The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Najeeba Popal And Carmel Greer Joined Alex Urpí & Nickolas Urpí On “Today y Mañana!"

Episode Date: September 5, 2024

Najeeba Popal, Owner of Angel’s Afghan Cuisine, and Carmel Greer, Owner of South Paddock Winery, joined Alex Urpí & Nickolas Urpí On “Today y Mañana!” “Today y Mañana” airs every Thursday at 10:15 am on The I Love CVille Network! “Today y Mañana” is presented by Emergent Financial Services, LLC, Craddock Insurance Services Inc and Matthias John Realty, with Forward Adelante.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Today y Mañana. I'm Alex. This is Nick. We're very excited to have you joining us on a beautiful morning here in Charlottesville, Virginia. It is nice and refreshing. It was a little cool this morning, but now the sun's out, so it should be a beautiful day to just go out, enjoy some weather. But for now, it's a beautiful time to come in, sit down in your cozy place. We're not going to have a cafe con leche today because we have other things on the menu.

That's true. Well, you could have a cafe con leche, but we have an even better date. We have some fantastic things on the menu for this morning. We're going to be joined shortly in the show by Najiba Popal, the owner of Angels Afghan Cuisine, and then later on in the show, Carmel Greer, the owner of South Paddock Winery. So two fantastic entrepreneurs are going to be coming on, and we are greatly looking forward to that. So I'm glad to be here with you, Nick.

How have you been? Good. Life treating you well? Yes. Very well. And it's been a very good summer. Yeah, even with summer coming to a close. Yeah, you always got to look forward to new things.

Exactly. That just means the fall is on its way with all the bad entails including pumpkin spice candles. Love that. Of course, love being here on the Alex Evil Network set with Judah behind the camera. Big thank you to Emerger Financial Services, our presenter, and to our awesome

partners, Matias Yon Realty, Credit Series Insurance, Forward Adelante. We appreciate all of you. Appreciate all the desks tuning in. I see already Bill McChesney. Thanks for watching the show this morning. Always appreciate your great viewership

and consistency, as we should say. Utilmane Dossin-Andeli, the mom of the wonderful Claudia Cruz, joining us this morning. Ed Norto lighting the show this morning. Carrie Hess lighting the show this morning. So thanks, everyone, for tuning in.

We have a great show, as I mentioned, lined up for you. In fact, it's so good. I'm ready to get started. I know. Nick is ready. This is one of those times. I remember once watching Emeril Lagasse on Food Network, and he said that he wished that there was like smell-o-vision,

where the people watching could smell what he was cooking. And I wish our viewers had that now, because there is the aroma of fresh-baked batlava like wafting into this room right now. And I wish I could share with the viewers the aroma of this batlava. But instead, you will just have to watch this segment and learn how you can reach out to Angels After Antoisine. Because we are super excited to welcome to the show this morning Najiba Popal. She is the owner of Angels After Antoisine. Najiba, thanks so much for coming on this morning.

Good morning. Thank you so much for having me. It's my pleasure. Oh, it's our pleasure to have you on. So for those who haven't met you yet, maybe tell us a little bit about yourself and how you decided to start Angels After End Cuisine. apprentice cuisine? It is I started when it was COVID on 2020. I was bored being at home, honestly. I was looking for something to keep myself busy and there was an entrepreneur

classes held by City Hall. Just I was going up and down on Facebook page and I saw that ad. I checked that and said, it should be something good to keep busy or learn something. I got in touch with them, and I thought it is good to have some idea of cooking and baking. Besides everything I did in my life where I was interested for learning, studying, going to college, working, all those things,

cooking and baking was really a part of fun for me. Whenever I was bored, I was planning to bake something or cook something or make something, create something new. That kept me busy and felt good after all those things. I was thinking if I can have a business plan, I prepared a business plan, I talked with those people. They were excited. Yeah, I thought, I mean, people are always looking for good things, for new things.

They want to try new things. And what is better than having some things that they are food. They have different taste or different talents make it. I tried that, and it was great. I had that class after that, some other classes. And I started, I didn't have any idea where I should start that because I had three children. So I have three children, but yeah.

