Ep. 1811 Sam Parra | Voices With Cynthia Chaplin

Welcome to the Italian GreatGeek Podcast. Join us as we explore personal stories of travel and tasting with Italy's must know grape varietals. Chart your own course with my Italian GreatGeek Journal. Your personal tasting companion to accompany the series available now on Amazon with thanks to Clangelo and partners for their generous support with this project. Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. I'm Cynthia Chaplin, and this is voices. Every Wednesday, I will be sharing conversations with international wine industry professionals discussing issues in diversity, equity, and inclusion through their personal experiences, when working in the field of wine. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and rate our show wherever you get your pods. Hello, and welcome to voices. This is me Cynthia Chaplain, and today I am thrilled to welcome Sam Para to voices. After fifteen years of experience in Napa and Sonoma, Sam became the founder and the owner of Para wine company in Willow Valley in Oregon. He's also the co chair of a Heavoy, and he was recently named one of the wine industry network most inspiring people in wine for twenty twenty four for his work advocating to empower, educate, and elevate Latinx members of the wine community in the vineyard and beyond. So this is completely up my street on totally happy to talk to you today, Sam. Thank you so much for coming. Oh, Cynthia, thank you so much, for having me on voices. Well, it's my pleasure. And your backstory is so authentic and so meaningful. I've been wanting to talk to you for ages. Your grandparents went from Mexico to the US to work legally, first year grandfather, and then later your grandmother, and she stayed behind for years to raise their ten children. I mean, I have six children, so I'm in awe. Until they could all move legally to California, and it took a decade to unite the entire family in the USA. And you've said that everything you do is full force for the inspiration that your grandparents are to you. And they taught you hard work ethics and respectful upbringing to others and to never forget where you came from. So I really wanna talk about this, especially in light of everything that's happening at the border in US, and how much we need to, make room for everyone in our wine industry. Your whole family was working in vineyards in California for two generations, and now you are a winery owner in Oregon. So what was this journey like for you? You know, you must have had some pretty serious determination to arrive where you are today, and obviously a lot of family love and support. So tell us the story. Yeah. Of course. And, you know, and I do wanna mention also my paternal side as well, Parra, Definitely, a lot of family members came to work through the Barasero program that started during president Eisenhower Howard. The our great soldiers were at at war, World War two. And the United States had a an agreement, which they've always had, you know, work visas, partnership with Mexico. But at the time, it was integrated with a citizenship program So it it definitely benefited that that generation. And, you know, reflecting back of being born, raised in Napa Valley, and and now seeing all the all the families that have their grandchildren of my age, you know, whether it's, ranging from late thirties to mid forties, now having their own brand. And it's great to see, again, all these families that have worked side by side from that era, Cynthia, from from the baroceto program where, again, with these families in Napa and Sonoma being, tied in with a bracero program where we know the history of the hardworking families, there in California. And so the way I see the sacrifices that my grandparents made being, you know, being born and raised in a specific part of Mexico and leaving their loved ones behind, whether it's distant relatives or longtime friends and just the custom of their lifestyle to come over to the US, I feel that that's definitely my generation where I'm doing the sacrifice of of my entire family is in Napa County and a few in Sonoma in Solano County, but I am doing the sacrifice of being out here in Oregon. And my wife and myself just love it out here. I I I truly have I can say a rebirth in Oregon. My wife and myself have seen our we we can see our financial gains, Cynthia. Versus such a place of high cost of living, where it just felt that we were just chasing our tails, where where we're from. And and again, our move out here to Oregon has been really beneficial. So just like my grandparents making sacrifices, we we we made sacrifices as well for main goals in life as adults. We became homeowners in November of two thousand seventeen. So that's something very similar, Cynthia. Absolutely. I mean, and this is, you know, your grandparents were referencing, you know, immediately post World War two. But you you became a homeowner in two thousand and seven. So this is all just very, very recent history, you know, still within the realm of of people who have experienced it all. And it's interesting to me that you chose, you know, to to sacrifice and move to to Oregon. You've called it the state of dreamers, And, you know, you decided to move your family from Oregon to California. You said, you know, financial benefits definitely, but, you know, I