Ep 190 The El Pomar District: Featuring Bovino Vineyards | Asuncion Ridge
Saturday, November 7, 2026 • Duration 01:02:18
What do a dairy farmer, a seasoned Paso Robles winemaker, and a musician who once performed with Frank Sinatra have in common? Well, eventually, they all found their way into the wine business. This week on Where Wine Takes You, host Adam Montiel explores the El Pomar District, one of Paso Robles’ eleven nested AVAs, through two wineries with very different histories and a shared connection to this remarkable corner of wine country.
First, Adam welcomes Brandi Souza, co-owner of Bovino Vineyards, and Steve Anglim, Bovino’s winemaker and general manager. With deep agricultural roots and decades of winemaking experience, the two share how dairy farming and grape growing came together under the Bovino name. They dig into the district’s distinctive soils, vineyard diversity, expressive aromatics, and what makes El Pomar fruit so appealing. Along the way, there’s a conversation about the difference between making wines you love and wines you’re proud of, a beautifully unconventional brandy named Brandi, and the challenges and rewards of building a winery in today’s industry.
Then Adam sits down with Philip Krumal, co-founder and winemaker of Asuncion Ridge Vineyards, whose story begins well outside the vineyard. From performing with Frank Sinatra, Gladys Knight, and Sonny & Cher in Hawaii to working in the automotive and real estate businesses, Philip eventually found his calling after a wine appreciation class and a friendship with Michael Dilsaver led to a vineyard in the hills overlooking Morro Bay. He shares the influence of Paso Pinot Noir pioneer Marc Goldberg of Windward Vineyard, the lessons learned along the way, and how that relationship has come full circle with Windward’s tasting room relocating to Asuncion Ridge.
In this week’s Travel Paso Spotlight, Adam heads to the Estrella Warbirds Museum for Salute to Our Heroes, the November 7, 2026, community celebration honoring military veterans and first responders. The event brings together historic aircraft, classic cars, military displays, paratroopers, and opportunities for families to connect with the people and history behind the service.
Two wineries, three guests, and plenty of reminders that some of the best stories in Paso Robles begin long before the first grape is crushed. All recorded at SLO CAL Studios.
🍷 Featured Wineries & Guest Links
Bovino Vineyards
Guests: Brandi Souza, Co-Owner; Steve Anglim, Winemaker & General Manager
STRAUSS Trades Business Booster: $5,000 for a Local Business
STRAUSS and the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance launch a contest offering one eligible Paso Robles AVA business a $5,000 grant, a VIP Paso Wine Fest 2027 experience, and business development opportunities. Applications close November 30, 2026.
Jerry Lohr Receives Wine Enthusiast’s Lifetime Achievement Award
Lohr founder Jerry Lohr is recognized with the 2026 Wine Star Lifetime Achievement Award for his decades of leadership, innovation, sustainability efforts, educational support, and contributions to Paso Robles and California wine.
The fourth annual Cabernet Franc Masters brings together more than 20 Paso Robles producers at Cass Event Center for an exploration of Cabernet Franc through international comparisons, educational seminars, culinary pairings, and a grand tasting.
📲 Where Wine Takes You now has its own Instagram. Follow us at @wherewinetakesyou for new episodes, behind-the-scenes pours, guest highlights, and more from Paso wine country.
🎙️ RECORDED AT SLO CAL STUDIOS
Recorded at SLO CAL Studios, San Luis Obispo County, California.
SLO CAL — where the wine is world-class, the people are real, and life is too beautiful to rush.
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🎙️ Credits
Executive Producer: Joel Peterson + Paso Wine
Associate Producer: Krista Smith
Recorded, edited, hosted by Adam Montiel
Follow Adam: @AdamOnTheAir Explore all things Adam: AdamMontiel.com Listen to Adam’s other shows: Up + Adam (daily) and The Pour (wine & more, travel, culture)
Learn more, connect, or say hey at AdamMontiel.com/connect
Ep 189 Buttoning Up Harvest 2026: Gary Eberle, Sterling Kragten & a Listener’s Love Letter to Paso
Saturday, October 31, 2026 • Duration 51:15
An early harvest, lighter yields, some promising wines in the making, and a guy from Boston who keeps finding new reasons to come back. Harvest 2026 has given Paso Robles plenty to talk about, and this week, we’re hearing the story from both sides of the tasting room.
Host Adam Montiel sits down with Gary Eberle at his desk at Eberle Winery, where more than five decades of Paso Robles experience bring some perspective to a harvest unlike any Gary has seen since arriving in 1973. They talk about the unusually early vintage, a dramatic drop in tonnage, the outlook for wine quality, and the realities of doing business in wine country today. And because it’s Gary, the conversation doesn’t stay in the vineyard for long.
