Wine & Chisme

Wine: Various Varietals from Solorio Family Wines

BIO:

 Winemaker, Mario Solorio grew up in a small town of Michoacan, Mexico in a very modest family along with his parents and 12 siblings. Growing up in a very modest family meant they had to source much of their food. Mario and his brothers grew up knowing their parents didn’t have enough to purchase the bare necessities for them. This led him to start a new journey and moved to the U.S. in order to help provide a better lifestyle for his siblings and parents.

  Even though Mario was amazed with the land of opportunities, he faced many challenges at the age of 16 years when he arrived to California, such as the language barrier. It was very difficult for him to search for a job as he didn’t know where to start or how to get employed. He lived with his uncle and worked as a gardener for a couple of months.

 In 2000 he moved to Napa Valley, and again finding a job was not easy for him at such a young age. However he kept focused; he knew that he had to help support his family back in Mexico and that motivated him to pursue anything. He was hired as a gardener for a private residence, but soon after was offered a job in the vineyards. The first year working in the vineyards was very tough for him as this would be his first ever Harvest season. Despite the obstacles, this brought him a better appreciation of the vineyard workers; as he noticed they were the foundation to the wine making process.

  He continued working in the vineyards and met some great people that would teach him some techniques. It was not easy for him, yet he always had great motivation to learn and do his best. After some years he became the vineyard lead and by 2005 he had learned vineyard development, pruning, suckering, leaf removal, spraying, tractor work and how to use all equipment. It was in 2005 that he was given the opportunity to have dual responsibilities, by working in the wine cellar and still leading in the vineyards. In the cellar, Mario learned how to process the grapes during harvest, fermentation, pump-overs, racking of the wines, barrel sanitation, pull wine samples, and blending of the wines. This allowed him to fully understand how taking care of the land and vineyards impacted the wine making process, he had now learned the full wine cycle and soon after became the Cellar Master.

By 2013 he had grown a passion for wine making, and that inspired him to achieve his ultimate dream of making his own wine. In 2019, he was promoted to assistant winemaker.

  Making his first wine was a new and fun challenge for him. He didn’t have all the equipment needed, but somehow was able to purchase hand crafted tools for wine making. Mario’s had inspiration to move forward with this dream and adventure. His first vintage was 2013 “13 Hermanos” Red Blend, and decided to name it “13 Hermanos” (13 Brothers) to honor his family. When designing the logo, he had a little help from his daughter, Shantal. The first part of the family's last name, Solorio has a Spanish word "Sol" which means "Sun" and she started to draw a sketch of the sun. Mario loved the idea and incorporated the 15 sun-rays to represent his 12 siblings, his parents and himself. To this date, Mario continues handcrafting new and exciting wines for you to enjoy!

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Wine: Don Chalo, 2019 Red Blend

BIO:

Dulce Vasquez is an education advocate, changemaker, and passionate civic leader.  Dulce currently serves as Assistant Vice President for Los Angeles' outpost of Arizona State University. She was previously the Managing Director of Zócalo Public Square, L.A.’s civic forum. Dulce was appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to serve as a Commissioner to El Pueblo Historic Monument, Los Angeles’ birthplace. 

Born in Tampico, Mexico, she's lived all over the country, but has called LA home for the last 15 years. After spending half of her childhood undocumented, she attended Northwestern University, The Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), and earned a Master’s in Public Policy from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. 

In 2022, she ran for Los Angeles City Council which gave her a platform to champion dozens of issues she cares deeply about, including housing, public transportation, support for small businesses, education, and women's rights. She lives in South Los Angeles with her husband and two dogs. 

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Wine: Maldonado Vineyards, 2020 Chardonnay

BIO:

Criss Madrigal is Californian by birth and Mexican at heart and soul. Born in California, she spent half of her childhood life living in Mexico, which was among one of the best experiences in her life as it allowed her to immerse in her beautiful culture. She is happily married to one of the most supportive human beings and partner anyone could have.

In 2009, Criss's wish come true and God gifted her the ability to become a mother to an amazing boy. In 2011, her and her husband were blessed with identical twin girls who completed their family. Together as a whole they embarked on the journey of loving, caring and supporting their family unit that includes children with a variety of needs.