love Oregon and the wine scene there. But what made Oregon, so powerful for you. You know, there were other places you could have gone. What was it about Oregon that really drew you there? Well, I have history in in the area. My very first employer in the late nineties in Napa Valley happen to be founders of a winery in the Dundee Hills. So I I have been visiting out here since nineteen ninety nine. And back then, I can recall, in Mcminnville, only seeing two tasting arms back in nineteen ninety nine, where now within three blocks, you see, like, eight tasting rums. Just to see what it has evolved to out here in in the the northern part of wine country in Oregon, And plus also, my my in laws moved to retire out here as well. So I do have history with Oregon since nineteen ninety nine, but then again, our move happened in the summer of two thousand sixteen. And, again, you know, the big step in our lives was in November of two thousand seventeen, to become homeowners And then eventually I began to save for my own brand, which we can discuss as well. Yeah. Let's definitely do that. I I wanna talk about the winery for sure. Your surname Pada, as you said, actually means grapevine or trellis in Spanish and Portuguese, and that is significantly ironic in my opinion. So let let's talk about your winery for a minute. You've said, you know, you started as a boutique. It's only been a few years, less than ten. And you wanna keep going as a handcrafted artisanal, you know, producer of wine. What traditions have you based potter wines on and where do you see the future going for your brand? You know, I wanna ask about the hibiscus wine you're doing. I'll keep that one for for later on in the conversation, but you're growing some unusual grapes for Oregon. So tell us about the philosophy of Pada, what you're doing there, and and what are the plans? Let's hear. Of course. So the the very first thing I wanna cover is I wish that I own land and a winery. I am a boutique producer where I I began to save for my company at the beginning of two thousand seventeen, I only had one day off with my wife. And so the other day, I would go hand labor at different wineries for bottling. And and also saving tip money from my daytime employer, I was financially ready to start my company two years later. And so still to this day, Cynthia, I source varietals, I source grapes, and I am in a cooperative in McManville, where I don't have a tasting room at all. I am self distributed in Oregon, and what you covered of, yes, the varietals I'm working with, for myself, I would not be doing myself any justice if I started with Piena No Ah. Piena no arc, what thrives here in the valley, what everybody makes. So From the valley itself, I source Temporanillo from Zenith vineyard there in west of Salem. I source Gewerst Germaineer from a vineyard in, in West Salem, Then I'm working a lot with a grower Havlin vineyard right where we live here in Dallas, Oregon. I source Sarah gamay noir, Anne Blao Frankesh. And hopefully, I'll I'll be sourcing, something else from him. One b interesto, Noah. Other varietals, from Southern Oregon is Cabernet Frank. And I recently bought a fortified Vionier, a white port from the Rogue Valley. And and so sourcing from different parts of Oregon gives me a big advantage of sourcing varietals that cannot grow right here that's dominated by pinot gris chardonnay and pinot noir. I do source some pinot noir, which I blend a tiny bit into tempranillo, which is a wine I call a consolta in Spanish can be an appointment with a therapist So I like to say the winds of therapy in the glass. I love that. Well, it's interesting because it sounds like you have left the door open to be as creative as you want, and it's I think this idea, you know, just getting back to what you said at the beginning that you don't own land, you source grapes from growers. It it's such a it's such a conundrum. You know, people that I talked to who do own land, feel one way about it. People I talk to who don't own land, feel another way about it. You know, people have a lot of opinions about this, but the way that you're running pot of wine sounds like you have left your door open to any kind of creativity that sort of takes your interest, which is really different from, you know, what you're stuck with it for better or for worse when you actually own the land that's already planted. Okay. Correct. I I definitely wish I had the means to buy some land something small and manageable because, you know, I I feel the next thing that really faces the industry is how so much labor from agriculture is shifting over to construction or other trades. And and even the lack of labor as well, and, you know, that that definitely has a tie in with IE Boy as well. Believe me. We'll get to that. Yeah. But, you know, I I definitely wish I could have the mains to to own some land. That would be the ultimate goal. But for now, yeah, you know, I I'm on a I definitely have to be strategic as far as my growth I maintain a great relationship with growers. And then also, along with my p logo, as you covered, you know, Parra and English, Parra, in Northern Portugal, North West Spain, and even parts of Chile, Barra could be Vigna, could be a k a vine. And so, yeah, I have no lineage to those countries. At all. But even from doing some gene genealogy, I definitely have