Paso Wine Plunge

There once was a skilled winemaker from Santa Cruz that moved to Paso Robles to start a new wine brand. His name was Ben and he was an assistant winemaker at Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains and used to visit Paso staying with his friend Bender who made wine barrels. He thought he could make it work in the Pass of the Oaks because he loved the wine, soils, culture and the opportunity to be around world-class winemakers everyday. It would allow him to learn from the best and take advantage of Paso’s legitimate success in the wine world. He made wine on the side while at Ridge but did not market and sell to consumers, just shared and drank with his friends and family. It would be his first Paso vintage where he was promoting his brand Electros named after the music genre of electronic music with early hip-hop influence that used drum machines, synthesizers and funk music to create a unique sound in the late 70s and early 80s. To start, he bought fruit from the Adelaida District and Templeton Gap and was happy to get a chance to buy a few tons from each vineyard site. He made a bunch of money from a remote tech job he had in the past while living in Santa Cruz which allowed him to make wine and put everything on the line moving to Paso with only one friend living there. People thought he was crazy, which he was, but he was confident in making it happen, so after a lot of extensive research on the region’s terroir, he decided to sell most of his belongings and take the Paso wine plunge.

While sitting by himself at the Pappy McGregor’s bar in downtown Paso Robles, Ben sipped his whiskey and pleasantly conversated with the attractive and wise bartender. His friend Bender was busy delivering his wine barrels, so Ben needed to kill some time while he was visiting Paso looking for some wine grapes. Halfway done with his second whiskey, he overheard someone talking about Syrah from the Adelaida District. “Pardon me, I apologize for listening, but did you say you could get some Syrah?” “Yes, are you looking for some?” kindly replied the good-looking gentlemen sitting to his right. “I’m Ben.” and they shook hands smiling already feeling a strong connection. “I’m Michael Stiekema. I make wine and have a label Stiekema Wine Company. South African roots and California flavors.” “Nice, I am visiting from Santa Cruz looking for some Syrah for my first Paso vintage.” “I make a Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre blend so I think I can help you.” “Sweet, I’m working my way up to a GSM.” humbly said Ben. The two exchanged numbers on their phones and got back to their drinks and previous conversations. After getting the local scoop from the bartender, Ben smoothly asked her, “May I have another?”

When Ben leased the space for his urban winery near downtown, he decided to put a bed in one of the offices to save money. He was on a tight budget because the used equipment he bought ate up a lot of his savings and that was just one part of the operation. Even with the friend discount from Bender, the barrels weren’t cheap and the electricity bill was always high due to the consistent winery temperature it needed. His first wine was going to be a Syrah, so he picked his grapes from two separate blocks from the same vineyard and blended them together. Even though the blocks were close by, there was a clear difference when he sampled the grapes during harvest. He bought one ton of each which would give him over 100 cases to try and sell locally and outside of the county. He was a true artist so he drew up the logo and label and used Bender’s friend to make it all digital, having a unique look that was elegant but artsy. He had to display the music genre influenced name somehow, so it took him a while to come up with something that creative. His true passions were doing art and making wine, but he knew he had to know how to do it all to succeed in such a competitive industry. He had to take his art side and somehow balance it with the not as glamorous as you might think wine business. Being a winemaker is not all rosy and fine, just drinking wine all the time, it’s maintaining the art with a pleasurable grind.

Ben grew up surfing in Santa Cruz and took his skill and passion to SLO County beaches as soon as he arrived. He always felt like making wine and surfing were similar due to nature’s desire to give you something exhilarating while having a pulse on the waves, wines and vines. The freedom on the wave went parallel with the freedom of using nature and chemistry to create something spectacular for himself and others. It also built muscle for him in preparation for harvest along with keeping up his attractive body and nice tan. Stepping into the ocean gave him a break from his wine grind and allowed him to think clearly in the water, giving him a new perspective on his project each time he waited or rode a wave. The surfing in the county when ideal, with some exceptions is as good as anywhere in California, so he would surf in Cayucos, Morro Bay, Montaña de Oro and Pismo Beach where he didn’t mind traveling when the waves were firing. Kelly Slater once visited, so it does have a reputation. Ben loved the variety and was so glad everything was fairly close, because he could get up early, surf and then make it back to Paso to address his wine’s needs.

It was a cool night in Paso and Ben had his friend Bender over to his winery to catch up and do some drinking. Bender brought over a twelve pack of BarrelHouse Mango IPA cans, a 2014 Saxum Broken Stones Syrah and a 2021 Herman Story Nuts & Bolts Syrah. Bender knew both Justin Smith and Russell P. From, so they always hooked him up when he visited trying to sell them his wine barrels. Ben and Bender both could drink and drank super high-end wines often, so these big hitters didn’t need the perfect occasion for them. They started out with the IPAs, then the Herman Story, the Saxum and back to the IPAs. Ben invested in a heavy-duty surround sound stereo system so they put on a vinyl record of the Beastie Boys Check Your Head where they found themselves bobbing their heads to So What’Cha Want. The beat went perfectly with the beer, so they were pumped up when they got to the wines. After they went in deep with the wine, they finished both bottles and were back to the beers. After the next level wines, their palates were exploding at the touch, so the beer tasted impeccable and beyond refreshing. Pretty sloshed from the beer and wine they changed albums and next thing you know they were in the groove dancing around the winery to Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) by Marvin Gaye, putting them into an existential alcohol induced state.

As people started finding out about Ben and Electros, the community started opening up to him and treating him like family. One person that was very supportive was Adam Montiel from Where Wine Takes You, a Paso Robles wine podcast that has turned into an international draw to the area and its unique culture. After randomly meeting at Paso Wine Fest, Adam invited Ben to be on his podcast, so Ben accepted and offered to do the interview at his urban winery near downtown. “Ben, I’m fascinated with surfing and the culture and actually have a surfer friend name Jeff from Santa Cruz you might know?” “I know Jeff, we used to surf at Manresa and The Hook. Great guy!” said Ben halfway through the episode. “You need to hook up with Philipp Pfunder from Law Estate Wines, Josh Beckett at Peachy Canyon, Aaron Jackson at Aaron Wines and Chris Taranto at Paso Wine. You guys will have to all go out together. So, Ben, what are some tenets and ways you look at surfing, or what it means to you that run parallel with how you look at winemaking?” After taking a few seconds and a deep breath, Ben looked up and humbly responded, “Well, for starters, there is nothing like walking a vineyard, talking to winemakers and getting barreled all in the same day.”…