Ashkahn Brings Bright Vibes to Santa Barbara Wine Country

Ashkahn Shahparnia was doing quite well as an artist in Los Angeles about 15 years ago, running his own studio, designing album covers, and producing a line of greeting cards that were distributed nationwide. Then in 2016, he met Melissah Bridge, a former model from Arroyo Grande who introduced Shahparnia to Santa Barbara wine country. 

“I didn’t know, being a kid from the big city, all of the magical things that could exist outside of it,” said Shahparnia, who was raised in Redondo Beach. “This was one of them.” 

They fell in love and eventually got married, but not before he told her that he was going to change careers and become a winemaker. “She thought I was crazy,” he confirmed. 

A decade later, Ash, as he’s known to most, just opened the most colorful tasting room that Los Olivos has ever seen, where he pours a slim selection of natural wines and sells that same line of greeting cards. It may be the first stationery store/tasting room anywhere, and is also the first tasting room in that Santa Ynez Valley town selling strictly zero-zero wines, which mean that nothing is added (such as yeast or sulfur) or removed (via filtration or fining) during the winemaking process. 

The brightly decorated yet carefully crafted Ashkahn Wines are shining examples of how the natty wine movement is maturing, retaining the fun-loving energy that first attracted so many younger wine drinkers to the style while embracing clean, considered winemaking over the often funky ferments that defined early iterations of the trend. And his own background — a city kid who’s half-Persian, quarter-Filipino, quarter-Japanese — reflects the increasing diversity of the wine industry itself, where it’s not just upper-class white dudes running the show anymore.   

The Process of Patience   

Shahparnia’s first step on this path was working part of a harvest at Bien Nacido Vineyard in 2018, and then a full harvest at Presqu’ile in 2019, driving back and forth constantly from L.A. “Which was insane — I got my ass kicked,” he laughed. “But I came out the other side a changed person and decided that this is the next chapter.”

The first vintage of his own wine was a half-ton of 2020 chardonnay from Stolpman Vineyard, which yielded 30 cases. “Ernst Storm was my wine angel,” said Shahparnia, explaining that the South African vintner helped him process the wine. So did family and friends, most memorably during bottling day when everything went awry. “We were fumbling around,” he said. “But the wine tasted great.”  

He made that first wine with no additives at all, relying on ambient yeast, not filtering or fining, and, against all advice, not even adding sulfur — essentially, a true zero-zero wine. And he’s done the same ever since, on every wine, from carbonic gamays and red/white grape field blends to skin-contact clairettes and sauv blancs to otherwise traditionally made chards and pinots.   

“I’m a fan of letting the wine become itself and evolve, but with a meticulous hand in the cellar,” said Shahparnia, who was drawn to these techniques for their transparency, not their trendiness. “It wasn’t because of the fashion. I just really loved trying to make wine in its purest form.”

That hasn’t been easy, and past bottlings didn’t all wind up perfect. “But we learn from that,” he said. “It’s just been a journey — embracing patience, taking steps back, and not rushing the process. That makes all the difference.” He’s even started using some neutral oak in the aging process, understanding that “the wines need to breathe a little bit to truly come into their own.”

This process is what keeps him so pumped. “You start with these dogmatic ideas and realize that other options could be better,” he said. “That’s the fun in winemaking. Every year, you get closer to the truth of it all.”

Bright Pink Energy

After getting a few vintages under his belt (now made at the Story of Soil facility in Buellton) and managing other tasting rooms — including Stolpman’s Fresh Garage, which he helped design — Shahparnia was ready for his own space. He stumbled upon the tiny slot that was previously home to Slouch Hat, Margerum, and Knife & Barrel, and signed the lease. His mother-in-law built the bar and he splashed his electric spirit — complete with neon sign — all over the place, installing shelves for his stationery and booze bags as well as a snail mail-station in the back to send out hand-written letters. 

There are just four wines on the tasting menu, but business has been steady ever since opening last month. “That minimal strategy has been successful,” said Shahparnia, as people wind up buying a glass or bottle to stick around. “This energy is so new to town.”

When you visit, you’ll almost certainly find Ash himself behind the bar, and maybe Melissah, who is now a photographer, and their daughter, Ivy, too. “I love hosting people — that’s why I got into winemaking,” he said. “The wine is great, but the best part is sharing that with your friends and family and club members and collectors, just welcoming them in.”

Changing people’s minds about natural wine can be quite a thrill. “The wine labels look playful, so sometimes people think that the contents reflect the personality of the label, which is not always true,” he explained. “People react in a fairly impressed way when they open the wine and realize that they’re drinking something serious and thoughtful, not just natty juice. That makes me so happy.” 

2446 Alamo Pintado Ave., Ste. B, Los Olivos; ashkahnwines.com