a good percentage of, Iberian connection and lineage. But, you know, other additions to my company is canned wine as well. It was a great addition last year for myself to pay attention what's happening in the market with gen z and millennials consuming less. I began with a white blend and a rose which I embrace my heritage by the front label of the can being all in Spanish. It's called the white is the And then legally, everything in the back or majority of everything in the back, you have to cover the government warning and and other factors in English. But also along with other wines that I have in Spanish, as you mentioned, I am I made a hibiscus infused wine. So with some publications out there, they they definitely give me kudos for embracing my culture And and even I'll tell you this, even some caucasian clients say we love how you have your your heritage in the front of your on your cans. They're all in Spanish. Well, let's be realistic, you know, a huge portion of the world is now Spanish speaking. So, you know, I think people forget that at their peril, especially when we're talking about marketing. So, yeah, I embracing your heritage and really sort of, you know, putting a spotlight on that in a way that is positive beyond just something for your family, but also for your consumers is a really interesting aspect of what you're doing. But let let's talk a little bit about Ajiboy. I interviewed your amazing colleague, Sophia Torres last year, and we talked about Aki voice mission, which is, you know, a group of successful Latinx wine professionals like you, providing education and development opportunities for the vineyard stewards in Oregon's wine industry and creating community and empowerment. And it was interesting because it was Sophia who taught me the term vineyard stewards, which we don't use in Europe, and I think we should come up with something that is equivalent to that because It really elevates what people are doing in the vineyards. And actually outside working with their hands, working with the soil, working with the vines, you know, in in the best and the worst of weather and climate and altitude and all sorts of things, I think the title, Vineyard Stewart is already going in the right direction. So, you know, what's your role with Ahi boy now? Tell us what you're up to and what impact is Ahi boy having on the Latino people in the Oregon wine scene. First of all, I would love to live in the Oregon wine scene. Everyone who I talked to from Arizona, Oregon is amazing. So tell me how you wanna grow the program and what you're doing there. I've myself, I am co chair of I. Voy, I was involved from the very beginning alongside president, Diana Ornelas, before we even voted on the acronym, I e boy You might have heard the story of Sophia. It began with Jesus Guyanne and may may he rest in peace and Miguel Lopez and Sophia just connecting for some coffee and exchanging ideas. And then eventually we began to organize some meetings, and we had we took a break in general for our dear friend, Jesus Guienne, passing just way too young, such a talented winemaker and human being. And going back to what is the impact of I Evoid that I have seen is that you have vineyards through words that have gone through the through the program, which keep in mind, it's non credits through Shamakada. It's a pilot's program, but you definitely see them empowered, through Moore's education. You see their gains as far as promotions they have with their employer, some some vineyards through words, personal goals. One example, not to give out any names, one student of a cohort managed to go seek a program to actually, get his high school diploma which he he never had a chance in Mexico because he moved so young to the US. And for somebody of his age, I believe he was in his late thirties when that happened. He wanted to set a set an example to his children how he's making an effort to improve himself. So that that is what I have to say about Ayee Voy. As far as the direction, I I that's definitely a bit more personal information within the organization. But one thing I do wanna tell you that is a big step for I. E. Boy, we have hired somebody part time to help us on on administration, social media, marketing. So we're making progress. We we can we have somebody hired part time. One thing I do wanna say, again, going back to, the shortage of labor. Okay? This is just an example. This may not be tied in with IE Boy, but you can see how EIvoi can have an impact. Okay? Is the major challenge facing many states is the shortage of labor. What IIvoi is doing And I feel that the industry agrees to this throughout Oregon supporting us is let's just say, you know, somebody highly gifted in agriculture, you know, working at a vineyard makes a range where they see that they can make, you know, almost twice the amount if they join a union doing construction work. Well, imagine if they have the opportunity as they're doing with I. E. Voy to educate themselves as the industry as a whole because somebody can be very naturally gifted in agriculture But the but what's really sad is they lack knowledge of what happens after the grapes are delivered, how the wine is made, how the wine is marketed, how a company does budgeting. And the non credit pilot program basically covers what Shamekahda can cover on a credit basis, and