Where are you from/where did you grow up?
I hail from Rowland Heights, which is in East Los Angeles County but have lived in a couple of cities in Northern California, San Diego, Seattle, WA and Ayase-shi, Japan. Fun fact: My mom still owns and lives in my childhood home.
When/how did you first become interested in wine?
Wine was not a beverage of choice by the adults in my life growing up and I really didn’t become “interested” until moving to the Temecula Valley in 2003. A co-worker, who had been living here for quite some time, suggested I join some wine clubs so we can do “Wine & Whining Fridays”. During those visits we would sit and admire the beautiful scenery of the vineyard landscapes, sip wine and people-watch the employees who always looked so happy. It was on those visits that I told myself that would be a great retirement job since I don’t have the patience for sewing, knitting or gardening.
How did you become employed with Doffo?
I met Brigitte Doffo almost seven years ago through our Temecula roller derby league. Both as Whine Maker’s with the Wine Town Rollers’ travel team and against each other on our home teams (we still call each other by our roller derby names at work, she’s Beer Necessities so I call her Beer, whereas she calls me Smacky, which is short for SmackYo Mama). I had told her that my dream retirement job would be working at a winery. She told me that they couldn’t pay me my going rate in the corporate world but if I wanted to learn the wine business ropes I could come hang out. So, during 2015’s harvest season, during my free time, I interned with Nadia, the assistant winemaker, helped on the crush pad as well as various other harvest activities and was completely enthralled. While still holding down my corporate job, I bartended some events for the winery and in August of that year I quit corporate America to start developing a business plan to be my own boss while helping more often at Doffo Winery.
Describe working in the wine industry and what you do at Doffo Winery?
By title I am the winery’s merchandise manager since I have a plethora of product procurement, merchandising and marketing experience. In addition to handling the winery’s non-wine related merchandise with Brigitte, you can find me pouring in the tasting room on Wednesdays and a random weekend day as well as helping wherever else I am needed. And although I hate sales related jobs, I find myself happiest when I am pouring delicious Doffo wines to our customers and telling them the wonderfully authentic Doffo family stories.
What is your favorite type of pizza?
Being from Southern California, I LOVED Straw Hat Pizza over all others, but found it difficult to kick any type of pizza to the curb unless it had anchovies. I’m not a foodie, but I do love me some pizza, however the crust can’t be too thick and not too thin, lots of sauce, just the right amount of cheese and my favorite toppings are pepperoni and green bell peppers. My step dad called the left-over crusts “pizza bones” and ate all of mine because I wouldn’t without sauce on them. Since my hubby now makes me a delish melted garlic butter sauce, I eat all my “pizza bones”.
When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Who wants to grow up? I am still figuring that out at the ripe ol’ age of 52 years young. However, I believe there is a School Days book roaming around at my mom’s, where each year you fill it out (very much like a baby book), and one year I specifically told my mom that I wanted to be a cocktail waitress? What I do remember really wanting to be was a lawyer so that I can help people. When I got to Whittier College, I took some pre-law classes and quickly changed my mind because I fell madly in love with Psychology and Sociology. Ended up with a BS in Marketing 12 years later and blended my working experience with my love for what makes people tick in order to provide for my family AND keep me interested.
Pair your favorite meal with your favorite Doffo wine:
Remember that I mentioned that I am not a foodie? I eat because apparently you’ll die if you don’t…however I did have my first food and wine pairing “a-ha” moment sipping on Doffo’s Mistura while eating Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream one night. Earlier vintages of Mistura (a field blend of Cab Sauv & Syrah, means “mixture” in Portuguese) were described as having hints of black pepper notes which always escape me because I tend to pepper my food instead of adding salt. Well, let me tell you that the skies opened up and I was pleasantly surprised with a hint of “spice” not sure if it was coming from the wine or from the ice cream. I believe the wine mellowed out the sugary-ness of the ice cream and made the Bing cherries and dark chocolate chunks along with the spice, snap, crackle and pop on my taste buds! YUMMY! Oh, and since you asked me about pizza earlier, my husband and I discovered that the 2013 Doffo Syrah goes perfectly with our pizza because, as that wine has been aging in the bottle, it has a wonderful bacon finish to it! Hold on, I’m now going to text the hubby to get takeout pizza for dinner tonight since we have one bottle left of that 2013 Syrah…brb.
If you did not work with wine, what would you be doing instead?
Currently I am working on opening my own business and appreciate that the Doffos allow me to work on the days and times that work best for all of us. The Doffos are the real deal. We are all treated like family around here and occasionally I get asked if I am part of the family? I jokingly say that I am the red-headed stepchild because it’s quite obvious that I am not of Argentine or Italian descent even though I do use my hands to talk.
What do you enjoy doing on your days off?
I enjoy hanging out with my adult children and their families whenever they’ll let me. My husband Cory (aka Coach Stache as he was our travel team coach), who graciously volunteers his time and talents to the Doffo cause when needed, takes me camping and kayaking, we ride dirt toys and of course, roller skating! Since living in Japan, I have made a point of traveling somewhere new internationally each year and am always plotting my next adventure abroad.