Then Sterling Kragten, winemaker at CASS Winery, joins Adam at SLO CAL Studios, fresh off a flight from Chicago. Sterling takes us into the practical side of harvest, from cleaning and cellar decisions to Petit Verdot and experiments with sparkling rosé. First, though, the two get into a different harvest essential: workwear, including a conversation about Strauss and what a long day making wine can do to a perfectly good pair of pants.
And for a different perspective, Adam calls Phil Malloy, a Where Wine Takes You listener from Boston who recently returned from another Paso trip with his partner, Renee. Phil shares what keeps bringing them west, how the podcast has helped introduce him to new places, and why the people behind Paso’s wines are such a big part of the experience.
🍷 Featured Guests & Places
🌴 Travel Paso Spotlight: The Paderewski Festival
A world-famous concert pianist, a Polish prime minister, and a Paso Robles vineyard owner. All the same guy.
This week’s Travel Paso Spotlight explores the remarkable story of Ignacy Jan Paderewski and the annual festival that celebrates his musical, cultural, and agricultural legacy.
Taking place November 6–8, 2026, in Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo, the Paderewski Festival brings together classical performances, opportunities for young pianists, and cultural connections between California and Poland. There’s a wine-country connection, too: part of Paderewski’s former land is now associated with Epoch Estate Wines and its Paderewski Vineyard.
For festival details and tickets, visit.
For accommodations, dining, wineries, events, and more ways to explore Paso Robles, visit.
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🎙️ Credits
Executive Producer: Joel Peterson + Paso Wine
Associate Producer: Krista Smith
Recorded, edited, hosted by Adam Montiel
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🎯 Plan your next Paso Robles getaway at
Ep 188 Featuring Wine Enthusiast Person of the Year Gretchen Roddick
From a part-time tasting room job in Paso Robles to helping lead the entire California wine industry, Gretchen Roddick has built quite a career. And 2026 has turned into one heck of a year.
This week, Adam Montiel welcomes Gretchen, Executive Vice President of Hope Family Wines, newly elected Board Chair of the Wine Institute, and Wine Enthusiast’s 2026 Person of the Year. Recorded at SLOCAL Studios just days after the national announcement, it’s a candid conversation about nearly three decades of hard work, taking chances, building relationships, and helping put Paso Robles on the world wine map.
Gretchen shares how a young woman from San Jose found her way to Cal Poly, into the wine business, and eventually into a partnership with Austin Hope that helped grow Hope Family Wines from roughly 1,000 cases a year to nearly a million. They talk about the people who believed in her early on, the breakthrough success of Austin Hope Cabernet Sauvignon, the culture behind the Hope family business, and why treating people well still matters, no matter how big you get.
They also get into the tougher conversations facing wine today. Changing consumer habits, reaching new wine drinkers, and what California wineries need to do to stay relevant. As the new chair of the Wine Institute, Gretchen brings a perspective that reaches well beyond Paso, without losing the relationships and community that got her there. And yes, she shares what happened when the news broke about her Wine Enthusiast honor and her phone wouldn’t stop ringing.
In our Travel Paso Spotlight, we’re celebrating the return of the Garagiste Wine Festival, November 6–7, 2026. More than 50 small-production winemakers, over 200 wines, new Paso Robles venues, an Italian grape variety seminar, and a chance to meet the people actually making what’s in your glass. Plus, proceeds from festival activities help support the next generation of winemakers through the Garagiste Scholarship Fund at Cal Poly.
And Adam has a little personal news of his own: he’s getting married in Paso wine country this weekend, exactly nine years after his first date. Turns out, love doesn’t always consult the local events calendar.
🍷 Guest & Episode Links
Gretchen Roddick / Hope Family Wines
🌅 Travel Paso Spotlight: Garagiste Wine Festival
📰 Paso Wine Wire
Sensorio Nears One Million Visitors
Seven years after opening as a temporary art installation, Sensorio is approaching its one-millionth visitor, celebrating with an expanded Fireflies exhibit, new installations, and special promotions.
Source:
Sensorio:
🚢 Special Announcement: Join Adam, Epoch, and LXV on the Danube with Cork & Cruise!
Cork & Cruise also has upcoming Rhine and Rhône river wine cruises planned for 2028, including voyages with Herman Story, Desparada, Turtle Rock, Ultima Tulie, and Law Estate Wines.