the vineyard Stewart get it how they are such a big impact. And myself as a winemaker, you cannot make good wine without beginning to receiving great grapes, all these beautiful cultivated grapes by our vineyard stewards. So by empowering through education, by themselves, even gaining more knowledge or even self esteem and feeling recognized, I feel that they're gonna catch what everybody says. The wine bug And when they have more of the wine bug and when they're more passionate for what they do, you can you can definitely bet that it's gonna be harder for them to leave the industry. And Again, I'm glad to see some students moving up the ranks and their companies and getting promotions and getting more recognition. It I feel for the very first contributor for when we started our nonprofit financially, we had a huge donor of Dick IRath, and he stated himself, the almighty pioneer Dick IRath stated this program has been long overdue in this area, in the state of Oregon. And so that is what I wanna cover about I Evoy. Sorry. I cannot mention what's projected for the future? That's more internal kind of information for the nonprofit. No. I get it. And I think, you know, everybody loves a teaser. It it means that I'm gonna have to come back and talk to you about this in a year from now when when good things have happened. Or, yeah, you know, or, or interview, the other co founder, Miguel Lopez. He has a similar story to myself where his father was a vineyard Stewart and himself, now owning a vineyard management company, or deanna Ornelas, our president, but it it's it's definitely, something that We are not done, and we're gearing up for our big fifth year anniversary, which is really hard to believe that. Just how time flies. Right, Cynthia? It's yes. Definitely. Well, let me ask you some some stats And if you don't have them, don't worry because I'm throwing this at you. But it's been five years just about you're coming up as you said. So, you know, you've got Latinx people working in the vineyard as vineyard stewards, and they come to you to to Ahi boy, to you know, get education to really become invested in what they're doing more than just as a job, but really as something that could be a career. I love what you said about catch the wine bug. I think that's That's a great way to put it because it happens to all of us for different reasons. So in the past five years, how many people have gone through the program? Yes. With each cohort, It's an average of fourteen students. So times five. The fifth cohort taking place right now, that is seventy Vineyard Stewart. That's amazing. Yeah. That's amazing. We're looking at you know, not just seventy people whose lives have changed, but that's seventy families. You know, when you start to play it forward, it has such a domino effect when you look at, you know, you're not just you know, sort of emboldening one person to get educated and to become invested, but you're you're giving that esteem to an entire family. And I think that's something that people don't really talk about. This isn't a one on one thing. It's it's a community. It's a family, and it pays out, you know, through neighbors and friends. It's it's something that's much bigger than just the seventy students who have gone through so far. Yeah. Well, let's talk a little bit about what else you're doing. I know you're also involved with Luther Community Services in Mcminville, with fabulous Mayor Remy Raabkin, who I loved dearly. What do these services do and why are they so important to the Latinx community? I was involved with them by assisting seeking donations in two thousand seventeen and two thousand eighteen. From that point forward, I was dedicating my time to a Evoy. I can't tell you about them what drew me to volunteer for them. Is, for themselves fundraising, they need major expense happening is to pay lawyers, to assist the Latino community, that are pursuing a citizen citizenship. I was there technically not really there, but I volunteered for two years and a big shout out to them making great things in the community and their organization growing. But, those were the only two years I was involved with them. Well, in general, like, through through your, you know, your time years of bouncing with them and then the time you've been spending with Ahi Boy, how many people are we talking about here in Oregon? You know, Latino people who are involved in the wine industry at this level who need citizenship, need education, what is the number? I feel overall for a I'm away even from wine industry of around here. You know, we have a large industry for farming and blueberries, Philbert orchard for hazelnuts. I I I wanna say overall, being that you have some multi generational multi generational families now here where younger generations, some of them are still farming. I wanna take a rough guess about thirty five percent to forty percent, need assistance, to pursue citizenship. I do wanna cover one major factor as well that's gonna face the agriculture industry. What we've seen here in Oregon are immigrants coming from Central America, where imagine imagine companies having a hard time finding somebody that's bilingual in Spanish And and, of course, Spanish speakers communicating with themselves, but imagine when you have now individuals from ten central America that only speak their native