🍷 Episode 11 – Brielle Saarloos | Father & Daughter 🍷

In this episode of Chopping It Up, I sit down with my daughter, Brielle Saarloos, for a father–daughter conversation about our Saarloos and Sons Summer Allocation. This allocation isn’t just about wine—it’s about family, legacy, and the stories that live inside every bottle. Together, we walk through each of the wines in this release: Mischief (Grenache Noir), Ocker (Grenache Blanc, Syrah, Mourvèdre), The 19 (Brielle’s wine), and Grit (Petit Verdot).

We talk about how wine is more than flavor profiles or points on a scorecard. Wine is family history captured in glass. It’s cousins Cash and Brady on the labels of Mischief and Mayhem, it’s a 1971 Pinzgauer with a surfboard sticking out the back on Ocker, and it’s Brielle’s face on The 19, a bottle that marks her graduation and the journey from being a kid running around the vineyard to a college junior finding her own path.

From stories of harvest in Ballard Canyon AVA to late nights working the vineyard, we dig into the lessons of farming, the importance of terroir, and the work ethic passed down through generations. We share what it means to raise children and vines in the same soil, and why we live by our family creed: to honor those who came before us and prepare the way for those yet to come.

If you’ve ever wondered what makes the Santa Ynez Valley so unique—or why Saarloos and Sons wines are as much about people as they are about grapes—this episode is the perfect place to start. It’s optimism, grit, and gratitude bottled up in one conversation.