terms of celebrities um they don’t offer
any kind of visits really during
Harvest um just so that they have the
ability to stay strict focused on the
production of The Craft and
um yeah so we had that Harvest uh um
there was one extreme heat day which uh
uh in Late July which was uh pretty
catastrophic to the Vintage and um
something that I had never seen before
and neither had they and uh uh
thankfully enough the fruit that was
still existing was exceptional and um uh
so it was kind of a lighter Harvest for
them uh but uh yeah lighter in terms of
tonnage that they were able to P yeah Mo
moderately to a degree yeah um just from
that accumulus
state so so then and and forgive me I
know I’m just watching the clock and
we’re getting tied on time so I want to
I want to get into your label here too
yeah no worries um it’s just so much to
explore here so then you have this time
and experience here at cinon
um
and what makes you decide while you have
this incredible opportunity working at
this world class cult Winery to then go
start your own label and walk away from
that
opportunity well um yeah it was a tough
one but um uh honestly it came from I
was managing the night
shift um and
uh uh start around 1 and I think the
latest we had to stay one night or two
nights was till 3:00 or 4 o’clock in the
morning um but during that time my dad
was uh sending me
um uh numbers from our the site that we
did the building on which is now we’re
partners with this uh site called
salana and
um 26 uh 2018 was an anomaly year for us
there and uh I asked him because I
didn’t believe the numbers he was
sending me to go back the next day and
to do the thing again just so I can
confirm that the numbers that he was
getting were right and um we ended up uh
pulling off of a little bit of Pettit
raw um and uh so uh essentially the way
I managed This was um I would work the
night shift and every day you’re kind of
on colus and it went on during Harvest
so you could work uh uh for five or six
days in a row and then you go in the
next day and hey you don’t have any work
tomorrow so I’d always go in with my bag
packed especially when I knew that I was
thinking about making a little bit of
wine in
Paso um and so it just happen stantially
worked out to where you know right as
the grapes were being crushed I was
going to have the next day off so I can
go up and work with them and then
consequentially the next day I didn’t
have to go in um but uh driving up to
Paso after working all night to wake up
in the morning to go work on your days
off and then come back down to be there
in time for harvesting again is it’s a
lot of work and um I was kind of feeling
it at that point and uh um I had a
friend up here who was looking for some
extra help so I had an employe a study
employment and then uh um the
opportunity to make something of my own
as well as well so uh our first releasee
of all bear was 200 or 2018 vintage in
2020 uh we made uh a handful of these uh
um uh petis ra more or less and uh we
sold it as a three pack in a wood box um
that my dad and I actually designed and
built each one um and so yeah that’s how
all bear started and
um uh We’ve since progressed and
uh um really excited for the future tell
us about your artwork so you got uh very
distinct artwork what’s the inspiration
there yeah so uh honestly um I’m a big
fan of the fashion industry believe it
or not I think uh garments are maybe the
most difficult uh thing in the world to
sell because they all have the same
utility um and uh
it’s just uh the messaging and the
meaning behind them I think really
showcases people’s
personalities um and so at the time
actually the bottle shape came first if
you remember my previous bottle shape
it’s a little bit
eccentric um that came first and then
actually the whole idea of the brand
came behind it but I wanted to influence
something that was had a sense of class
but then also a sense of uh um cultural
influence I was not so temporary and I
think uh I wanted something that kind of
clashed but saying harmoniously together
um that’s why there’s this influence of
uh art or graffiti or or this kind of um
new AG look but then also it still is
all um has this curse of very
Elegance uh to it and um so yeah so I
think that’s the big inspiration behind
uh my the thinking of why this wine
label we wanted the wine to really
showcase uh
um and you notice that this bottle is
the same shape as my fingers crossed and
third twin are you make did you make
connections while you were there that is
no actually the glass is extremely hard
to Source right now be earlier if we
could get it sooner but uh uh it’s 11
months out to order this that glass and
the glass before I was the only person
in the domestic North America sourcing
this class um so uh in terms of sourcing
is just very difficult and uh um it’s
just happen stantial I think uh there’s
the next one I if there was a row maybe
we’ll have to go through the Ducks and
uh in order to make our releases on time