🍂 HARVEST WINE MONTH
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🎙️ Credits
Executive Producer: Joel Peterson + Paso Wine
Associate Producer: Krista Smith
Recorded, edited, hosted by Adam Montiel
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Learn more, connect, or say hey at
🎯 Plan your next Paso Robles getaway at
Ep 187 Getting to Know the Geneseo District – Featuring Misty Oaks | Dresser Winery
Eleven nested AVAs, each with its own personality, history, and people helping shape Paso Robles Wine Country. This week, Adam Montiel continues his exploration of the region with two separate conversations from the Geneseo District, an area with agricultural roots stretching back to the 1880s and a long history of growing grapes that find their way into wines throughout Paso Robles.
First, Adam welcomes Tim Stevens, founder of Misty Oaks Vineyards, and winemaker Ryker Wall. Tim never intended to start a winery when he purchased his property to be closer to family. But a distinctive microclimate, morning fog, and a growing curiosity about wine changed that. Together, Tim and Ryker are exploring the possibilities of their estate vineyard, including Petit Verdot and an exciting new Sangiovese planting inspired by traditional, wide-spaced, head-trained vines. They discuss vineyard experimentation, winemaking philosophy, and what makes their corner of Geneseo different.
Then, Kory Burke, owner and winemaker at Dresser Winery, joins Adam with an entirely different road into the wine business. From professional sports marketing and technology to completing an Ironman triathlon, Kory’s path eventually led him and his wife, Catherine, to a Paso Robles fixer-upper with a small Zinfandel vineyard. What started with curiosity became Dresser Winery. Kory shares the realities of running a small winery, his affection for bold reds, and why the Geneseo District deserves recognition for its contributions to Paso wine.
In the Paso Wine Wire, Adam celebrates Gretchen Roddick of Hope Family Wines, named Wine Enthusiast’s 2026 Person of the Year. And in this week’s Travel Paso Spotlight, we’re heading downtown for the third annual Paso Robles Día de los Muertos Festival, a free, family-friendly celebration of Mexican culture, music, art, remembrance, and community on Saturday, October 24th.
It’s a look at an appellation with deep farming history, unexpected winemaking stories, and people still discovering what the land can do.
🍷 Featured Guests & Wineries
🌅 Travel Paso Spotlight: Día de los Muertos Festival
📰 Paso Wine Wire
🚢 Special Announcement: Join Adam, Epoch, and LXV on the Danube with Cork & Cruise!
Cork & Cruise also has upcoming Rhine and Rhône river wine cruises planned for 2028, including voyages with Herman Story, Desparada, Turtle Rock, Ultima Tulie, and Law Estate Wines.
🍂 HARVEST WINE MONTH
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🎙️ Credits
Executive Producer: Joel Peterson + Paso Wine
Associate Producer: Krista Smith
Recorded, edited, hosted by Adam Montiel
Follow Adam:Explore all things Adam:Listen to Adam’s other shows: (daily) and (wine & more, travel, culture)
Learn more, connect, or say hey at
🎯 Plan your next Paso Robles getaway at
Ep 186 Who Gets Wine’s Attention? What Paso Can Teach Us – Featuring Wine Enthusiast’s Emily Saladino
Friday, October 2, 2026 • Duration 01:00:15
🍇 Where Wine Takes You, Episode Highlights 🍷
This week, Adam sits down with Emily Saladino, wine and food writer, editor, recipe developer, wine columnist for The Washington Post, and writer-at-large for Wine Enthusiast.
The conversation starts with Emily’s Wine Enthusiast piece asking why Gen X a generation with serious spending power and years of wine experience, so often disappears from the industry conversation. From there, Adam and Emily take the question through a Paso Robles lens: What happens when wineries get so focused on finding the next customer that they stop noticing the loyal one who has been showing up for twenty years?
They also get into wine education, expertise without intimidation, trusting your own palate, the current slowdown in wine, language that welcomes people instead of shutting them out, and Emily’s wonderfully sharp description of wine as “beautifully inefficient.” The conversation ultimately becomes less about one generation and more about attention: who gets it, what deserves it, and what happens when we actually slow down enough to notice.
Later, our Travel Paso Spotlight hits the gravel with Bryan Yates, creator of The Bovine Classic. The seriously unserious cow-themed cycling weekend returns October 22–25, 2026, with the main ride on Saturday, October 24. Bryan and Adam talk gravel culture, North County terrain, the community around the event, and why riders come for the challenge but tend to stick around for the party.
