This episode features Kira Ballotta, owner and winemaker for the two brands celebrating past and present trailblazing women.  If a wine brand was a historical fiction novel, Olivia Brion would be the main character in that novel. Each bottle of wine tells a different “chapter” of her story. Life being somewhat more surprising than fiction, the stories of Olivia Brion are inspired by the full lives of real trailblazing women from history.  Cantadora is the natural evolution of Olivia Brion. Where Olivia Brion focuses on stories from history, Cantadora features women from today, giving back to the shared community in exceptional ways.  Our conversation in this episode ranges from Kira’s background, the varietals she works with, the challenges of building small brands, and the women that Kira has partnered with in creating the Cantadora wines.

This episode features Amy Whiteford and Dave Phinney in a conversation about the development of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills and Santa Barbara County AVA. Both Amy and Dave have independently been on the podcast before Amy back in 2014 and 2016. Our conversation ranges from their shared work background, the reasons for developing a vineyard in Santa Rita Hills, the characteristics of the site, the diversity of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay selections, challenges of hillside plantings, avocado trees in the vineyard, straddling the AVA line, the name Our Lady of Guadalupe, the wine I get to make using fruit from this vineyard for Naked Wines, and the launch of the new wine brand Our Lady of Guadalupe Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.