Among his other Independent duties over the years, our senior writer and Full Belly Files columnist Matt Kettmann started covering wine for us 25 years ago, when he wrote a story about Sunstone and Longoria wines. He steadily expanded his coverage and publications over the years, eventually writing about wine for Wine Spectator, The New York Times, Smithsonian, and others. In 2014, he was hired by Wine Enthusiast as their Central Coast and SoCal critic/editor, and has been reviewing about 200 to 300 wines every month since then while regularly traveling from the Bay Area to the border to report on the scene.
Why were you at the Mid-State Fair last month?
I presented the S.L.O. County Wine Person of the Year Award to my friend and colleague Chris Taranto, who’s in charge of communications for the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance. I was actually nominated for the award, so I started my speech by joking that they’d told me I won. But it was even more of an honor to give the award to Chris, who deserves it more than anyone up there.
How was the fair?
It was my first time there, though I’ve been driving past it every summer for about 30 years now. We had corn dogs, French fries, and beer, skipped the 311 show, and then hit In Bloom and the Rodeo Room for post-award revelry.
Where is your next trip happening?
I’m with my extended family in Hawai‘i now, checking out exploding volcanoes, colorful fish, and tropical eats. I’ve been traveling a lot this year, but this is my first proper vacation in months. Maybe I won’t even write about it.