but uh as for now we’re going to
continue to stick with this one and uh
maybe we’ll have to buy enough for
another couple vintages so we don’t miss
a yeah so so uh this last vintage
2020 uh you added SRA to what was your
ganach and Sano V portfolio by the way
um I know you and I talked about this
I’m not historically a big fan of s AC
and most of that came from uh drinking
it in Italy where it’s very popular um
just a little too acidic for me yet your
saying Joy is um incredible to me I love
it I can’t get enough of it and um James
suckling apparently feels the same way
and James suckling is not uh generally a
big fan of Paso he doesn’t quite give
Paso the props that others do yet he uh
he posted a picture of your San Jo vasy
while he was in Hong Kong uh calling out
how amazing it was that must have felt
pretty good incredible huh I had a
friend uh an now friend uh reach out to
me to say if the wine was accessible who
lived in Hong Kong and well I’ve never
shipped wine to Hong Kong before but
uh any opportunity to send the wine
overseas it’s kind of a fun one and uh
uh after he received it he said hey next
week I’m going to lunch with James which
wine should I bring and um fortunately
enough the next morning James sent me a
sweet little message saying hey you know
enjoying this angio in Hong Kong I hope
all is well and uh uh little things like
that them of the needle for us and uh
and and he’s he’s he tends in my opinion
seems like he tends to favor Italian
wine so him recommending this one giving
it the props so he did as as an Italian
wine
lover and one who historically doesn’t
give hassle the props that some of the
others do to me that makes it kind of
even more of a special recommendation
yeah it’s very cool um but uh I think uh
so special thing about the sandio is I
cultivate it the whole year by myself um
it comes off of salana it’s only a 1.4
acre
parcel um and uh I pretty much do
everything the only time we ever get
anybody else really involved is for the
Harvest um and uh so the mentality of
the way that the things that I learned
from petus and S one on aren’t
necessarily applicable to the sanjo
because uh uh I think it needs to be
cultivated slightly
differently um and I think uh the wines
coming the next wines coming are maybe a
little bit more fresh uh we’re going at
it with a different kind of mentality uh
we’re still kind of splitting up the
parcel um but uh I think the fresher
pick is going to be more fresh and um
maybe the second pick which is typically
a new or once-used Oak uh that will be a
maybe a a little bit leaner as well so I
think uh if I look at my portfolio and I
could say uh which wine has evolved the
most over the course of you know the
short five years that we’ve been making
wine I would say this
one Alex I’ve got three quick questions
left but I know we’re at time are you
good for yeah I’m fine I think the
Lakers lost so it’s all
good
um
so you you mentioned kind of the
experiences you had and how they’ve kind
of helped shape your wine making even
though none of that was sanio aasy which
is super interesting um what are there
still things that that you’ve learned in
your experiences that you haven’t been
able to implement
yet I think
uh I think I’ve really ran the the back
in on it uh I think uh for the most part
I I think think I maybe did too much and
I’m learning I need to learn to do less
because I think that sometimes
uh like I was talking about the sanio
working in a very dogmatic way Bo one
year I shaped every cluster on the thing
boy I probably shouldn’t have done
that but
uh um yeah I think uh having an looking
at everything as
um as uh what is what was the decision
making we did and what was the end
result and how can we refine this to a
degree I think that’s the most important
aspect um to producing anything to any
extent and it’s something that I’m
constantly analyzing es especially uh
when we have the difficulties of Mother
Nature like we did this year uh it’s
very difficult to analyze the decision
makings we did
U uh in very short period of time and um
I think it’s never to be uh running in
your Loop just saying this this is what
we do because we do it like this it’s
not pragmatic so uh uh I think I look at
every year as an opportunity to learn
and uh if I’m lucky I get 35 more tries
at this or maybe
40 um but every year I’m trying to add a
little secret into my Hatchet and uh um
bust it out when I need it got it well
speaking of Secrets it comes to what’s
become one of our more popular questions
here in a relatively new segment for us
and it’s the pro tip so uh we’re looking
for you to share with the group here a
pro tip that you have uh maybe something
that you see uh you know from your
experience that wine consumers could do
differently or do better to improve
their wine
enjoyment well I think the best one is
maybe to drink less huh
um no in all seriousness I think uh wine
is maybe consumed too early I think that
this is a can be a difficult thing when
you’re especially when you’re trying to
