Ep 581: Wes Hagen - Santa Barbara Expert & Native9 Wines Brand Ambassador
Wine for Normal People
Wine for Normal People
4.6 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 7 October 2025
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
You will get no better primer on Santa Barbara wine country than in the show. Wes Hagen comes on to school us on his region.
Ask anyone in Santa Barbara wine about Wes Hagen and they'll tell you he is a legend. He has worked in Santa Barbara wine for 30+ years as a vineyard manager, winemaker, hospitality specialist, wine educator, and sommelier. He has run prestigious vineyards , made wine in amazing wineries (Clos Pepe, J. Wilkes Wines, Miller Family Wines), and then became the go-to guy for creating American Viticultural Areas in Santa Barbara, writing and getting four AVAs approved between 1997-2019. He is also a noted educator, having lectured at many of the top viticulture and enology schools in the US and he is known for his famed TED talk on the History of Wine.
Image: Wes Hagen. Credit: Wes Hagen
Wes is currently the brand ambassador for Native9 wines, a brand representing the Ontiveros family's 9th generation of California farmers.
In the show Wes educates us on Santa Barbara geology and climate, the various Santa Barbara County AVAs and what each grows, the process of petitioning for an AVA, the Santa Barbara wine country culture and how the movie "Sideways" affected it, and his reasons for believing that a downturn in the wine industry is "doom and room", rather than "doom and gloom"! You are guaranteed to learn a ton about Santa Barbara in this show!
Info on how to contact Wes:
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Wine for Normal People, the podcast for people who like wine, but not the snobbery that goes with it. |
| 0:15.9 | I'm your host, Elizabeth Schneider, author of the Wine for Normal People book, and Certified Wine Dork. |
| 0:21.8 | Join me as I hit record on this conversation with a friend in the wine industry. |
| 0:26.2 | This and all shows with guests are informal, but educational discussions between passionate |
| 0:30.9 | wine friends. |
| 0:32.2 | All guests are personal friends or friends of friends in wine, not strangers. |
| 0:36.2 | And like any conversation between friends, we're going to talk back and forth, interrupt |
| 0:40.4 | each other, laugh, have fun, debate, tough questions, voice opinions. |
| 0:45.0 | Most of all, enjoy sharing our time together and with you. |
| 0:48.1 | If you're in, pour yourself a glass, pull up a chair, and join us for this great chat. |
| 0:54.2 | This show is brought to you by Wine Access, my exclusive sponsor and the number one |
| 0:59.6 | rated wine club according to the New York Times wire cutter. |
| 1:03.1 | Wine Access has a number of wine clubs that you can join, but I think the best one, of course, |
| 1:06.8 | is the wine for normal people wine access wine club. |
| 1:09.0 | Four shipments a year, $150 that include shipping. |
| 1:13.1 | I pick out six wines for you for the last shipment of the year, |
| 1:16.4 | wines of South America. |
| 1:18.6 | Wineaccess.com slash normal. |
| 1:20.5 | Listen in the middle of the show for more details. |
| 1:23.6 | Ask anyone in Santa Barbara Wine about Wes Hagen. |
| 1:26.6 | They will tell you that he is a legend. He's worked in Santa Barbara wine about West Hagan, they will tell you that he is a legend. |
| 1:28.8 | He's worked in Santa Barbara Wine for 30 plus years as a vineyard manager, winemaker, |
... |
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