On that time, they were really smaller. My little one, she was like two years old. And I thought, yeah, it is a good idea to start with farmer's market. Yeah, that is a good place for bakery and sweets and all those things and get customers, know their taste, what they are looking for. It took me a while that I found the taste of people,

what they are looking. First, I started just with sweets. I had like baklava, sweet bread. They are filled with many good stuff, but people were looking for some real food. Some savory, too. Savory, too, and healthy, real food they were looking. And I start changing that menu and brought every week or once in a while. to healthy, real food they were looking. I started

changing that menu and brought every week or once in a while, I added something extra, something new. A good thing is that I have people, they are three years and a half, they are coming every week for two pieces of baklava. You know, even for two pieces of baklava.

Consistently, they are coming back and they are happy for what they are taking. And also there are many other savory things, savory bread. They are like rolls, they are like big breads, they are stuffed in. So there's lots of variety that people should kind of choose from. Yeah, mostly between 14 to 16 variety of breads and sweets every week. And line up customers.

And that is a good thing. It is not just making about to make money. When people are happy, they come back. It gives you a good feeling that the work you are doing, it is something useful. That means your talent is something people appreciate that.

You feel great when you have people around you and they appreciate what you are doing. Absolutely. When you're sharing, one of the beautiful things, especially with food, is that you're sharing taste and aromas and culture that maybe people haven't met yet. Exactly. And history. There's so much history that has gone into why this beautiful food tastes the way it does. That people are learning about and experiencing that maybe they have, especially in Charlottesville, they haven't experienced it before. Yeah, exactly. That is one thing that I have customers, they come back. Even if they try a piece of any kind of bread, most of them, they come back and say, oh, it was something extra.

I never had this or this taste. Then they come back or ask about which country or which culture this food is. I mean, they want to know more exactly about that. And that is a good part, yeah. And you are at the Ixart Park Market, is that correct? Yeah, that is at XR so I have had the reason I didn't want to say it beforehand

the reason that I wanted to invite you on is because I've had your food a couple times with my wife oh so you've had it a lot yeah you're not familiar well the first time I had the bread that was stuffed with the meat so I will say that the savory stuff

is phenomenal as well like everything is delicious yeah maybe you had this big, I mean large, giant bread with chicken. They're called pita. They are really something great. My favorite too.

This baklava is out of this world. You've already experienced this. I have many reviews for this baklava and some people say I never had in my life I never tried, I mean had this any place in the world even I went to Greek or I went to

Turkey or some Mediterranean countries the baklavas are from there originally but they say yeah, it was something isn't it difficult to make baklava or is it because I've heard everyone, have heard always says that it's

you know it's difficult for them yeah if you're new don't know how to make it if you're new or if it's the first time or the first few times that you are trying to make it it is time taking it needs patience

to be really patient with 10 dough they are getting dry fast you should be really patient. Work with tandoor. They are getting dry fast. You should be fast enough to work with that. But after a while, then, yeah, you find your way. But for me, now it is good. But for the first year, I was trying. It took me, like, maybe one hour or something. But now it is taking me, like, 15 minutes.

Wow. Yeah, for a full sheet of baklava, just to prepare and put it in the oven. That's amazing. That is wonderful. take me like 15 minutes for a full sheet of baklava just to prepare and put it in the oven yeah and different is the ingredients or the syrup i i prepared on my own recipes that is make the difference because most of places they have just sugar syrup and that is all but yeah i've i added five more ingredients i don't know their secret. I should share or not. But yeah, they have saffron, cardamom, rose butter. They have also lemon juice, honeys. They all make this freshness and good smell.

Slide it this way. I don't like that you're eating it all. It's my favorite, not yours. Ah, thank you. It doesn't matter if I've had it before. I still love it. To be honest, you didn't tell. Thank you so much.

A lot of the batlava you have, it has only the sugar taste. Only the sweet of the sugar. This has all the flavors. I was tasting the cardamom and I'm like, oh man, the spices. It's delicious. Yeah, that makes it different.

And also, the time I'm putting that or waiting to be cooked, it takes me sometimes like two hours waiting for that to be in the oven. Because there are about 45 to 50 layers of tandoor or those fellow sheets. They should all get crispy. From bottom to the top, they should get crispy. There are some tricks and tips to do it and have a good.