enjoy something that’s uh maybe been
aged for a period of time where it’s
quite young and needs to be have a I was
gonna open one of your 2014’s but I was
a lot of them yeah me too actually funny
you’d say that um but uh no I think uh
for us particularly our wines evolve
quite
uh a large multitude of degrees in terms
of uh when they’re open to uh when
they’re consumed and I think uh maybe uh
if you open it and drink it in the first
30 or 45 minutes or an hour two hours uh
I think there’s maybe something that
you’ve
missed but that’s it so when you say too
early you mean opening a vintage too
early or you mean when you open it not
giving enough time to breathe or you
mean correct yes okay yes more the
ladder okay yeah got it yeah okay thank
you good Pro tip uh similar to one we
had I think last time too
so common thread there so let’s uh I
want to wrap before and if you have time
we’ll we’ll open up any other questions
but um I want to talk about your wine
now and where because you don’t have a
tasting room um by the way is there is
there any uh ambition at some point to
have your own estate your own
Vineyards
uh yes um so uh no we do offer tastings
uh we were in the fall uh but just uh By
Appointment exclusively because uh Brian
was gracious enough to let me uh um
borrow his facility in his barrel room
which was quite fun I think everybody
quite enjoyed themselves who has had the
opportunity to come and visit um you’re
talking about Brian frell K correct yeah
so that’s where we make our wine now is
in Brian’s new yeah yeah um yeah I can
only say great things about him uh but
uh
um we are unfortunately unable to really
host tastings as for the fact that uh we
don’t really have much wine left um and
so that we won’t be able to offer any
until after the next
release um in terms of
uh
um in terms of uh uh owning an estate or
being a part of one um in
2021 uh we planted uh 1.94 Acres of
uh property here in
Paso uh on the West Side uh just north
of adal Road um and so uh it’s kind of a
new project that we just took on and
UHS uh yeah it’s all rone based uh it’s
granach and straw heavy um but the soil
composition is on mostly sand Sesame
sand um which uh for R varieties I think
it’s it’s like a godsend and and
especially in this climate it’s super
rare to find this kind of soil texture
um and so uh we’ll be pulling uh
hopefully the first fruit off of that
this year um and I’m still unsure of how
it’s going to really fit into the
portfolio if that becomes uh something
new or
uh
um a portion of the all bear brand as it
is right now only the future holds that
answer um but uh yeah it’s very exciting
and uh um we’re also going to expand it
uh 310 of an acre this
year um so yeah I look forward to uh
hearing updates on that one so uh right
now your wine is available primarily or
exclusively through your website correct
correct yes drop the link in the chat
box for anybody that uh needs to see it
cool and then we got a question uh from
Laura or Patrick one of the two how many
cases of each of the three Bridals have
you been
making uh and then 2020 20 21 2022 uh
are they still on
here I don’t they’re not still on here
are they oh yeah you’re right there
you’re right there can you can you
unmute and uh clarify what you what
you’re looking for there like are you
asking how many case of each varietal
for each of those vintages
yeah I’m just trying to get an idea of
Alex you know how how much are you doing
are you growing are you staying the same
size um and I just have to say so never
had your wine before you were so kind
this week to ship me um a couple of
bottles at the last minute yes thank you
very much it beautiful yeah yeah my
pleasure it arrived this morning it was
not optimal for us to open it today on
the same day of shipping but we did it
anyway
and the ganache has been absolutely
beautiful and so thank you very much you
have new fans um but yeah so I’m just
trying to get an idea of what you know
what what volume are you currently being
able to do and then through this
conversation through Jason asking you
questions I’m gonna add on to my to the
question and that is you know if you’re
looking to grow to grow are you looking
for investors are you you looking to you
know how are you going to make that
happen no I think uh strictly through
reinvesting the money that we make from
this project of uh so in for instance uh
in 2018 we made
um uh 300 bottles something like that
the Petit raw um the next year uh the L
tour uh we made uh
135
cases of
uh the Sandra and ganach um but those
were single picks so uh those wines that
we made that year were pretty much are
two shots to make wine and that’s pretty
much everything we had to do uh in 20120
we uh stepped it up and added SRA into
our portfolio so that was another 100
cases plus uh so we did about 250 cases
in
uh
um
2020
uh and then uh We’ve slowly been growing
uh slightly I think we’ll grow uh
another 30 to 50% this year depending on
how we do it and uh um we’re GNA have a