EMILY SALADINO
Official Website: https://www.emilysaladino.com/
Wine Enthusiast: https://www.wineenthusiast.com/contributor/emily-saladino/
The Wine Industry Is Forgetting About an Important Generation: https://www.wineenthusiast.com/culture/wine/gen-x-forgotten-wine/
TRAVEL PASO SPOTLIGHT: THE BOVINE CLASSIC
The Bovine Classic:
Travel Paso Bovine Classic Guide:
📰 PASO WINE WIRE
Ancient Peaks Takes Margarita Vineyard to the Coast
Ancient Peaks Winery has opened AP by the Sea, a Cambria tasting room inside the Pelican Inn & Suites on Moonstone Beach Drive, pouring estate wines from Margarita Vineyard just steps from the Pacific.
Garagiste Wine Festival Returns for Year 16
The Garagiste Wine Festival returns to Paso Robles November 6–7, 2026, bringing more than 50 micro-production winemakers, 200-plus wines, new venues, and a seminar exploring Italian grape varieties grown in Paso.
🍂 HARVEST WINE MONTH
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🎙️ Credits
Executive Producer: Joel Peterson + Paso Wine
Associate Producer: Krista Smith
Recorded, edited, hosted by Adam Montiel
Follow Adam:Explore all things Adam:Listen to Adam’s other shows: (daily) and (wine & more, travel, culture)
Learn more, connect, or say hey at
🎯 Plan your next Paso Robles getaway at
Ep 185 A Dream Written Down: San Miguel District – Featuring Kahal Family Vineyards
Friday, September 25, 2026 • Duration 44:56
🍇 Where Wine Takes You, Episode Highlights 🍷
What happens when you actually follow through on the crazy thing you wrote down years ago?
This week, Adam sits down with Dave and Shawn Kahal of Kahal Family Vineyards, whose path to wine country included Orange County, Connecticut, basement winemaking, some memorably bad early wine, and eventually a vineyard in Indian Valley with a San Miguel address. Their story is a good reminder that the finished bottle is usually the least complicated part.
The conversation gets into Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, learning the realities of farming, the challenges facing growers in today’s wine market, and what it means to build a winery around experiences and relationships rather than simply making more wine. It’s also the latest stop in our exploration of Paso Robles’ 11 nested AVAs, with a closer look at the history and geography of the San Miguel District.
Our Travel Paso Spotlight heads to From the Heart Animal Sanctuary on Fat Goat Farm in Paso Robles. The nonprofit provides permanent homes for special-needs animals, while those same animals help inspire art classes for local children. Their fifth annual fundraiser takes place Saturday, September 26, from noon to 2 p.m. at California Coast Beer Company.
📰 PASO WINE WIRE
🍂 HARVEST WINE MONTH
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🎙️ Credits
Executive Producer: Joel Peterson + Paso Wine
Associate Producer: Krista Smith
Recorded, edited, hosted by Adam Montiel
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Learn more, connect, or say hey at
🎯 Plan your next Paso Robles getaway at
Ep 184 What Wine Country Makes Possible – Corey Jordan of AMSTRDM & LIBRETTO
Saturday, September 19, 2026 • Duration 01:11:18
🍇 Where Wine Takes You, Episode Highlights 🍷
It’s harvest in Paso Robles, which means winemakers are moving fast, sleep is negotiable, and sitting still is not exactly the seasonal specialty. So this week, Adam follows the ripple effect of wine country in a different direction with Corey Jordan, Paso Robles native, musician, entrepreneur, and co-founder with his wife, Kate Jordan, of a growing collection of businesses helping shape what happens around the wine.
Corey and Adam get into AMSTRDM Coffee House, Paso Robles Coffee Co., LIBRETTO, the LIBRETTO Conservatory, and the Paso Robles Jazz Fest, along with the larger idea connecting them all: Paso’s wine industry created an audience, a hospitality culture, and an expectation for quality that opened the door for entirely new kinds of businesses. Corey talks about growing up in Paso, leaving and coming home, opening AMSTRDM during the pandemic, roasting coffee with the same obsessive attention people bring to wine, collecting Steinways, building a serious listening room, and figuring out how to grow without sanding off what made something special in the first place.
There’s also some breaking news in the conversation. Corey reveals plans for an AMSTRDM drive-through in San Miguel and another AMSTRDM location headed for downtown Los Angeles. Somehow the conversation also finds its way into old Paso tunnels, local history, jazz, coffee cupping, the Paderewski connection, and why sitting down at a piano is still Corey’s true north.
🌴 TRAVEL PASO SPOTLIGHT: THREE SPECKLED HENS
For this week’s Travel Paso Spotlight, Adam goes treasure hunting with Three Speckled Hens Vintage Market & Antique Show, returning to the Paso Robles Event Center October 2 and 3. More than 75 vendors are expected with antiques, vintage furniture, clothing, jewelry, garden pieces, collectibles, food, drinks, and the wonderfully named Hen Pecked Husband area. A portion of every show’s proceeds benefits Jack’s Helping Hand.
