Ep 581: Wes Hagen - Santa Barbara Expert & Native9 Wines Brand Ambassador

Ep 581: Wes Hagen - Santa Barbara Expert & Native9 Wines Brand Ambassador

Author: Elizabeth Schneider October 8, 2025 Duration: 52:52

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:

Wes Hagen is available through to help guide you through planning a Santa Barbara Wine Adventure:  wes@native9.com or text him at 805-450-2324. Wes's web site:  www.weshagen.com  
 
Learn more about Native9 Wines at www.native9.com 
Vineyard Tours and 'Deep Dive' tastings with Wes are available at Native9 by appointment:  BOOK A TOUR - https://www.exploretock.com/native9
 

 

Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Join the community today!

www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople

_______________________________________________________________

 

This show is brought to you by my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access – THE place to discover your next favorite bottle. Wine Access has highly allocated wines and incredible values, plus free shipping on orders of $150 or more. You can't go wrong with Wine Access! Join the WFNP/Wine Access wine club and get 6 awesome bottles for just $150 four times a year. That includes shipping! When you become a member, you also get 10% all your purchases on the site. Go to wineaccess.com/normal to sign up! 

 


Elizabeth Schneider hosts Wine for Normal People, a podcast built on the idea that you can enjoy wine deeply without the pretension. It’s for anyone who finds the world of wine intriguing but is put off by the jargon and gatekeeping. Here, conversations about wine are just that-conversations. Elizabeth approaches topics with a fun and straightforward perspective, aiming to spark genuine excitement and help you discover more interesting bottles to enjoy. Roughly half of the episodes feature guests, but these aren’t formal interviews. Instead, they’re relaxed, educational discussions with passionate friends from the wine world, all people Elizabeth knows personally or through close connections. This creates a uniquely authentic and comfortable atmosphere, as if you’re listening in on a chat between friends who happen to know a lot about what’s in your glass. The focus is always on practical knowledge and shared enthusiasm, stripping away the snobbery to make wine feel accessible and endlessly fascinating. Tune into this podcast to hear honest talk about regions, grapes, and tasting, all designed to make your own journey with wine more rewarding and a lot more fun.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 93

Wine for Normal People
Podcast Episodes
Ep 604: Six Alternatives to Expensive Wines [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:27
This time I give you six wine regions that make very expensive wines and then provide ideas of less expensive bottles that you could sub in when you don't want to splurge. From Champagne to Barolo, I give you some ideas…
Ep 603: The Veneto Region of Italy (2026 Update) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:13
I haven't given an update to the Veneto region in more than a decade. With an upcoming Patron trip to the region, I think it's high time! Veneto is in northeastern Italy and is famed for wines like Prosecco, Valpolicella…
Ep 602: Wine Legends - Émile Peynaud, The Father of Modern Enology [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:10
This is the start of a new series, suggested by Patron Keith S.! Thank you, Keith! I'll cover people who have made a huge difference in the wine world —figures whose contributions have shaped how wine is made, understood…
Ep 600: Nine Short Wine Stories -- How WFNP Listeners Got Into Wine [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:27
600 episodes of WFNP! I am grateful to you for listening, for reading the book, for learning with me and gracefully accepting the changes over the years, and I'm especially grateful to my sponsors, guests, and travel par…
Ep 599: The Grape Miniseries Refresh - Malbec [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:38
This week I cover Malbec, or Côt as it's known in its native home of Southwest France. This old red grape variety has long history in France and was once one of its most planted grapes. But due to pickiness in the vineya…
Ep 598: The Médoc and the Haut-Médoc of Bordeaux [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:00
This week I cover the regional AOCs of Medoc and Haut-Medoc, which wraps up our exploration of the Left Bank of Bordeaux. These two areas can cover a lot of ground, but they are usually used for discreet geographies in t…