CONSUMED with Jaime Lewis

Benny’s Pizza, Ben Arrona, San Luis Obispo

Ben Arrona talks about his background in criminal justice, the tailor who makes him bespoke suits in Colombia, and how he wound up getting his PhD in Imperial History at Oxford. (Oh, and pizza.)

Winemaker Samra Morris, Alma Rosa Winery & Vineyards, Buellton, California

I won’t soon forget the conversation I had here with Samra Morris. Samra was born in Bosnia and grew up in war-torn Sarajevo, with her father on the front lines during the Siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1996. She shared with me stories of how her family survived those four years and the years following, which in many ways were equally tragic. But you’ll hear from Samra’s episode how buoyant and energetic she is, how happy she is to be making wine as a young woman in Santa Barbara County, and how in awe she is of the circumstances that led her here. I was in awe, too.

Website: almarosawinery.com

Instagram: @almarosawinery

Heather Daenitz, founder and podcaster, Craft & Cluster, Orcutt, California

How we talk and think about wine — and who makes it — is a subject that Heather Daenitz thinks about a lot. She is the founder of Craft & Cluster, a photography and social media consulting business located in Santa Barbara County. Heather worked for 10 years in the wine industry doing everything from tech-y jobs like compliance and pest management to working harvest, pouring in the tasting room, to managing social media accounts. Today, she has her own business helping wineries tell their story through photography and social media, as well as a blog and podcast about wine marketing called The Craft and Cluster Podcast.

Website: craftandcluster.com

Podcast: craftandcluster.com/podcast

Instagram: @craftandcluster

Stephy Terrizzi, viticulturist, Giornata Wines, Paso Robles, California

Stephy Terrizzi is a viticulturist based in Paso Robles whose work has helped Central Coast vineyards and wineries grow. She is also the farmer behind Giornata Wines, the brand that she and her husband Brian Terrizzi own, focusing on Italian-varietal wines. Stephy and Brian both grew up in the Midwest though they didn’t meet until they attended Fresno State in the enology department. Since then, they’ve launched several businesses together, including the Cabernet Sauvignon brand Broadside and the Paso Robles pasta company Etto. Listen as we talk about pasta for the people, the Dead Milkmen, cherry cola jello salad, and coyotes.

Website: giornatawine.com

Instagram: @giornatawines

Robin Puricelli, sommelier and winemaker, Locura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties, California

Robin Puricelli is the sommelier and wine director at Lido Restaurant in Shell Beach, a beautiful oceanfront resort where she’s earned Wine Spectator’s Best of Award of Excellence for multiple years. She’s also co-owner of the small wine label Locura, focused on light-style Grenache, which she makes with fellow sommelier Amanda Gill and winemaker Coby Parker-Garcia. Robin first came to my attention several years back when she came on as sommelier for the restaurant Foremost, where one of my favorite chefs, Julie Simon, was in the kitchen. At the time, San Luis Obispo County had one if any other sommeliers working a restaurant floor, so Robin’s arrival was special. A lot has happened since then, including the birth of her son and a global pandemic.

Website: locurawine.com

Instagram: @locurawine

Sonja Magdevski, winemaker and owner, Casa Dumetz, Clementine Carter, The Feminist Party Wines, Los Alamos, California

Sonja Magdevski is a winemaker, as well as a Michigander, a first-generation American, a Baskin-Robbins expert, a Fulbright scholar and a journalist. Open and thoughtful, Sonja brings a wealth of stories to the podcast, from watching Westerns with her dad, to mistaking an MTV reality show for journalism — a move that subtly changed her life. I’ll just cut to the chase here: she wound up meeting and having a relationship with Emilio Estevez while helping him plant a vineyard in Malibu. They’re no longer together — Sonja is now married to a fellow Santa Barbara County winemaker, Greg Brewer — but the winery they began together in Los Alamos would go on to be her baby, Casa Dumetz. Sonja shared her perspective on travel and education, as well as immigration and the significance of beauty in the modern age.

Website: casadumetzwines.com

Instagram: @casadumetzwines

Alondra Torres, vineyard management supervisor, Coastal Vineyard Services, Santa Maria, California

At just 25 years old, vineyard management supervisor Alondra Torres has accomplished more than many people twice her age. A resident of Santa Maria, Alondra works for Coastal Vineyard Services, a company that manages vineyards across the Central Coast of California, providing crews to prune, manage canopies, irrigation, pest abatement and harvest, among other services. Alondra started as a crew member when her first child was just a baby, and she worked full-time while caring for her baby and studying for her high school diploma. The owner of Coastal Vineyard Services, Kevin Wilkinson, saw something special in Alondra and knew she could rise through the ranks of the company. Alondra talked with me about her family, the benefits and challenges of her work, and how COVID has affected her life.

Website: coastalvineyardservices.com

R.H. Drexel, wine writer and publicist, Atascadero, California

R.H. Drexel has been part of the wine industry since she came of age to drink, and has worked with many of the greats: Opus 1, Caymus, critic Jeb Dunnuck, and many others. She has also built her own web zine called Loam Baby, about wine culture, and she has a newsletter called Holy COW, which stands for Child of Wine. But for all her high-level involvement in the wine industry — socializing, traveling, drinking, etc — Drexel is a down-to-earth woman who is kind, creative, and open to growth. She gets vulnerable here about her mental health, her admiration for her friend Robert Parker, and how California’s Central Coast and the great outdoors have helped heal her.

Website: rhdrexel.com (includes issues of Loam Baby)

60 minutes segment about Robert Parker

Sharde Shepherd, cellarmaster, Santa Barbara County, California

When I invited Sharde Shepherd to join me on the podcast, she actually said to me, “I have no idea what I’ll talk about.” This is hysterical because, as it turns out, Sharde has more to talk about than most. She is the cellar master for a Santa Barbara winery, but before that, she dabbled in oil and gas, law, teaching yoga and professional wrestling. Yes: for a time, Sharde wrestled for WWE as “Scorpia,” which is incredible. She talks to me here about growing up in a ranching family in Wyoming, traveling with her mother around the world, and the restaurant manager whose enthusiasm for wine rubbed off on Sharde.

Instagram: @shardemaries

Riley Roddick, winemaker and owner, Hubba Wines, Paso Robles, California

With the advent of COVID, Riley Roddick took the plunge to become her own boss after years of assisting luminary winemakers like Stephan Asseo of L’Aventure and Vailia From of Desperada Wine. The move was a long time in coming. A native of San Diego, Riley studied viticulture at Cal Poly University and eventually traveled to France for her master’s degree. Her experiences in Europe over the course of three years shaped her understanding of why wine is so unique among all the products of the world. Here, she discusses what it’s like to be homesick for your car, why she chose names like Mushroomhead and Butch for her wines, and the flavor that French people detest, according to her anecdotal research.

Website: hubbawines.com

Instagram: @hubbawines