And there’s a little extra harvest-season nugget this week. Adam checks in by phone with Chris Eberle, winemaker at Eberle Winery, about his experience putting STRAUSS gear to work during harvest. STRAUSS is the official workwear partner of Paso Robles Wine Country.
🍷 GUEST + TRAVEL PASO LINKS
Corey Jordan
Instagram:@coreyjordannn
🌐 PASO WINE WIRE
🧰 STRAUSS HARVEST CHECK-IN
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🎙️ Credits
Executive Producer: Joel Peterson + Paso Wine
Associate Producer: Krista Smith
Recorded, edited, hosted by Adam Montiel
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🎯 Plan your next Paso Robles getaway at
Ep 183 Building Small, Thinking Big: New Chapters – Featuring Landsby Wines | Villa San Juliette
Friday, September 11, 2026 • Duration 01:15:42
🍇 Where Wine Takes You, Episode Highlights 🍷
Harvest is moving quickly in Paso Robles, after two brutally hot days, calendars are becoming suggestions, and this week we’re making room for two very different conversations about what happens when you finally get the chance to shape something for yourself.
First up is Oliver Mikkelsen, owner and winemaker of Landsby Wines, the small family project he created with his wife, Natalie. “Landsby” means “village” in Danish, and that idea runs straight through the brand. Oliver talks about building a label of his own while working as winemaker and ranch manager for Villa Creek and MAHA Estate, the farmers and mentors who make a tiny wine project possible, and why his approach starts in the vineyard. We also get into organic and dry-farmed fruit, Bailey Vineyard, Chenin Blanc, native fermentation, and what happens when Adam once again declares somebody’s Chenin the best Chenin Blanc.
Then Roxan Kragten, General Manager of Villa San Juliette, joins Adam for a very different Paso story. Roxan spent about a decade working with the property before leaving, then returned under new ownership with a new title and, as she puts it, roughly ten years’ worth of ideas she finally gets to put into motion. They talk about preserving what longtime club members already love, growing the hospitality, lodging and event side of the estate, and keeping wine at the center of it all. There is also unfinished business involving Adam, the Villa San Juliette pool, and the discovery that he was apparently not even the worst offender.
For this week’s Travel Paso Spotlight, we head downtown to The Ava Hotel, where the attraction isn’t only where you sleep. The hotel has three distinct food and drink destinations under one roof: Pine Street Bistro, EMRE, and Esperanza on the Rooftop. Coffee and breakfast downstairs, Mediterranean-inspired dinner, then Baja and Latin-inspired flavors with agave-driven cocktails above downtown Paso. You don’t even need a room key to make a day of it.
🌐 PASO WINE WIRE
1. PASO ROBLES WINE COUNTRY VIRTUAL AUCTION
2. NEW JEB DUNNUCK PASO SCORES
3. PASO GETTING NATIONAL PRESS
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🎙️ Credits
Executive Producer: Joel Peterson + Paso Wine
Associate Producer: Krista Smith
Recorded, edited, hosted by Adam Montiel
Follow Adam:Explore all things Adam:Listen to Adam’s other shows: (daily) and (wine & more, travel, culture)
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🎯 Plan your next Paso Robles getaway at
Ep 182 Pull Up a Chair: Paso Wineries with Restaurants – Featuring CASS Winery | Bianchi Winery
Saturday, August 29, 2026 • Duration 01:28:36
🍇 Where Wine Takes You, Episode Highlights 🍷
What happens when the tasting room decides you should probably stay for lunch?
This week on Where Wine Takes You, we’re digging into a side of Paso Robles wine country that has been evolving for decades: wineries with real restaurants, real kitchens, and chefs who are thinking about what’s on the plate with the same intention that goes into what’s in the glass.
And Paso has some history here. JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery was putting real money and intention behind winery dining decades ago with Deborah’s Room, an early fine-dining experience at the estate that eventually became The Restaurant at JUSTIN, today a MICHELIN-starred restaurant. That early commitment helped establish the idea that a Paso winery could be a destination for dinner, not simply a tasting stop.
That tradition keeps getting stronger. In 2026, Wine Enthusiast included Niner Wine Estates Restaurant on its list of the Best Winery Restaurants in the World, giving Paso some very timely international love for just how serious the food side of wine-country hospitality has become.
Because harvest schedules are harvest schedules, Adam changes up the normal format and sits down for two separate conversations. First, it’s CASS Winery co-owner and co-founder Ted Plemons, whose story includes Paso dirt, a trip to South Africa, a few consequential bottles of Syrah, and an early belief that food, wine, hospitality, and the land could all be part of the same experience. Ted shares stories from more than two decades at CASS, how the property has grown, and why building around good people has remained such a big part of the philosophy.