tongue. How challenging is that on top of what's taking place even alone with Spanish speakers? Exactly. It it grows, you know, sort of by degrees. Exactly. Exactly. So it it's interesting. This is a very interesting topic. And, you know, in Oregon, we're looking at just a microcosm here, but in general, you know, agriculture around the world is facing this problem, in Europe, we're facing it, you know, especially with migrant workers and and bans on migrant workers and things. So, you know, you and your winery have been written up in almost every important journal and wine magazine in the US. You know, you're one of the faces of Latino success in the US wine industry. And you've said you wanna inspire and hire Latinos and show them what it means to be a vineyard or a wine brand owner. So, you know, looking at these numerical herd hurdles, you know, thirty five to forty percent of Latinos working in agriculture in Oregon alone need help with their citizenship. We know there's also no hereditary wealth for vineyard stewards out there. So this, you know, this community really needs substantial financial support as well as documentation support to pave the way to success. You know, I was looking at recent data, and even though the rate of Hispanic owned businesses has grown, it doesn't reflect the population at all of hispanics in the US. You know, As you said, so many people coming up from Central America, the census bureaus numbers that I could find, showed that Hispanic owned businesses grew eight point two percent in twenty twenty to make up about six point five percent of all businesses in the country. But in the wine sector, there's, you know, around eleven thousand six hundred wineries, but there's only about a hundred that are owned by Latinos, which is less than one percent. So the US Hispanic population is nineteen percent of the country's total population. So, you know, less than one percent of all funding from top venture capital firms are going into Latinx owned businesses. How do we change all of this? Because, obviously, we're going to have to change it. So what needs to happen? How do we get the ball rolling in the right direction to get the support and the finance to this community? For myself, not living in many different states, what I found here in Oregon, and even with the community in Salem is very pro business. And even as a whole from what I've discovered, Or again receives, grants on a federal level based on growth of population of Latinos. I I do wanna say, and thank pitch Latino events that happened by Latino founders. I was in the twenty twenty three cohort. I was awarded, two thousand five hundred on a grant you can always find assistance at a small business development center, which we have it through Shamekada and Salem. Let's tell everybody what Shamekada is, Sam, because I'm trying to, you know, people won't know. Oh, Shamekah is a is a local two, yeah, Shamekah is a local two year college here in Salem. And even to go back to your question, what what can change is I feel it goes back to voting to speaking to our local reps in order to keep the push and keep giving positive messages and success successful stories in order for more grants to continue to go to states that are needed where they've had an explosion of Latino population where, again, for many of us, not having multi generational wealth We do need that assistance, the extra assistance of starting a brand. It it it could be so it could be a bit a bit easy to go work at a small business development center or a local nonprofit that can help you with a business plan and to a loan, but with the opportunity of grants being out there, it has just been a true blessing for myself. And I do gotta tell you something that happened recently on an international level, the big company naked wines bracelet of Australia or or, you know, the UK company, they they just awarded, and it was It was led by Machario Montoya, one of the naked wines winemaker in Napa Valley. They awarded eighty thousand and grants. There was one prize winner, twenty thousand. And there were three of us, including myself, I received a ten thousand dollar grant. Do you imagine that how impactful the volume that that speaks, Cynthia? You know, a a company like of a caliber of the of have that has the international presence like naked wines, providing grants to individuals that are on the same industry as themselves, they definitely did not see our they definitely did not see us as a threat. They they definitely see us as ones that need help to to help out and invest in, I mean, and in on providing a grant in general from, I mean, ten thousand dollars in Oregon is a good chunk of money, Cynthia. Are you enjoying this podcast? Don't forget to visit our YouTube channel. Mama jumbo shrimp for fascinating videos covering Stevie Kim and her travels across Italy and beyond, meeting winemakers, eating local foods, and taking in the scenery. Now back to the show. Yeah. It's it's so this is so interesting, and I think this is what people lose sight of. You know, When people are standing outside the daily business of wine, you know, and you think about a grant in two thousand five hundred that you received or ten thousand that you receive seems like very small potatoes, but it had an enormous impact on, you know, your small business. So, you know, let's talk