She knew her passion was to serve others in a deep and meaning way, which is why she became a certified life and mindset coach. Criss is also a corporate mom and human resources professional, who has spent the last 18 years working at a Fortune 500.

Criss has a deep passion for helping working mothers establish worklife balance. She helps moms break the self-imposed barriers that create guilt, overwhelm and burnout to establish a daily state of clarity, balance and confidence to put themselves first as a woman to then find their purpose and achieve their desired goals in life.

She wants women all around the world to know they have it in them to achieve greatness and success, and it is all INSIDE of them! They just need to learn to LOVE themselves first!

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Wine: Vinos Unidos, 2012 Zinfandel

BIO:

Cat is a coach, mom, and founder of Latina Millionaires Club. She helps Latinas and women of color overcome limiting beliefs around money and create their wealth-building strategy so they can live a more happy, healthy, and wealthy life. Cat believes that the key to make the change we want to see in the world lies in the hands of women but we need a larger share of the wealth to be able to use our power for good.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latinamillionairesclub/

Website: msha.ke/latinamillionairesclub

Wine: Encanto Vineyards, 2016 Pinot Noir

BIO:

Valentina Izarra is an award-winning actress, media and motivational coach, dancer, and writer. She is also the producer and host of the Mamas Con Ganas Podcast. Her mission is to empower Latinas by creating inspirational content. She speaks English, Spanish and French fluently and is conversational in Italian and German. You might have seen her recently in the Lifetime movie, Secrets in the Basement, in one of the many commercials she’s done or in her viral YouTube video ballroom dancing at 35 weeks pregnant.

She was named Best Actress (New Times 2014) for her performance in Julie Johnson at Kutumba Theatre Project and was awarded the Silver Palm Award and nominated for a Carbonell Award for her performance in Savage in Limbo at Alliance Theatre Lab. She also co-authored an Amazon Bestseller book titled Ignite Love.

Valentina is originally from Venezuela but currently resides in Miami with her husband and three boys.

Andres and I discuss how he became a multi-hyphenate entrepreneur and what drove him to start co-found Chiki Chiki Boom Boom, a tropical water beverage company, driven by Latin culture, sustainability and social impact.

Wine: Vinos Unidos, 2018 Red Blend

BIO:

Andres Izquieta Is a multi-hyphenate CPG entrepreneur in the areas of food and beverage, fashion, and entertainment. His passion and drive sits at the intersection of sustainability, culture, community and consumer products. He's the CEO & co-founder of tropical water beverage company, Chiki Chiki Boom Boom, a brand driven by Latin culture, sustainability and social impact. He's the co-founder of Five Four Group, a multi-million dollar fashion conglomerate with brands such as Five Four, Menlo Club, New Republic, Young & Reckless, and Ales Grey, who have collectively generated over $600million in revenues. Lastly, he's the co-founder of the Latin community platform, Al Tun Tun. 

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andresizquieta/ 

Personal website - http://andresizquieta.com/ 

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/andresizquieta/ 

Chiki - https://drinkchiki.com/ 

Five Four Group - https://fivefourgroup.com/ 

Al Tun Tun - https://altuntun.com/

Wine: Herencia del Valle, 2014, Cabernet Sauvignon

BIO:

Evelyn Alsultany is a leading expert on the history of representations of Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. media. She is the author of Broken: The Failed Promise of Muslim Inclusion (NYU Press, 2022) and Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race and Representation after 9/11 (2012). She is an associate professor in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California’s Dornsife College. She has served as an educator and consultant for Hollywood studios and co-authored criteria, the Obeidi-Alsultany Test, to help Hollywood improve representations of Muslims. Professor Alsultany has published op-eds in The Hollywood Reporter, The Washington Post, and Newsweek and has a podcast, “Muslims As Seen on TV.” For more information see https://evelynalsultany.com/.

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Mi gente- these women and men represent Latiné voices in cinema. 

Latinos represent 20% of the population in the U.S. and account for close to 25% of movie ticket sales. Yet we are only represented on screen LESS THAN 10% of the time!! 🤬

So to be part of celebrating the 30th anniversary of the @sdlatinofilmfestival has truly been an honor. To meet and interview a small portion of the directors, producers, and actors showing their films here gives me hope. Voices from across Latin America showing our various cultures, perspectives, and skin tones because we all know that Latinos come in all colors- has been inspiring. 

