Full Belly Files | Introducing Bob Wesley’s Pour Judgment

The Wine Hound's Bob Wesley poses for a portrait July 19, 2013, at the Winehound in Santa Barbara, Calif. | Credit: Paul Wellman (file)

There were a number of influences that led me into writing about wine for a career, but one of the earliest was the writing of Bob Wesley.

Back in 2000, I’d come home from a day of reporting the news at the Independent, grab a beer from the fridge, and plop down on the porch of my green and yellow house on Santa Barbara Street. As I watched the downtown scene zip by, I’d peruse whatever came in the mail that day, which, about once a week, was the mailer from Lazy Acres Market. The beloved grocery store on the Mesa was mostly too pricey for my $7-an-hour wage at that point, but I still scoured the mailer’s central two-page spread to read about which wines were in stock.

This was Bob’s domain, the place that advertised the latest bottles he curated for the market’s bustling wine section. In short, punchy passages, he’d weave intriguing tales about the winemakers, vineyards, and/or regions behind each selection, revealing exciting sagas behind brands near and far.

Na Na Thai is where Bob and Matt hashed out the very loose details of the new Pour Judgement column. | Credit: Matt Kettmann

As a 22-year-old fresh out of boozy Isla Vista, that’s how I learned that there was so much more to wine than alcohol. As a young storyteller myself, I discovered that there was so much to uncover in Santa Barbara County’s wine scene alone, not to mention the world at large. I could not have predicted how far this journey would go — I’m actually in the Roussillon region of southern France for wine writing work as you read this newsletter — but I’ve never forgotten that Bob opened my eyes to the bottomless pit of stories to find in wine.

As for his own career as a wine merchant, Wesley moved on from Lazy Acres to open The Winehound, first downtown on Chapala Street in 2008 and then up at La Cumbre Plaza. Then he opened Savoy Wines on Anapamu Street in 2017, which morphed into the Meritage Wine Market in 2020 that still exists. He left Meritage two years later and moved to the Santa Ynez Valley, retiring right in the middle of wine country.

Wesley never stopped writing, most often for Food + Home Magazine. But over the past year, as Bob and I traded the occasional email usually prompted by one of these newsletters, I started feeling like we could all use a bit more of his insight into wine.

So over a recent lunch of tongue-tingling cuisine and grüner veltliner at Na Na Thai in Buellton, I invited Bob to start writing a semi-regular roundup of bottles that he’s tried, described with his typical wit and wisdom. We’re calling it Pour Judgement, and it will run on Independent.com and occasionally in the printed paper as well.

That’s about where our official planning ends for this adventure. The initial goal is to highlight Santa Barbara–born bottles that readers can go out and enjoy easily — whether on retail shelves, at restaurant tables, or in tasting rooms. But Pour Judgement may eventually include commentary, interviews, or whatever else Bob wants to do.

“I take wine seriously, but write about it like the pleasure-giving beverage it is, and not a mystical nectar with transcendent power intended strictly for the mighty and the affluent,” explained Wesley of his approach. “I utilize adjectives with a Gatling gun–styled barrage to entice the reader, which I can’t help because my blatant (but honest) marketing tactics have stayed with me even though I’m retired in Santa Ynez, the heart of local wine country, and a fitting, poetic landing spot to savor fritter away my golden years.”

From left: Bob and Matt ate crudo and cashew chicken while discussing wine writing and developing the Pour Judgement idea over lunch at Na Na Thai; The cashew chicken was the main dish shared by Bob and Matt at the Pour Judgement creation lunch at Na Na Thai. | Credit: Matt Kettmann

He’s most excited to have an official reason to get back out there in the scene and away from scanning YouTube and Netflix all day. “I miss the wine biz: customers who became friends, the unending search for the next must-have bottle, and of course, inflicting my unencumbered vino-assessments on faithful readers via thousands and thousands of emails,” said Wesley. “I hang around Albertson’s liquor department in Buellton, hoping someone needs a recommendation, though I’m not employed there. So far, I’ve not been asked to leave by security. “

This news should be especially welcome by the industry in this era of slower wine sales, and hopefully also applauded by wine drinkers who want to be entertained and informed as they sip.

If you’d like to get Bob Wesley a bottle of your wine to be featured in Pour Judgement, or to invite him to your tasting room, or to suggest a bottle that he might like, email him at nonbobwes@gmail.com. He will also be doing his own outreach, so prepare for him to pop into your tasting room one day. (Though he’ll probably start with your email inbox.)

P.S. I’m Not Going Anywhere: To be clear, I will not stop writing about wine for the Independent myself. My laundry list of winemaker profiles never stops growing, and there are at least a dozen that I’ve reported over the past year or so that still have yet to be written.

My pace shouldn’t slow down whatsoever, and submitting bottles to Bob for Pour Judgement attention does not mean that I won’t also write a feature about your winery.

As well, I continue to review Central Coast wine for Wine Enthusiast, and wineries interested in submitting there should see wineenthusiast.com/submit-for-rating.

The Isla Vista Podcast

The ‘Independent’s Senior Writer Matt Kettmann (left) and a friend move a couch in Isla Vista in the late 90s. | Courtesy of Matthew Kettmann

The Santa Barbara Independent’s housing reporter Christina McDermott, whose Mickey Flacks Fellowship is funded by a partnership with SBCAN as the (support that cause here), fell back on her radio roots to produce a podcast all about all things Isla Vista.

The first episode of Welcome to Isla Vista was announced as our cover story on January 8 — itself a great read! — and then she’s rolled out new episodes each week.

Yours truly was asked to remember my own I.V. daze for the podcast, so listen to Episode 2 for my tales of raccoons, live music, street parties, rent prices (paid for by my parents), and then, after graduating and starting to work as a reporter, covering the David Attias disaster. There’s even a picture of me carrying a couch out of a house at night to, uh, move it. My colleague Tyler Hayden shares some memories too. Check Episode 2 out here.

The third episode came out this week, which looks at the more modern Isla Vista experience, and features my colleagues Maya Thompson, Richelle Boyd, and Ella Heydenfeldt explaining what life was like post-COVID. Check out Episode 3 here.

And watch for the next episodes on this page.

Goodbye to San Marcos Growers

Randy Baldwin started at San Marcos Growers in 1981, developing a massive stock of Mediterranean and native plants as well as what may be the world’s first nursery website. | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom

In case you missed last week’s cover story, I wrote about the end of San Marcos Growers on Hollister Avenue, and what the loss of this legendary nursery will mean for landscape artists, retail nurseries, and the rest of us who either love plants or simply the way that Santa Barbara looks. I sensed there was a story there, but what I uncovered was much more interesting and impactful than I imagined. If you didn’t get a chance to read it last week, read my “Saying Goodbye to San Marcos Growers” online here.