Kira Ballotta not only makes highly rated and sought after wines (her wines have rated at 92+ with Wine Enthusiast), she is a storyteller who focuses on trailblazing women - and we have to admit, she is quite a trailblazer herself. She is a self-made winemaker and entrepreneur who focuses on sustainable wines, and you can hear her fascinating story, including how she went from a background in finance to one of California’s best winemakers, in our latest episode. Kira’s Cantadora labels feature fellow trailblazing women like Dr. Michelle Albert, Dean of Admissions for the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) Medical School, and she donates 10% of her sales form that label to the organizations the women featured on them founded. And, if you are headed to Napa, you owe it to yourself to join one of her winemaker led tastings! You can find out more at info@oliviabrion.com or at her website oliviabrion.com.
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Show Notes
Special Episode! Meet the (Wine) Makers #10: Kira Ballotta, Winemaker and Owner of Olivia Brion + Cantadora Wines! 00:00
We are so excited for you to meet Kira Ballotta who is a winemaker who makes highly rated sustainable wines from Napa, and she is the owner of Olivia Brion + Cantadora Wines. She has a great story, and story is sort of the operative term, because her wines also tell amazing stories about amazing women. Stay tuned for a fantastic conversation with Kira.
Introduction to the Interview with Kira Ballotta, Winemaker and Founder of Olivia Brion + Cantadora Wines 00:31
Hello, and welcome to The Wine Pair Podcast! I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and for this special episode, I am on my own as my wine pairing partner in crime is busy making cakes for her Baby Cakes micro-bakery, which by the way you can learn more about if you head over to her website lovebabycakes.com.
Now, as a quick orientation to our podcast, what we usually do in each episode is learn about, taste, and review two to three wines that are reasonably priced, which means under $20, and should be easy to find. However, for this special set of episodes, we interview people who are involved in actually making wine. Because part of what we want to do with our podcast is to educate ourselves and you on different aspects of wine knowledge in a fun, entertaining, and unstuffy way, even fun and entertaining as Decanter magazine has called our podcast, and that is what we are doing today!
A small plug before we get to the interview with Kira Ballotta - if you like what you are hearing or are interested in hearing our other “regular” episodes, please subscribe to or follow our podcast so you can hear more - especially since you are only getting one half of The Wine Pair Podcast in this episode! You can also go to our website thewinepairpodcast.com to send us a note or subscribe to our newsletter, you can follow us on Instagram at The Wine Pair Podcast, and, if you like what you are hearing, you can even leave us a nice rating and review, we won’t mind!
Ok, let’s get to the interview with Kira Ballotta
Interview with Kira Ballotta, Winemaker and Founder of Olivia Brion + Cantadora Wines 02:02
Hi Kira - and welcome to The Wine Pair Podcast.
We are so very honored and happy to have you with us, and we are really looking forward to learning more about you, about how you went from working in finance to being a winemaker, what exactly Cause Wine is, and your focus on celebrating and empowering women.
Well, without further ado, let’s jump in - and let’s start with a little bit about you, your background and family, and how that journey led you into winemaking.
Interview Questions:
- Tell us a little about yourself - your background, your family, etc.
- Tell us about how you got into winemaking. Was this something you had planned for and pursued, or did it "find" you?
- Did you have a mentor, or someone who taught you the ropes?
- What do you think defines you as a winemaker and makes you and your wines special?
- Cantadora focuses on organically farmed wine - why is that an emphasis, and what do you think that means for the quality of your wines?
- Cantadora features women on the labels who made an impact. Why is that important to you, and why do you want to tell those stories?
- Tell us about a few of your latest releases and what makes you excited about them.
- Do you lean more towards the art or the science of wine (or both)?
- What is Cause Wine?
- What’s something surprising, interesting, exciting, or funny you have learned about yourself since you started making wine?
- Are there any important or interesting stories about your wine or the people you work with that you think would be important for our audience to know?
- If we were to invite you to Sunday Night Dinner (a tradition in our Italian American family), what of your wines would you bring and why?
- How can people find your wines and follow you (your website, social, etc.)?
Outro and How to Find Kira Ballotta, Winemaker and Founder of Olivia Brion + Cantadora Wines 47:36
Thank you very much for listening to our interview with Kira Ballotta, Winemaker and Owner of Olivia Brion + Cantadora Wines and we hope you will take the time to learn more about her, her wines, and all of the wonderful things she focuses on.
Just in case you are worried about memorizing all her website or email to get in touch with her, don’t worry, you can find out all of this information on our website thewinepairpodcast.com in our show notes for this episode. But so you have it, here again is the information about how to find out more about Kira and her wines
Website: oliviabrion.com
Instagram: oliviabrionwines or cantadorawine
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oliviabrionwines/
Email: info@oliviabrioan.com
And, we hope you will subscribe to our podcast The Wine Pair Podcast and follow us on Instagram, and visit our website at thewinepairpodcast.com where you can reach out to us and sign up for our newsletter, and you can also reach out to me at joe@thewinepairpodcast.com if you want more information, and we look forward to hearing from you!
But for now it’s time to go, and as we like to say, life is short, so stop drinking shitty wine.
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