That's amazing. That's fantastic. That's got to be some of the best spot I've ever had. It is the best I've ever had. I've never been anywhere where they made it better.

What are some of the other things? I know that what are some of the savory dishes that you offer? At the market, there are bread-based stuff. I have it because for a while I was trying to have a warm meal. It was really hard and tough to cook them at home, bring them there and keep them warm. But people were happy and sometimes they come back and ask for this fresh or warm meal. But for market

they are all vegetarian options, chicken, beef, and spicy veggie samosas, that is another thing. Yeah, that is really I have maybe hundreds of customers for those and interested people and they are you had that too yeah i saw his face when he said the veggie samosa so he was like yes mrs erby and i went one day for breakfast we just had

we went to you and ordered a couple things and then sat down it didn't matter that it wasn't warm like because it's delicious it's it you do not need it to be hot to exactly yeah they are just ready to eat ready to eat either warm or cold and also there are some rolls veggie rolls and chicken rolls they're really famous and customers know them a lot and want it they're like piece of sandwich just you wrap or put in a bag and just and people are grab and go and they walk around and eat that take a bite and that is so convenient for eating too the other things are big or the giant breads you had i had the giant bread yeah yeah they are chicken with chicken and veggies they're most of the things they are i mean they are pre-cooked

for example for meats type i want to make sure they are, they are pre-cooked, for example, for meats type. I want to make sure they are healthy, they are cooked well and keep them in a good temperature inside home. When I take them to the market, I have those ice bags and their meats and stuff

to be a good temperature. Yeah, really, I try to have good things on time, exactly safe, and not any issues with any health or something. Yeah, I try. And always delicious. Always delicious. Yeah, another thing is, like, baklava cheesecake,

pistachio baklava cheesecake. Is that why I'm taking that? I can't explain that. Have you had that? I've been buying it every time at the market. That's next. Your wife loves cheesecake, so you're going to be bad for that. Yeah, she's not going to be able to

go to the market this weekend, but I will. I'll have to order something else. Something really funny that for a month, I was out of market recently. I was with my sister out of the state, and I received e-mails and texts and calls after I come back. Where are you? I got you.

Yes, and my friend, she is also a vendor, Daniel and Jam, Jam by Daniel. Yes, yes. Yeah, according to Daniel and her wife, his wife called me, hey, Jam by Daniel? Yes, yes. Yeah, according to Daniel and his wife called me, hey, where are you? I said, why? Your customers are here just coming and asking. And she was talking with someone. She's here.

She's coming back next week. But when you need your Afghani food, where are you going to get it? That's when you know you have devoted customers. When I met, I mean. I was at the market last week, I mean just this week past, and any customers come back and they were really questioning me

a lot. I was questioned a lot. And someone was really disappointed. We thought you stopped. We thought you quit your business. I mean, glad you're back and really, that was good for me. That shows you the loyalty. You have some loyal customers.

Yeah, I feel, yeah, because sometimes before that, I was thinking, it is hard. It is time-taking for one person to get ready and make all these things. It is sometimes overwhelming, honestly. Because for 20 hours, I'm just in the kitchen and busy with cooking and baking packing cleaning sometimes I was thinking if I quite this and have something easier but after this again they gave me you know the energy and all those good feeling that to go back and continue with this that's wonderful that's one of the rejuvenated you. Yeah, that was exactly. Absolutely.

Gabrielle Rivas, thanks for watching the show this morning. So Najiba, so I was going to ask, you know, what's it like being an entrepreneur

having your own small business but it sounds like it's definitely a lot of work but still rewarding? Exactly, that is true.