about how do people win these grants? How do people access them? I mean, how did you find out about it? You know, how how do people get their foot in the door of these things where they don't have to pay it back. As you said, it's not a loan. This is a grant. Something completely different. It it frees you. You don't have that big albatross sitting on your shoulder. And, you know, it's a small amount of money when you think how valuable the wine industry is in Oregon alone, but, you know, globally as well. Two thousand five hundred dollars or ten thousand dollars is a drop in the ocean. But for you, it was huge. So How did you find out? How do people find these? How do they apply? What happens? Portland has different organizations, such as Prosper Portland in the state level, there's Oregon built. The best thing locally that I can advise is, again, go to the local small business development center. They are a wealth of knowledge as far as grants. I do have to tell you that naked wines, I actually saw through, an advertising, an advertisement on LinkedIn, just on LinkedIn. And And I said, wow, that is really nice of them. And and from myself, just glancing at this, I thought they were just giving out grants for, like, Latinos attending college. I'm like, that is really nice of them. And when I went deeper into the article, I'm like, oh, wait. It it this is to help out startup companies. And I had to keep reading along to make sure that I qualified that I have not been around long enough. And sure thing, you know, other peers of mine, there there was recipients that won as well. Again, we're all we all started around the same time. So that was pure luck. I definitely am very proactive on in LinkedIn for business. So I'm glad I caught that advertisement. Yeah. Definitely. Well, the power of social media, and and there's no end to that for better or for worse. And this time, it was for good, which always me happy. I I like a I like a social media success story, but, you know, sticking on this kind of uplifting end of of the story, I I have got to go back to this whole hibiscus infused wine thing that potato wine is is doing. I'm not sure if everybody knows what hibiscus infused wine is. I did my research on it, and I I went down a rabbit hole that was really interesting. So let's talk about this. Tell me about hibiscus infused wine. Why did you decide to can it? I mean, I can guess, but I'll let you tell us why you made that choice. And what else have you got in mind? What other creative new things are coming down the Parra pipeline? Of course. I I I do have to, talk about my new red can wine. It's a Saracabra enabling. The hibiscus wine is still in the tank, and it's gonna be bottled, Cynthia. It's not gonna be a can wine. Going back to embracing my culture, growing up enjoying our frescas, whether it's tamarindo, whether, it's Espigna, whether it's Orchata, And, of course, you have, you have, Hamika, being Habiscus. And so I've done small trials with Habiscus at home with already made wine, just cracking open some some pinot noiras made in the valley and and experimenting with hibiscus at home. The thing about hibiscus well, we'll cover first on the for the health factor. It's good for diabetes. It's good for high blood pressure, but for making it for a tea or aua fresca or in this case now in a wine, Habiscus releases the color very fast. It releases the tan in, not so aggressive. And it definitely enhances a bit of aroma of of actual hibiscus and the wine. I feel that with time, I did have to tell you, I I just received the notification that my formula got approved, of actual recognizing that the wine has infused with hibiscus. And, there's also some cinnamon tea involved, which I will not talk about the volume being That that's the factors I wanna tell you about. I will say this. It's very it was very labor intensive because you're you're you're moving the wine really gently from tank to tank And and I'm sorry. The base wine is, like, the varietal I already work with, Temporanillo. Okay? It after primary, it's been on steel the entire time. It does not it did not go into oak at all. It was on stainless steel tanks. So I'm moving the wine very gently from tank to tank. And I'm running the wine in an actual pasta strainer, Cynthia, where I have the hibiscus in And I I put on a plastic glove and I'm and I'm squeezing the hibiscus in my hand and I'm running the wine. And automatically, you get the aroma and you see the color release. And I'm and in in my mind, I'm like, this is gonna work. And how many flowers per bottle, let's say? Being being here that I buy it by, you know, based on pounds. Let's just say I had to take more than two trips to the store. Wow. Okay. So this is you need a lot of flowers for this. Yeah. Yeah. And not not not not necessarily a lot either, but I just produce shy of five hundred liters And here's the thing. Okay? Beyond moving the wine from tank to tank and having the hibiscus in my hand through a paucus trainer squeezing it, I also I will say this. I put the hibiscus in a commercial tea bag, a mesh bag, and I just let the bag hang inside the tank once it was sealed. Well, that's pretty much the definition of infusing. So sounds good. That yeah. You know, and and the hibiscus is just hanging in the wine. It's just basically like a cold brew. Incredible. Well, I I am a