CONSUMED with Jaime Lewis

Husband-and-wife team Mikey and Gina Giugni produce deeply personal wines for their own wine brands, Scar of the Sea and Lady of the Sunshine, respectively. Mikey also makes a limited amount of cider that is a cult favorite, especially on the Central Coast. They talk biodynamics, family wine, fishing, and teamwork.

Instagram: @scar_of_the_sea

Instagram: @lady.of.the.sunshine

Website: scaroftheseawines.com

Website: ladyofthesunshinewines.com

Justin Trabue is the assistant winemaker at Lumen Wines in Santa Maria, California. She is a fourth-generation Washingtonian, and she is Black, which definitely puts her in the minority on California’s Central Coast, and even more so in the local wine industry. Justin and fellow Black winemaker Simonne Mitchelson wrote a letter to the wine industry, using it to raise funds for the local grassroots organization, RACE Matters, SLO. Justin was recognized for that achievement by Wine & Spirits Magazine and named one of its “Rising Black Voices in Wine.” Listen in on my conversation with Justin about wine, race, and Lord of the Rings, and don’t miss the other episodes of CONSUMED for which she is a special guest host.

Instagram: @jmedici320

Lumen Wines: lumenwines.com

South Africa native Simonne Mitchelson has lived all over the globe, and got her start in wine when she worked harvest on Waiheke Island in New Zealand for Stonyridge Vineyard. Since then, she’s had her hand in several vintages all over the world, most recently in Lompoc. At the time of this interview, she had just taken a job with Tin City Cider, opening their new tasting room in Los Olivos, California. Simonne is passionate about bringing other Black and Indigenous people of color along in the wine industry; she and guest host Justin Trabue recently wrote a letter asking the wine industry for support of Black lives. Listen to them discuss Simonne’s big family, her experiences as a Black woman in the wine industry, and what she wants to see next for this place she calls home. Also: see below for resources mentioned by Simonne in the episode.

Instagram: @simonneandsoforth

Photo credit: Heather Daenitz, craftandcluster.com

Radical XChange (consultancy serving hospitality & social justice based cultural events & resources).: @radicalxchange

The Collectress (Ashtin Berry, Sommelier, bartender and hospitality activist ): @thecollectress

Soon Hee Lee (Kendra, advocate for food justice and health equity): @soon.hee.lee

Guest host Justin Trabue interviews pitmaster Jerime Ford about his roots, which he can trace back to the great barbecue traditions of the South. Jerime grew up in San Luis Obispo, and he talks about what it was like often being the only Black kid in school and elsewhere, and how he’d love to turn his love of music and his love of food into a jazz club and soul food restaurant in downtown San Luis Obispo.

Jerime mentions an attachment to turn a standard charcoal grill into a Santa Maria Style grill. See Gabby’s Grills here for more info.

Instagram: @jaefordeats and @jaefordbeats

Dylan Jones is the executive director of One Cool Earth, an organization that creates school garden programs in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County schools. We discuss the organization’s work, kids’ reactions to tasting veggies they grew themselves, and, most immediately, how One Cool Earth continues their mission even in the midst of a pandemic.

Website: onecoolearth.org

Instagram: @onecoolearth

Anita Sahi owns and operates Copia Vineyards & Winery in Paso Robles with her husband, Varinder Sahi. Their focus is Rhône-varietal wines, but Anita wasn’t always on the wine path. She grew up in a suburb of Chicago, the child of Indian immigrants. She wound up working in high-end restaurants in New York, and eventually owned her own place in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood. With guest host Justin Trabue, Anita talks about how she met Varinder and how they established Copia.

Website: copiavineyards.com

Instagram: @copiavineyards

Jaime speaks with Mara The Helper about food insecurity, food and body image at a young age, and diabetes, which she was diagnosed with in 2018. Listen to Mara talk about growing up with a mother who baked, about sugarless gelato, living off freebies, and about helping her way out of homelessness.

Instagram: @marathehelper

Facebook: @marathehelper

Marbue Marke is a veteran of the California wine industry, particularly as a wine consultant in Napa Valley, where he lives. But his work has taken him all over, including to Pismo Beach on the Central Coast, where he is winemaker for Oceano Wines and vintner Rachel Martin, using fruit from the Spanish Springs Vineyard. Marbue spoke with guest host Justin Trabue about growing up in Freetown, Sierra Leone, his education in the wine and viticulture program at UC Davis, and having “a global heart.”

Website: marbue.com

Oceano Wines Website: oceanowines.com

Winemaker Raymond Smith is a native of Oakland, California, and talks with guest host Justin Trabue about his upbringing as one of eight kids in his family. Due to the recent protests against police brutality around the globe, Indigené Cellars has experienced a lot of support lately, along with many other Black-owned businesses. He discusses the origins of the name Indigené Cellars, the evolution of his wine appreciation, and cornbread and whiskey.

Website: indigenecellars.com

Instagram: @indigenecellarsofficial

Shanté Norwood of Té’Stees cupcakes started her business as a hobby with her kids. Today, she makes cupcakes, filled donuts, chocolate-covered strawberries and other specialties that have given her quite a sweet reputation. We talked about how she struggles to keep confidence in herself, how her husband has championed her, what it was like growing up in Santa Barbara and how she’d like to see Lompoc change.

Website: testees.site

Instagram: @te_stees