It isn't, I mean, most people, they are and it means any kind sort of their own business, they know it is not easy to run a business by one person or maybe they have a partner or someone they can help, but

it is hard, sometimes it is tough, sometimes you think you should stop, but after you see the result, again, it gives you that hope and gives you a good feeling. No, it's worth it. It's worth to try. It's worth to have this. I mean, when you have people around you, your work is seen by people. They appreciate that. And that's a good reward when you see people feel good about what you offer them

and like it is helping or something like that it give you a really good feeling and give you more enthusiasm to continue with that and the other things I like to have my my own business even it is a small it is you have your own time schedule, your own choices, what you want to do. Yes. And it depends on you how you want to manage the tanks, how much work you want to put, or how much effort you, because when, I mean, it is good to work for others also but you should be on time it is when you are a mom for when you're a mom it is hard or being as a mom or i mean single parents being a mom take responsibility of a whole life it is hard to be on time drop the kids at

school sometimes they are sick Sometimes they have an appointment. You are sick. You can go on time. There are all those things challenging to work with other people. Another thing is that you live based on paychecks. Yeah. I mean, it is

a good thing to think any kind of ability you have, talent you have, talent you have. Work on that and have something for your own. Later, even your children or kids will be proud of you, what you did, or also your friends. It gives you a good feeling that you stand by your own. If I can tell you. It's yours, yes. It is yours. You stand by your own. You are not can tell you it's yours yes yeah it is yours you stand by your own you

are not depends on someone else if yeah they tell you like you are not afraid of maybe if i do this they will fire me i will lose my job if i don't go today i all those things you don't have those fears and those those things You have the nice flexibility to choose how you want and to prioritize to be able to say today is family, today I need to do things for my family and not have

another person say no you have to do this for me. That is true, yeah. Those things. That's fantastic. Najiba, do you also do catering? Yeah, a bigger part of this market and bakery is my catering parts. Yeah, I did many party catering. Yeah, for UVA also, I did many over 200 people also.

Wow, so you can do some good ones. Yeah, for schools. Yeah, I did for over 200 people also. Wow. You can do some good ones. Congratulations. Yeah, Forest Kohl's. Yeah, I did Forest Kohl's and for many others. Yeah, I do catering business, and they are all Afghan-type food. They are from meats to vegetarian options, rice, and all those things. That's fantastic. There's definitely something for everybody. That is.

Absolutely. I'm going to go check out the pictures that Najeeba sent us on today, manana, because I shared them all. Oh, man, yeah. Because there's so much. It was just like I couldn't cut any of the photos out because they were so beautiful, all the food. Yeah, they really are.

Yeah, I mean, I tried to send you less, but I was just going and checking. Yeah, I thought you should pick it, but that looks good for you. Oh, I know. I should not have been posting at lunchtime. I was starving just looking at all the photos. It was so good. No, please do not apologize. It was wonderful.

The couple other thank yous. Lo Somelo, thanks for watching the show this morning. Giti Saidi, thanks for watching. Shahila Anayat, thanks for liking the show. I appreciate all of you for tuning in. And so Najiba, if people want to find out more and reach out to you and contact you, where's the best way for people to find you? Yeah, there's a website, Angels Afghan Cuisine.

They can reach out to me and the phone number I have there, there's an email address also. They can reach out to me or anytime they stop by at the market, Farmer's Market, that is really a good place. They can come. They can try the bakery stuff I have there. They can try that or if they are interested having a catering

or something event, I will be glad to talk with them in person also. Yeah, there are many ways. Perfect. And also my Facebook page, Angels Afghan Cuisine, that is. Anytime they can reach me out,

send me PM or something like that. Super easy. So it's Angels Afghan Cuisine, angelsafghancuisine.com. I have tagged her in some of the live streams so that everyone can go find just scroll down to the comments and then you can just click and and then really the best the best method is go to it's go to xr farmers it's our part farmers market and go meet najiba in person and enjoy some of the uh no matter what no matter what you get everything is delicious but

you have to have the baklava they have whatever whatever you get even if you get another dessert get the baklava i have it later it doesn't matter like i have it like you have to have it like because it's amazing like because my in just i'll finish with this story because my even my brother michael and i are the biggest baklava people in the family. We just love it. And so one day we were walking around the market to go get meat from one of the meat vendors. And we were like, we already had breakfast. What do you feel like doing?