🔗 GUEST + TRAVEL PASO LINKS
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🎙️ Credits
Executive Producer: Joel Peterson + Paso Wine
Associate Producer: Krista Smith
Recorded, edited, hosted by Adam Montiel
Follow Adam:Explore all things Adam:Listen to Adam’s other shows: (daily) and (wine & more, travel, culture)
Learn more, connect, or say hey at
🎯 Plan your next Paso Robles getaway at
Ep 181 And Then There Was One: Santa Margarita Ranch Nestled AVA – Featuring Ancient Peaks
Thursday, August 20, 2026 • Duration 01:24:18
🍇 Where Wine Takes You, Episode Highlights 🍷
Adam may be recording this episode from a lake house on Bear Pond in Hartford, Maine, but we’re headed straight back to Paso Robles wine country for another look at the region’s nested AVAs. This time, we’re going south, to the Santa Margarita Ranch AVA and one remarkable piece of land with a lot of stories buried in it.
Adam sits down at SLO CAL Studios with Doug Filipponi, co-owner of Ancient Peaks Winery and Margarita Vineyard, and Mike Sinor, founding winemaker at Ancient Peaks. Doug grew up about a mile from Santa Margarita Ranch, later drilled water wells on the property, and eventually became one of its owners. Mike came to Cal Poly thinking he might become a teacher, found wine instead, and has spent decades learning how to translate the character of Margarita Vineyard into the glass.
The conversation digs into the history of Santa Margarita Ranch, its wildly varied geology, the cooler growing conditions of the southernmost Paso Robles nested AVA, and the unusual reality that Margarita Vineyard remains the only vineyard inside the appellation. Doug and Mike also get into water wells, airplanes, old Jeeps, the early days of Ancient Peaks, their commitment to over-delivering on quality and value, and the story behind Oyster Ridge, the wine Mike calls their “best foot forward.”
For this week’s Travel Paso Spotlight, Adam checks into River Lodge Paso Robles, the restored mid-century roadside motel from Nomada Hotel Group. The property gives an old Paso motor lodge a second act with 28 rooms, landscaped grounds, a 21+ pool and hot tub, and poolside restaurant and bar Ciao Papi. We also hear from Nomada founder and creative director Kimberly Walker about the vision behind the property.
And because the show is literally called Where Wine Takes You, Adam has one more story developing from Maine. Turns out there’s a tiny vineyard practically across the pond from where he’s staying, with a couple, a dream, and one very unexpected obstacle involving a dry town. More on that one next episode.
🍷 GUEST + TRAVEL PASO LINKS
Ancient Peaks Winery
Instagram: @ancientpeaks
🌐 PASO WINE WIRE
2026: An Early Vintage Demands Precision
Kristen Barnhisel Returns as ASEV President
Winemakers’ Cookoff Announces 2026 Winners
🌴 TRAVEL PASO SPOTLIGHT
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🎙️ Credits
Executive Producer: Joel Peterson + Paso Wine
Associate Producer: Krista Smith
Recorded, edited, hosted by Adam Montiel
Follow Adam:Explore all things Adam:Listen to Adam’s other shows: (daily) and (wine & more, travel, culture)
Learn more, connect, or say hey at
🎯 Plan your next Paso Robles getaway at
📲 Where Wine Takes You now has its own Instagram. Follow us at @wherewinetakesyou for new episodes, behind-the-scenes pours, guest highlights, and more from Paso wine country.
🎙️ RECORDED AT SLO CAL STUDIOS
Recorded at SLO CAL Studios, San Luis Obispo County, California.
SLO CAL — where the wine is world-class, the people are real, and life is too beautiful to rush.
November 6–13, 2027, join Adam Montiel, Epoch Estate Wines, LXV Wine, and the team at Cork & Cruise for a special Danube River wine cruise through Germany, Austria, and Hungary.
Spend the week exploring European destinations while enjoying exclusive wine tastings, wine-paired dinners, special bottles, and personal time with Jordan Fiorentini of Epoch and Neeta and Kunal Mittal of LXV. Adam will also bring the podcast onboard for a live show.
Adam has been involved behind the scenes helping put this experience together with Cork & Cruise, and he can’t wait to share it with fellow Paso wine lovers.
The group recently hosted a livestream discussing the cruise and everything they’re planning. Adam will include the replay so you can get a feel for the people, the wines, and the experience before joining.
Availability is limited, so contact Mary Ann and the Cork & Cruise team for details and current stateroom options.
October is Harvest Wine Month in Paso Robles Wine Country, with winery events happening throughout the month, including vineyard experiences, dinners, grape stomps, live music and more.