lot of extra work because we’ll have
this new site that we’ve planted and
then uh um just trying to expand the
brand it’s going to be a kind of a big
one for us um but thankfully enough we
have this H beautiful growing season so
far and we’ve gotten a ton of water and
these is really ideal conditions for uh
especially vines that are only a couple
years old or a year old
um so hopefully we’ll get a nice good
canopy luscious uh fruit set and we’ll
have something to play with um but for
the most part no um essentially we’re
only making this much wine because it’s
kind of all I can afford to be honest uh
we don’t have any outside investor uh I
pay for everything and uh my parents
look at me cuz my mom does my books and
uh she
this is a you’re paying for this fruit
bill right and I’m like it’s already
paid for Mom
yeah asking where oh I’m sorry go ahead
Laur kudos to you the package that you
sent
today that we received today it was
clear it was high touch high class thank
you um you guys you are putting
everything towards this and it was not
and appreciated thank you thank you I
actually want to ask did you spray paint
the box or was it printed like that I
spray paint everyone yeah that’s what I
thought yeah yeah I felt I’m sorry I
didn’t I didn’t get to throw a letter in
yours because I was kind of rushed um
typically they come with a letter uh I’m
sorry Mike
that’s no there’s no apology
needed we were G to get a chance to meet
you tonight I have a question now uh
when’s your next uh vintage
release so we won’t be uh releasing any
wine until October okay so um yeah we
kind of have quite a while of uh time to
stare at each other
or they’re at the vines or something
like that uh um it’s quite crazy because
uh um our last release it took almost to
the end of uh the beginning of September
for us to the wine and now we’re looking
at
uh uh maybe the end of February early
March is a kind of the last little spot
that will the wine will be available and
that’s
um um several months earlier than the
last release and things stay consistent
it’s going to be
uh
uh yeah shorter and shorter I
believe I wna I just ask you sorry Mike
I was just going to say I just want to
thank you for helping Lara get oh yeah
my pleasure yeah just for the support we
kind of communicated but apparently she
hooked up with the end I’m glad you were
able to help yeah my
pleasure so David’s asking where where
all you Source fruit from other than
salana I think I know where you get your
sarra from but
uh yeah so uh granach is typically
coming from um kalesta
and the reasoning behind that is uh if
you look at um the latitude difference
of K Roti and shatan shatan enough is
four or five degrees uh warmer than
kro and uh um if you apply that same
kind of mentality in a longitudinal
manner um it only makes sense that uh if
it’s only slightly warmer uh the ganache
may be a little bit more
uh showcase these uh riper aromatics
which I believe ganach needs to be ripe
for this um and so up till last year uh
kesta was my primary source for ganach
um Coastal Vineyard care Farms their
site and uh
um and uh they Farm all of the Premier
sites here in pasor Robos and
uh um going forward we’ll continue to
use that as our base uh we added uh uh
copia
to it last year they have a block that’s
farmed in a similar manner of a shalas
which is a uh very small uh goé
style uh spur trained uh um positioning
but uh it’s quite low to the ground and
uh all of the vines are tied to a steak
and uh
um um two-thirds of their Parcels are
farmed in this manner
uh but uh the fruit quality is
extraordinary because they have to chop
50% of the fruit off um so this is kind
of our mentality with the ganache and uh
um Hawks Hill and denner we still uh
primary focus as a San graciano uh we
still are sourcing from Hawks Hill which
is a Eastern facing slope uh an Adela
district and uh um after the 2020
vintage uh Jim Ben
um purchased uh Slide Hill and he was
looking for people to acquire more fruit
than I was willing to buy at the time
and uh so
um uh we had to move sites and uh we
picked up Pat Bella Vista formerly known
as Harrison Clark so Harrison Clark uh
Hawk Hill and uh Danner goiano is kind
of our uh sourcing for the
future and then also any anything fun we
decide we want to make yeah yeah excited
to hear about that yeah no I think it’s
quite nice and Ballard Canyon I think is
quite a special place it offers a bit of
heat but also this kind of
cooler um maybe more
blueberry less uh Olive
toti uh characteristic of sarra that I
think is essential um to adding
complexity I like the idea of having
maybe like a cooler climate paired with
a warmer climate but has to be maybe a
little bit warmer of the cooler
climate this is kind of what excited
me yeah U some good news Alex the Lakers
pulled it off one by one at the at the
buzzer no
wayl cool I know we’ve taken you way
past time and made you missed the
dramatic inning to the Lakers game I
watch the
highlights but I’m super grateful for