And I was like, have you had the baklava? So we went and we grabbed the baklava. So Michael's had this too. So I'm the only one. He's the only one. I thought it was, oh, man, it was worth it. You've got to come to the market more often. He and I go to the market, and we start looking and eating,

but you are always, like, asleep in. I know. Yeah, I got a story about the baklava. I have a middle-aged lady. She stopped with her family. She had grown up children with her, like, over 20, and she stopped, and she looked at the baklava. She asked for two pieces or four pieces.

It was like two years ago. And she, sometime I had tea on winter. I have for myself, but some customers, I feel like they might like. I offered her, do you want tea? She was really nice and warm. It means greeting and talking.

Yeah, I offered her, do you want some tea? I have it. She said yes. And 10 minutes later, she came and told me, can I hug you? I was somehow, yeah, for sure. Her tears came down. She told me that, you know, after maybe 30 years, I had this baklava. It tastes like what my mom, you know, after maybe 30 years, I had this baklava. It tastes like what my mom, you know, made.

And, yeah, for all these years, I tried many and many times for baklava, but I never get that taste. And she started crying. I got emotional also. Yes, and she hugged me, and she had many, I mean, I think two other boxes and took home. And that was really something. That's beautiful. Yeah, beautiful.

This happened. That's the beauty of what you're able to bring. That's the beauty of what you're able to bring to people. That's wonderful. That's her food and life and culture. She was Greek, you know. She was Greek also. She was Greek, and she said, yeah, I tried many Greeks or Turkish or Arabic baklava, but it was the first time after years I feel that I'm home.

My mom baked something for me and it tastes like that. I think there's a phrase in Italian that's, we're all cousins in the end. So it's like that's how it is, like especially in the Mediterranean, we're all cousins in the end so it's like that's how it is like especially in the Mediterranean we're all cousins that's wonderful that's great Najiba it's been an absolute pleasure thank you so much for coming on today it was great to have you and we'll be seeing you at the market yes we'll be seeing you we'll be seeing you thank you thank you it's it's really one of the beautiful things, right, of entrepreneurship, to be able to, I mean, Najeeba is just bringing joy to people, is really what it is. It's different forms of joy that you're able to bring to people.

And especially that story at the end. That's what food does. It brings you home. It does. It really does. It's just at home. That's what it is. It's like when you can make a dish and then you reminds you of like well your grandmother you're yes like it's always some there's always someone that made something that like because like food is love and food is

life exactly that's why in fact i think somebody once asked me like why do we always talk about food and i said what else is there to talk about? But it really is, it's able to bring back memories and emotions in a way that sometimes just talking or sounds don't. It's a different thing. You know, and so food,

it's why we love to talk about food, it's why we love to talk about wine. Yes. You know, which brings me... Which, according to my watch, is happy hour. Well, it's always right somewhere. Which brings us to our next fantastic guest

that we are really excited to have on this morning, and that is Carmel Greer. She is the owner of South Paddock Winery. Carmel, thanks so much for coming on with us this morning. Oh, well, thank you for having me. We're very excited about it. And it's funny, when I saw your name, I said, oh, I know this is going to be an interview because we grew up in a place called Carmel.

Oh, really? In California. So I said, oh. There aren't many places called Carmel. So we're very excited to have you on. And for those who haven't met you yet, maybe tell us a little bit about yourself and how you first became interested in wine growing in this industry. Well, I think I'm probably the most accidental winery owner possibly out there,

because my husband and I, during COVID, we lived in D.C., but I went to UVA. I think like a lot of Charlottesville people, you know, kind of spent a lot of time around here and hoped that one day our lives would circle back to this area. And we were looking at farms and looking at farms with really no intention of moving, maybe just to get out of the city a little bit. And we fell in love with this farm that had a five acre vineyard on it and so that is a real adventure if you have never growing grapes in Virginia is not for the uh it's it's it's not it's not it's not like growing tomatoes you know it's a real you really have to there's an art to growing the grapes and, and there's certainly a steep learning curve to going from zero to taking care of all of

these grapes. And so, yeah, so we, so it's been a journey and the, we, we initially, we really truly debated, I hate to even say this, because the vineyard is thriving, it's green, it's lush, it's really a great vineyard, but we did contemplate cutting it down. Just thinking about what you would have to do. Because it was like, what is the end game here? It can only be wine.

