Episode Details

🍇 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.

🍷 GUEST + EPISODE LINKS

Kahal Family Vineyards
KahalFamilyVineyards.com

Kahal Family Vineyards on Instagram
@kahalfamilyvineyards

From the Heart Animal Sanctuary
FromTheHeartAnimalSanctuary.org

From the Heart Animal Sanctuary on Instagram
@fromtheheartanimalsanctuary

Travel Paso
TravelPaso.com

📰 PASO WINE WIRE

Remembering Chuck Ortman

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.

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