📲 Where Wine Takes You now has its own Instagram. Follow us at @wherewinetakesyou for new episodes, behind-the-scenes pours, guest highlights, and more from Paso wine country.
🎙️ RECORDED AT SLO CAL STUDIOS
Recorded at SLO CAL Studios, San Luis Obispo County, California.
SLO CAL — where the wine is world-class, the people are real, and life is too beautiful to rush.
Ryker Wall’s personal wine project, created with his wife, Pooja Wall. Founded in 2023, Ídola focuses on organically farmed, minimal-intervention wines and has a tasting room at the Creamery Marketplace in downtown San Luis Obispo.
The third annual Paso Robles Día de los Muertos Festival brings traditional ofrendas, cultural dance performances, live music, food, artisan vendors, and family activities to the heart of downtown.
Presented by the Downtown Paso Robles Main Street Association in partnership with the Central Coast Hispanic Business Association, this celebration honors loved ones who have passed away while sharing the beauty and traditions of Mexican culture.
Gretchen Roddick Named Wine Enthusiast’s 2026 Person of the Year
Gretchen Roddick, Executive Vice President of Hope Family Wines and Board Chair of the Wine Institute, receives national recognition for her decades of leadership and contributions to the California wine industry.
Read the Wine Enthusiast article by Matt Kettmann:
November 6–13, 2027, join Adam Montiel, Epoch Estate Wines, LXV Wine, and the team at Cork & Cruise for a special Danube River wine cruise through Germany, Austria, and Hungary.
Spend the week exploring European destinations while enjoying exclusive wine tastings, wine-paired dinners, special bottles, and personal time with Jordan Fiorentini of Epoch and Neeta and Kunal Mittal of LXV. Adam will also bring the podcast onboard for a live show.
Adam has been involved behind the scenes helping put this experience together with Cork & Cruise, and he can’t wait to share it with fellow Paso wine lovers.
The group recently hosted a livestream discussing the cruise and everything they’re planning. Adam will include the replay so you can get a feel for the people, the wines, and the experience before joining.
Availability is limited, so contact Mary Ann and the Cork & Cruise team for details and current stateroom options.
October is Harvest Wine Month in Paso Robles Wine Country, with winery events happening throughout the month, including vineyard experiences, dinners, grape stomps, live music and more.
📲 Where Wine Takes You now has its own Instagram. Follow us at @wherewinetakesyou for new episodes, behind-the-scenes pours, guest highlights, and more from Paso wine country.
🎙️ RECORDED AT SLO CAL STUDIOS
Recorded at SLO CAL Studios, San Luis Obispo County, California.
SLO CAL — where the wine is world-class, the people are real, and life is too beautiful to rush.
October is Harvest Wine Month in Paso Robles Wine Country, with winery events happening throughout the month, including vineyard experiences, dinners, grape stomps, live music and more.
📲 Where Wine Takes You now has its own Instagram. Follow us at @wherewinetakesyou for new episodes, behind-the-scenes pours, guest highlights, and more from Paso wine country.
🎙️ RECORDED AT SLO CAL STUDIOS
Recorded at SLO CAL Studios, San Luis Obispo County, California.
SLO CAL — where the wine is world-class, the people are real, and life is too beautiful to rush.
Charles “Chuck” Ortman, founder of Meridian Vineyards and an influential figure in Central Coast wine, died September 16 at age 86. His career stretched from Heitz Cellars and Spring Mountain Vineyard to Meridian and later Ortman Family Vineyards with his son, Matt.
The California Association of Winegrape Growers has selected J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines as its 2027 Grower of the Year, while Jeff Bitter of Allied Grape Growers was named 2027 Leader of the Year.
October is Harvest Wine Month in Paso Robles Wine Country, with winery events happening throughout the month, including vineyard experiences, dinners, grape stomps, live music and more.
📲 Where Wine Takes You now has its own Instagram. Follow us at @wherewinetakesyou for new episodes, behind-the-scenes pours, guest highlights, and more from Paso wine country.
🎙️ RECORDED AT SLO CAL STUDIOS
Recorded at SLO CAL Studios, San Luis Obispo County, California.
SLO CAL — where the wine is world-class, the people are real, and life is too beautiful to rush.
The sixth annual Paso Robles Wine Country Virtual Auction runs through September 23 at 5 p.m. Pacific, with more than 40 curated packages featuring rare and allocated wines, private experiences, dining, lodging and wine-country getaways. Proceeds benefit the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance Foundation, which has awarded 67 scholarships totaling $148,000 over the last five years.