Right, right, right, exactly so we're the you give a mouse a cookie you know so you decided to start cultivate like keep cultivating them keep them growing keep them healthy and then how did you say you know what we're making wine let's let's have people taste it well initially so initially there are a lot of services actually that take care of the vineyards in the county and I think our our vineyard is we're 30 minutes south of town and we're smaller and so I really we I kind of realized that nobody was going to take care of it the way I wanted it taken care of just because it was a little bit small and off the beaten path. So it was kind of like the, I wasn't the prime focus. So it was kind of like, okay, well I need to take care of this vineyard and really manage it if it's going to

be taken care of properly. And, um, and so then we just thought, well, we will just do that. But then it's like, oh, I don't know. It just seems kind of disappointing to be taking care of the vineyard and then not make wine. So the wines we have now, we worked with some really great winemakers. I mean, Albemarle County has amazing winemakers. Yes, indeed, absolutely. It's not like the little outpost that it used to be. And so we worked with Michael Honey at Michael Schaps to make the rosé that I have here with me today and some other talented people also.

So tell us a little bit about the rosé and the varieties that you have. Let me pour. I mean, it's 10 a.m. It's the perfect time to sample some rosé. And our rosé is really my favorite wine that we make. And I think, you know, rosé has the reputation of being like a girly wine, right? But. Only here, though, not in France. Yeah, the French would tend to differ. So I just would like to, my husband loves this,

and I think that, I think a lot of people don't realize that rosé is red wine, okay? Yeah. It is. It is. You simply removed the skins sooner, basically. To make a long story short.

Anyway, I just liked it. You know it's true. Cheers! Cheers. Cheers. You can see it's very refreshing and fruity. good and refreshing yes you can see it's very refreshing and fruity

not sweet, dry it's a very good rosé thank you to our taste because we do like flavorful and dry flavorful and dry and like you said if you like red wine you can

easily like rosé it's not a different right, somehow it just became this super branded in this super girly way which I think turns off a lot of people

turns on some people, turns off some people but I think it's just actually a much more interesting wine than gets credit for. Absolutely. I think it's because it's an early entry wine. Like people who are not accustomed to wines can usually find, because they're not into sweet, they're not into very dry, it's a really good entry point for people who are new to wine.

Like my wife, who didn't really drink wine beforehand, she will tend to like rosés more than other wines and it's not because she likes girly things is because that when she's especially since we'll just open the bottle and start pouring it's usually it's because it's it's more subtle in its boldness than a red wine but at the same time it's not necessarily like it's it's not like a white it's not as crisp or sweet it has. It's like a perfect medium. Yeah. We also grow, so we grow Cab Franc grapes, we grow Chardonnay grapes, and we grow Petit Verdot grapes. Petit Verdot is a classic, Virginia. Yeah. And the Chardonnay, I have to say, I don't love Chardonnay.

Or I thought I didn't love Chardonnay. And so I was actually kind of like, gosh, well, what are we going to make that I would enjoy drinking? Because I think to some extent, if you own a vineyard and you're making wine, you are crafting things to your own palate to some extent um so we we do a chardonnay that's i i call it like the the non-chardonnay lovers chardonnay because it's because it's aged in stainless and so it doesn't have the the oaky if you're looking for an oaky chardonnay it's really not i actually lean towards those it's to the stainless steel yes it has a little more of a crisper. Yes.

Yeah. Very much so. So what are some, I mean, I can imagine there's numerous, but what are some of the challenges that you kind of have to overcome as a Virginia wine grower? Oh, my gosh. I could talk for an hour. But, well, so growing grapes in Virginia is just a little bit difficult because of the

humidity, period. And, but I think that what Virginia has that I don't know if other places have this, is the, your fellow winery owners and vineyard owners are the most helpful, kind people. And I think that actually has been one of the biggest, I think there've been many surprises along the way for, for me, but, um, but just how kind the other owners are, it has been shocking really, because in theory, you know, your competitors, but I think it's, it's really not seen that way in the wine community because, um, I think it's really not seen that way in the wine community because I think there's kind of a sense of wanting this region to be excellent. Yes. And so it's like a rising tide lifts all boats mentality.