big fan of gardening, which a lot of people know, and I love flowers. And hibiscus is is a great flower. So and I am interested to get my hands on that when it's bottled and ready to go. So I'm keeping my eye on this. I love getting to this part of of an interview where, you know, it's it's uplifting and it's so positive. I like to talk about success and positivity in our industry. And, you know, you've said if the wine industry wants to grow, it needs to change its offerings and the way it communicates with people. And I totally agree with this. So aside from hibiscus infused wine, you know, what else is potter wines doing to change the way we communicate with people about wine? And, you know, what's the feedback like from your consumer base about all these amazing things that you're creating? Well, you know, again, going back to, I I like to say that myself being a small brand on a business level, I think, like, a big company, like a big wine company. Okay? And again, going back to the shift where I was, I'm very lucky to take my wine to a facility where it's force carbonated into cans where for myself, I make my passion wines. Okay? My my my trademark p logo are all single vineyard wines of Oregon. Those are my very small batch, production lines, again, on my trademark p logo. What then what I do on my second label, which is a total in the Matador, in which I have a quote in the back where usually with a total in the Madadore, you have the lineage of of a bloody sport. But in the back of the bottle, I said it states, the side of make wine, not war. We can all learn from them. Salud. And and the second label yeah. The second label, this is Avino Blanco. And this is my going back to my consultant, being usually a consultation with a therapist, and I like to say the wine's a therapy in a glass, these are my Vino Blancon Consulta are gonna be my my creative side a blends. And these are the wines that I on the consultant and Vino Blanco on the second label that I wanna grow for distribution. And another wine as well a cabernet franc right on the front label. It's called let's be frank about it. So for that one, what is what what is it for the related to the industry? Sometimes the industry can be to snooty, where I on a on a very playful label of Let's be frank about it, it's a it's, you know, it's a wine pun. It's having fun. It's not taking wine so seriously. It's opening this bottle of delicious governing franc and enjoy it with friends and a good meal. And then again, my hibiscus infused wine it it cannot continue with the tempranillo that I sourced from Zena Finyard. I get very few grapes from of this rydal that I'm really lucky that it's grown at such a pedigree really well known vineyard of Zenith vineyard out here in Salem, where what eventually is gonna happen with my hibiscus wine, which is called is drink drink a cold, put it on ice. It it's wine. Don't be snooty about it. You can put it on ice. You can you can have a sangria. I like to call it, sangria, sangria. And then, of course, my can wines. My my Rosado, my Vino Blanco, both forced carbonation, bubbly. But my red wine is called Vino Chengon. Are you familiar with the word Chengon? No. I'm not. And I speak relatively decent Spanish. It's c h I n g o. If you happen to be in Argentina or Chile and even in Spain, you know, say the the superstar football, a k a soccer player, scores, friends would turn to each other, and they can be like, not just Golaso, but they will be like, like, that was the best. That was You know, that was legendary. That is the best goal that we've seen. That is Chingon. So imagine for myself, imagine going to a Takeria where the owner may not be into wine, but I show him that this this canned wine that says Vino Chingon. And if he asked me, well, how's the wine? I've replied to them. I've replied to them, can't you read? And they've cracked up, and they crack up, and they're like, okay. Give us sex. Yeah. Marketing. You're a genius. They started out because they they see it that, you know, they don't need to taste it. They're not into wine, but they see the clean, the fun packaging, marketing, on the can. And so that for myself is the breakdown of Parra Wanko as a whole. And, again, keep in mind I'm a fairly new company, but for myself having an up upbringing playing sports and loving sports It's just a competitive competitor nature in me. I am very goal driven. I have goals where I am gonna reach some volume eventually where I wanna pursue to distribution. And I I would love to be, like, in Texas and California, but they are so competitive. California, obviously, having so much wine brands themselves where I know I gotta pursue states that are still have a a a fairly small portfolio of Oregon brands and and still have a good population of Latinos, which so many ending up in the restaurant industry as well, I can see you in Florida, one of these days. Yeah. Exactly. And Florida is another very competitive state, Cynthia, unfortunately, where for myself, again, taking baby steps on growing my company, not pursuing a bank loan right now. It's because, you know, with a financial crash, I saw too much heartache, Cynthia. I saw a lot of brands even not not Latino owned of individuals starting brands, and they were so passionate. And then and then saying, oh, yeah. We're gonna we're gonna get a business loan. We're