your time uh a pleasure having you on
here uh super big fan of your wine as
you know um and I hope everybody gets a
chance to check it out if they haven’t
already no really please it’s we uh we
we enjoy having new wine maker on you
know not high volume but we try to stay
like in
the boutique range you know
that 500 to 400 to 3500 PES yeah that
yeah we don’t I barely made the cut huh
what’s that I barely made the cut
yeah I didn’t know what number to throw
out there to tell you but no it’s all
good um yeah no it’s great and because
we know we’re GNA have you back and yeah
it’ll Elevate and this wine is
spectacular and we need to uh share that
with everybody that’s how you get
started right yeah yeah I think sharing
the story is the most important part for
us right now because uh uh so few people
actually we can offer tasting to so few
people
um uh uh that’s the only way um so I
totally appreciate everybody’s support
uh because uh if it wasn’t for uh this
community and uh everybody out there uh
I wouldn’t be able to do this and uh I
wouldn’t be able to you know make this
for you guys so it’s actually a thank
you to you and uh I really appreciate
you guys inviting me on here and uh
taking time out of your evening to uh
spend it with
meing in
too and quick question um for Alex do is
there anywhere to pick up in Paso or do
you only
ship uh you can email me yeah we can uh
arrange something typically what I’ll do
is if somebody wants to pick up I’ll
make them uh special code and then
uh uh we can arrange that at a at a
different time and that way you can get
out of the shipping thing yeah only
because I’m in Wisconsin and shipping in
Winter pretty much is oh we’re going we
have a don’t buy that she’s in Wisconsin
she’s in she California I will be in
California most of April and May so
that’s why I want to know if I can just
come pick up some stuff yeah totally uh
well we have so many orders we’ve gotten
this month that I just cannot feel
comfortable shipping that’s crazy she’s
got a suitcase with no clothes she just
fills a back up with wine when she gets
yeah that was me when I was back from
France and oh wait wait wait important
question Alex do you like beer you like
Kors light okay I gotta bring Spotted
Cow because that’s what I do I ship my
empty shippers with beer out to
California awesome back with with wine
that would be awesome thank you I
appreciate it I will message you offline
yes please do we gonna coordinate uh
hey Ann I apologize I didn’t see your
hand but you just made me realize that
Dave had his hands up too so Dave you
have a quick
question yeah I just want to make a
comment first of all thanks for doing
this and Alex thanks for being on here I
live in Arizona so I don’t see the
day-to-day things that go on here but
quite honest the last two of these that
we had I actually visited those on my
last trip out first part of January I
managed to navigate the road with all
the water but uh
quite honest uh this goes a long way to
folks and I encourage you to you get a
chance to even get on here again just
listen I just say thanks to Jason and
Mike for putting this thing together U
totally yeah I really enjoy it here I do
thank you thank you we appreciate that
we have many more to come we’re booked
through the end of the year and even in
the next year I haven’t put those up yet
wow I I think you guys booked me uh
long time ago eight months ago nine
months ago yeah we have requests to go
well into 2024 right now wow that’s
awesome that’s just goes to show uh the
beauty of how Paso is growing and uh the
amount of enthusiasm people have here is
uh pretty remarkable I think uh uh I
think we’re taking over the wine
industry in our own uh uh modest way to
a degree and uh uh I’m very excited
especially being a guy came from here uh
you know to see its growth these last
five years has been
extraordinary the uh I think the secret
is Alex uh that everybody wants to hear
your story and that’s really what’s
amazing the wine is amazing we know that
we just want to hear the journey that’s
what this group is that’s what this
whole broadcast is about and it’s quite
a journey and I just I I you know I’m
inclined to want to thank your dad for
getting that one ton of fruit yeah
yeah yeah thank you yeah I have to thank
him too huh even though on him sometimes
so anyways thank you Alex my pleasure
this is the point where’re if you want
to drop off that’s fine but this is the
point where like you want to [Â __Â ] or
praise the the page or ask questions we
all good no I think got here so I think
I got people that want to [Â __Â ]
sometimes
no I don’t like that you don’t follow
that I know it’s not my VI are your
techn notes on the
website uh descriptions of the wines are
yeah uh in
the uh I don’t really write Tech notes I
really just kind of write the mentality
behind the wine and then uh leave it up
to you uh to decide to taste and uh see
what you think of it okay so all right
you guys thanks everybody thanks Alex
it’s a pleasure thank you