We needed to buy these huge bins for harvesting the the grapes and we didn't have enough. And so at the last minute we bought some extra bins from, um, Wisdom Oak Winery and just the nicest, nicest people because we got there, realized they would not all fit in our truck. And so he just lent us his trailer, which, you know, it's's just it's so nice like you don't have to lend me your trailer that's just so kind and you know like uh the kings are also incredibly warm and welcoming to new owners and helpful so it really is i've gotten the sense as we've as we've interviewed people in the area in the wine industry, that there is kind of a sense here of, look, we want this region to be successful. We want the region to be renowned.

And that means working together and helping each other out because, like you said, the rising tide lifts all boats. And also I think there's kind of a shared sense of the struggle you have to go through to make it, but also the opportunities that are there when you do succeed. The taste will also affect it because, as you said, if you prefer a Chardonnay that's less oaky, somebody else may make an oakier one, but those small decisions will also affect your niche. Somebody who is looking for an oaky Chardonnay would not be a good fit for you no matter what. So they're going to go to the other winery and vice versa. You're going to get all the

people that love the stainless steel crisper Chardonnay versus another winery. So like small decisions will affect, you know, that are to your taste will bring in people that have more taste like you. And so you wouldn't, it's not necessarily like you're competing for the same audience regardless. Well let's face it the beauty is people can drink more than one bottle. That is true.

I mean a chef would pair two different Chardonnays depending on the meal regardless. In the sense of when a region succeeds people want to taste everything coming out of there. Exactly and I also think when a region succeeds, people want to taste everything coming out of there. Exactly. Exactly.

And I also think when a region succeeds, people want to visit multiple locations in the region. And then the region also just gains a reputation for excellence. Exactly. Exactly. Speaking of locations, you have a beautiful one. Can people come visit, like, a tasting room out there? So we are half an hour south of town. And if you're familiar with Mount Ida, so we're neighbors to Mount Ida.

We're Mount Ida's neighbor. And we're a big farm. Well, big is relative. Not relative to Mount Ida, but we're 310 acres. And it's called South Paddock Winery because we're located at the South Paddock. It's a horse farm. And this is at the South Paddock Winery because we're located at the South Paddock of, it's a horse farm. And this is at the South Paddock. And so I think the tasting room

is very casual. We just want people to come in and relax. And it's actually you order at the bar. It's not table service. So it's just kind of a casual situation. It's not table service. So it's just kind of a casual situation. It's a relaxed atmosphere.

And, yeah. Yeah, what's nice is that I saw the photos on Instagram, which are beautiful. Thank you. And you definitely, what's beautiful is you get the sense from the photos that when you're in the tasting room, you're experiencing the vineyard. Right? You can see some vines out there.

You can see the horses, it looks like. Yes, no, you can see, you can sit on the terrace, and the horses are munching and crunching, you know, to your right, and straight ahead is the vineyard, and it's located really in the center of the farm, so as far as you can see, it's just the farm. The farm, yeah, which is nice. You feel like you're there,

experiencing what it was that produced the wine you're about to drink. Yes. As opposed to being secluded and all the winemaking happens somewhere else. Right. Now, I have a quick question. What grapes went into this rosé? These are Cab Franc grapes. Okay, I was going to say, because that's probably explaining why it's so good.

Yeah, and our Cab Franc is just extremely happy. It really loves where it is, and it's abundant, and just grows like crazy. Oh, that's amazing. Yeah, I know. I'm happy about that. I would like to take credit, but I do

think that vines are also just very happy where they are. The happy vines make good wine. So just another question. So about the vines that you found already there, do you know how long they were there before you bought the place? You know, we don't know exactly. My sense is that they were about like five to seven years old. Because that probably has an impact on the wine

because older vines make better wine. They're very well established vines. That's definitely having its appearance in this wine. Thank you. Not that I'm an expert, but just from having tasted enough wine, I'm like, this is good. What's it like? What have you found the experience like? Obviously, you're working with the vines and so found the experience like you're working obviously

with the Vines and so forth but now you're also an entrepreneur what's it like being an entrepreneur in this space well I mean so we just opened by the way we soft opened I think two weeks ago