gonna grow our brand we're gonna connect with distributors, and here comes the financial crash. And with so many distributors that were carrying all these boutique brands in California, and so many distributors going belly up, going out of business during the financial crash, and owing a lot of money to these boutique brands that I knew in California, where many of them, you know, went out of business financially. They cannot keep up with the payment of the bank. They they definitely bit too much they can chew. Or, of course, they didn't see that coming of the effect that the financial crash had, where, you know, I'm I'm old enough to know better where for myself not having financial backing, it it's in a matter of baby steps But I already have everything marketed on a tier level as far as what I want out in distribution. And I already have plans for my single vineyard program, my p logo, to strictly be, eventually, what will be a tasting room with a sit down, tasting, elevated food pairings, definitely not gonna have the standard walk into the tasting room belly up to the bar it's gonna be, more of a smaller setting, a lease that I can afford. And, again, have everything to sit down and be elevated and share my knowledge of of the many years of experience that I've been in the industry of let's let's share some elevated food pairings with these delicious wines. I'm looking forward to this, Sam. I'm keeping my eye on you because as I said, I love Oregon, and I love what's going on out there. One of the most diverse and inclusive wine places on earth. So, I can only say I wish you all the best, and it sounds like you're definitely gonna get there. I have total faith. I would bet on you. But before I let you go, last question, I know you helped to organize celebrating Hispanic roots in Oregon. It sounds like a lot of fun. So give me a minute. Talk about this and about Salud, the group that's helping provide health care for the vineyard stewards. Yeah. Of course. So, I am part of celebrating Hispanic roots celebrating Hispanic roots, was founded by the owner of, of Atticus, Jimena, owns Atticus in Yamhill. And, We are also coming to the five year anniversary of celebrating Hispanic roots, and it it has grown. And what we do is we gather to celebrate our heritage during Hispanic heritage month We also select one local nonprofit that which we will contribute a percentage of sales during Hispanic Heritage a month. And we also, contribute with the, with the owner of subterra javier Santos based in Newberg where we gather, for different winemaker dinners, not just one. Our our group is growing so much that we actually had us do two dates last year of winemaker dinners. And, yeah, keep an eye out for what we have stored this year. It's five years. And, again, Jimena is the founder of celebrating Hispanic Gritz. And then Salud. Salud is another amazing organization, that one of the founders, family lineage of Ponzi. And they they have mobile units going around and, parking in different areas of the valley to provide medical services to our vineyards stewards that may not have, health insurance. And it could be vineyards stewards that are just traveling through on temporary, on actual work visas, and, you know, they might come to the valley and work for, like, two months and maybe go to the gorge or part of Washington. But at least for the two months that they're here, they can definitely be in touch with the program coordinator of Salud and, get some, some medical advice and, services right here ranging from up north in Hillsborough, as far east as Silverton, as far south as Eugene. So that is what Salud does. They have a very well organized auction every single year, in the in the fall. And anyways, that's, Salud, which I was involved in helping seek donations in two thousand seventeen. I was in the committee, with them. Sounds like there's really a holistic approach to support in in everything that you're doing. There's education involved and finance involved and health care and, you know, sort of career support and family support and and really a holistic community support. So it's such a wonderful story about what can be done when people get together and and look at the problems and find ways to solve them. So I'm so glad I got to talk to you today, Sam. Thank you so much. You've made my day, and made me talk Spanish again, which is always nice for me. So I I'm gonna stay in touch. No. No. Definitely. You know, and thank thanks again for this interview. I I feel that for myself, coming from many stories of the underdog and just seeking out a way to move my company forward. And platforms and like yourself having voices, I mean, this is mind blowing for me where you have listeners on a global basis. So for anybody listening out there, you know, gracier gracias. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much. Alright. Well, thank you so much. I really enjoyed this conversation. Thank you so much for your time today. And I wish you all the best. And, hopefully, I'll meet you. It's been a real pleasure. Have a great evening. Thank you for listening and remember to tune in next Wednesday when I'll be chatting with another fascinating guest. Italian wine podcast is among the leading wine podcasts in the world and the only one with a daily show. 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