But it doesn’t stop there. We MUST continue to highlight, support and BUY the tickets to show that we are here and we want to see ourselves reflected on screen!!! 

So mi gente, follow these amazing creators. Watch their art. Shout them out from the rooftops because this is just the beginning!! 

@angemdza, Director of @thebluedrum 

@gabbyrlugo, Director & @jess_m_garcia, Producer & star of @illegallybrownfilm 

@anabelinigogo, Director and @rallentando, Producer of Wish Upon a Disco Ball

@hialbertoacosta, Director and @zandertorres, Lead Actor of @hahashortfilm 

@jose_monte16, Director and star of Chico & Rico: Animal Avengers

@jordan_hates, Director of The Buck Stop

This episode is a first and doesn't feature a wine but Mocel Mezcal! 

BIO:

Rosalinda Mendoza is CEO and Co-Founder of Mocel Mezcal, an e-commerce company that delivers ultra-premium artisanal mezcales to your home to create a shared tasting experience. Rosalinda was born and raised in rural Washington to farmworker immigrants from Michoacán, Mexico. Between growing up in the farmlands of Washington State and visiting her grandparents in rural Michoacán, she understood and appreciated the hard work of cultivating and making real food and beverages. Rosalinda and her sister co-founded Mocel Mezcal, which crafts mezcales from Michoacán using 400-year-old artisanal methods with two ingredients – agave and water. 

Prior to venturing into entrepreneurship, Rosalinda held roles in management and marketing for various organizations including IBM, Starbucks and the Washington State Farmworker Housing Trust, a non-profit working to improve housing conditions for families in rural Washington. 

Rosalinda also continues to play an active role as mentor in FOSTERing MBA Access, a program she co-founded as an MBA student to recruit students of color and women into UW’s highly ranked MBA program. Rosalinda has an MBA from the University of Washington and a B.A. in Economics from Whitman College. Rosalinda and her boot-wearing, bull-riding husband enjoy spending time in the Yakima Valley, hanging out at rodeos with family and expanding their mezcal collection.

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Wine: Herencia Del Valle Sauvignon Blanc

BIO:

Originally from Los Angeles, Geena the Latina has been a staple on San Diego’s #1 Hit Music Station Channel 933 for more than 14 years. Arguably one of the most recognized and beloved radio personalities in San Diego, Geena is the host of “The Geena the Latina and Frankie V Morning Show.” She was voted as “Best Radio Personality” in the San Diego Union Tribune in 2019.  

In 2018, she was recognized by California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher’s 80th district as Woman of the Year. April 17th, 2018 was also named as “Geena the Latina Day” by the city of San Diego. She also appears weekly on Fox 5 San Diego giving viewers a look at what’s happening around town every weekend. Geena has accumulated more than 50,000+ followers on social media staking her claim as one of San Diego’s most influential social media “influencers.” 

In the summer of 2015, she served as a fill-in for Ellen K on the nationally syndicated Ryan Seacrest show on 102.7 KIIS FM Los Angeles. Prior to her current show, Geena served as the co-host of the Kramer and Geena morning radio show for five years and before that served as the co-host on the AJ in the Morning Show on KMYI Star 94.1 San Diego and female co-host on KHTS Channel 933 San Diego’s AJ’s Playhouse.  

Geena has quickly become one of the most well-known radio on-air hosts, being named the “Best Radio Personality in San Diego” in 2014 Ranch and Coast Magazine’s Best of San Diego issue. Geena has been through more than most in her young life, having had two teenage brothers killed due to gang violence, which is why she has such a strong passion for the inner city youth of her community.

She spends her free time visiting local middle schools and high schools inspiring them to become more than what is expected of them. Geena was the first in her family to graduate from a 4-year university and was also the founding president of the first-ever Latina based sorority Sigma Lambda Gamma at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles where she also received a softball scholarship. She has been a member of the National Latina Business Women’s Association, served as an honorary board member for the MANA organization San Diego Chapter and has participated in numerous local charities. She truly loves life and appreciates everything that she has been blessed with.

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