Hawks Hill Ranch finished No. 2 nationally in The Zoe Report’s 2026 Readers’ Choice poll for Best U.S. Winery Tour, making it the highest-ranked Central Coast winery tour in the poll.
Hope Family Wines has introduced 1.5-liter wine-in-box versions of Troublemaker Red and Troublemaker White, extending one of Paso’s most recognizable brands into a format built for pools, tailgates, weekends and places where glass bottles are not exactly invited.
Chris Eberle, Eberle Winery
Adam catches up with Chris during harvest to hear how STRAUSS workwear performs when it actually has to deal with cellar floors, vineyards, long days and the messier side of making wine.
📲 Where Wine Takes You now has its own Instagram. Follow us at @wherewinetakesyou for new episodes, behind-the-scenes pours, guest highlights, and more from Paso wine country.
🎙️ RECORDED AT SLO CAL STUDIOS
Recorded at SLO CAL Studios, San Luis Obispo County, California.
SLO CAL — where the wine is world-class, the people are real, and life is too beautiful to rush.
The sixth annual Paso Robles Wine Country Virtual Auction runs September 14–23, 2026, with more than 40 curated packages featuring rare and allocated wines, private tastings, vineyard experiences, dining, lodging and wine-country getaways. Proceeds benefit the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance Foundation, which has awarded 67 scholarships totaling $148,000 to North San Luis Obispo County high school seniors over the last five years.
New Jeb Dunnuck scores have Paso talking, including the first 100 point wine for Epoch Estate Wines and the team of winemaker Jordan Fiorentini. Adam has been calling his shot on Block B for years, but this is great news, and long overdue! Congrats to other 100s announced for La Venture, Booker, Turtle Rock, Alban, and 2 for Saxum!
With Paso Wine pics in the latest edition of Wine Enthusiast, mentions in a recent RobbReport, also linked here is Wine Spectator taking a deeper look at Epoch Estate Wines and Paso Robles site expression in “Paso by Paso: Two Ways Toward Site Expression,” exploring winemaker Jordan Fiorentini’s approach to blending, vineyard identity and expressing two different estate sites.
📲 Where Wine Takes You now has its own Instagram. Follow us at @wherewinetakesyou for new episodes, behind-the-scenes pours, guest highlights, and more from Paso wine country.
🎙️ RECORDED AT SLO CAL STUDIOS
Recorded at SLO CAL Studios, San Luis Obispo County, California.
SLO CAL — where the wine is world-class, the people are real, and life is too beautiful to rush.
Then we head to Bianchi Winery with winemaker Todd Weiher and Chef Gregg Wangard, who is leading the new Melo Mela Kitchen. The conversation gets into the relationship between chef and winemaker, why acidity matters at the table, Gregg’s belief that his best cooking happens when he’s trusted to take chances, and what changes when a winery stops treating food as an accessory and builds a restaurant people might come back to on its own.
For our Travel Paso Spotlight, we turn up the volume for the 13th Annual Whale Rock Music & Arts Festival, returning September 19–20, 2026 at Whale Rock Vineyard at Castoro Cellars. What began as a 30th-anniversary party called Beaverstock has grown into two days of music, art, wine, food, yoga, family fun, and support for Templeton music education. Adam spent several years hosting the festival himself, making this spotlight a particularly personal one.
📲 Where Wine Takes You now has its own Instagram. Follow us at @wherewinetakesyou for new episodes, behind-the-scenes pours, guest highlights, and more from Paso wine country.
🎙️ RECORDED AT SLO CAL STUDIOS
Recorded at SLO CAL Studios, San Luis Obispo County, California.
SLO CAL — where the wine is world-class, the people are real, and life is too beautiful to rush.
Advanced Viticulture looks at an unusually early 2026 growing season and how soil-moisture probes, plant-stress monitoring, and smart irrigation decisions have become especially important in a compressed vintage.
Lohr Winemaker, White Wine Kristen Barnhisel has returned as president of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture for the 2026-2027 term, after previously serving as president in 2019-2020.
California Coast Brewery and Tobin James Winery took the People’s Choice Award, Booker-My Favorite Neighbor and Ava Hotel won the Professional Chef Award, V1no Juan earned the Judges’ Award, and Hoyt Family Vineyards took the Spirit Award at the annual fundraiser supporting local youth scholarships.
📲 Where Wine Takes You now has its own Instagram. Follow us at @wherewinetakesyou for new episodes, behind-the-scenes pours, guest highlights, and more from Paso wine country.
🎙️ RECORDED AT SLO CAL STUDIOS
Recorded at SLO CAL Studios, San Luis Obispo County, California.
SLO CAL — where the wine is world-class, the people are real, and life is too beautiful to rush.
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