It started somewhat insidiously – with a gift of a winemaking kit one Father’s Day.
“It was god-awful disgusting stuff,” said Steve Anglim, owner and winemaker of Anglim Winery.
But it was enough to get him making wine, eventually leading to the winery, which began in 2002. Steve and his wife Steffanie Anglim run the place, taking turns pouring at events and running the tasting room in Paso Robles, California, while their younger daughter plays in the back room.
“You have to divide and conquer because there’s so much to do,” Steffanie said.
The winery produces 3,500 cases of mostly Rhone-style varietals, like syrah and viognier. Steve sources his grapes from several local vineyards but really has no yen to get out and start farming, himself.
“It’s just what you enjoy doing,” he said. “They’re fundamentally different kinds of work.”
After Anglim’s first winemaking kit failed to produce anything really drinkable, Steffanie encouraged him to see what he could do if he got some good fruit.
“That’s how I met James Ontiveros, from Bien Nacido and others,” Steve said. “Of course, he would laugh hysterically when I would call and ask for Bien Nacido pinot in the mid-nineties.”
Nonetheless, Steve was not deterred and ramped up his personal production considerably over the next few years, to the point where maybe they had a little too much.
“My friends said they couldn’t drink anymore,” Steffanie said. “You know, when you’re a home winemaker, you have to give it away. And we had a lot of it. So it needed to be either smaller or bigger.”
The final push came when Steve’s employer at the time, Nissan, decided to move its headquarters to Nashville, Tennessee, and Steve decided that he didn’t want to go. It was time to change careers. As for the old saw about making a small fortune in the wine biz by starting with a big one, well….
“Our mistake was that we didn’t have one of those,” Steve joked. But, “We’ve been doing it for eight years. I’m not dead yet. I’m still here.”
You can find out more about the winery and order wines at their website, AnglimWinery.com