so we're fresh out of brand spanking new. But before this, I was an architect, or I guess I still am an architect. And I ran an architecture firm for years. And so, like, owning a business, that's something very familiar to me in that, you know, every problem is your problem, right? I mean, that's, I think, and there's no kind of like clocking out, particularly with farming. I mean, farming, there is no clocking out. I mean, things just need to happen when they need to happen and you need to rally and just make it happen. I think, so I think those elements of running a business are familiar,

and then there are other things that are totally unfamiliar, and architects love to experiment, so one thing, we have kind of, we have cool winemaking equipment on site. They're called Go Fermenters, and they're, like right now, I could punch, we're making an experimental batch

of orange wine. I don't know if you've heard of it. Oh, yes. I have had that. I've had that. So interesting. Yes. And this, listen, it may just get thrown out.

It may be terrible. We will not serve, like the wines we're serving now are made by really excellent winemakers. We're not experimenting on people who come over. But in the back, you know, I guess the architect in me still really enjoys experimenting, and so, yeah, we're making this cool batch of orange wine, and with this equipment that right now I could punch it from my phone, you know, punch the wine down. So the technology has just really taken off in terms of what you're able to do as a wine maker. Yeah, I mean, it's really interesting.

I mean, we just thought, why not adopt this experimental technology for experimental wines? And then we'll also make wines that are like what we're drinking now. Oh, that'll be fun to see how that turns out. Yeah. The orange wine. That's how you figure out what works, especially in a region like this which doesn't have a long history of wine to the same degree

that other more famous regions have. Virginia is still almost new in a way. Thomas Jefferson had just scratched the surface and then it was abandoned until the 70s. It's great that you're willing to push the boundaries of what Virginia wine can do. Because there's so much that's probably still untapped.

Well, that's actually, I think, for me, and I think I'm coming at this with, you know, I had a past career. My ego is kind of detached from it and I'm willing I'm willing to experiment and stuff but I think I think one thing that strikes me about Virginia wine is there's kind of Virginia wine where you're trying to be a French wine or trying to be a California wine but you're in Virginia yeah and then there's Virginia wine where you're like this is Virginia wine yes and I I personally think that's where I think your power and strength always lie and just kind of being what you really are. And so I am personally

totally uninterested in making a Virginia wine that wants to be a French wine. No, I want to make Virginia wine. And I think our farm is very, you know, it's been farmed since the 1780s. It's very Virginia. We're just going to kind of go deep into that. Well, that's what you have to do because we have a unique...

Yeah, we have a different geography and climate here that does not resemble France and does not resemble California, namely it does not resemble california namely humidity right but out of that out of that humidity out of that land can come something that's different but not if you try to like force it to become something it's not exactly exactly so i i really feel a lot of passion for just kind of letting the, letting Virginia wine be Virginia wine. Absolutely.

That's, that's, I like that philosophy. That's the way. And you can see it coming out. You can see it bearing out in, in things like, cause, and I think the beauty is like the beauty of Virginia is you're able to,

you kind of have the freedom to do that because there isn't something already established. There's not, there's not really that play it safe. Right. Thing of like, you know, if you're in California, what do not really that play it safe thing of like, if you're in California, what do you do? You play it safe. You just do Cabernet Sauvignon.

And you can't go wrong. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlots, you just ship them out there. You can't go wrong, right? But here, there's kind of that freedom because we don't have that thing we've been making for so long that that's your play it safe go-to. And it can easily go wrong. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, yeah. So you have to be willing to fail, which I think, I don't know. That's the entrepreneur in me, as I'm saying. Exactly, the essence of an entrepreneur, the willingness to fail to try to achieve something great. Yeah. And that's wonderful,

especially to bring that spirit to wine. Yeah. Kevin Higgins, watching the show, has a question for you. He asks, is there one bottle you've opened that stands out, kind of, that is the best wine you've had? Oh, period or...

I wasn't sure. I'm not sure if he's period or just Virginia. Well, I mean, the rosé I brought in... Oh, I thought it was referring to ours, but in terms of ours... Kevin, you can clarify if it's a different question, but we'll go with it. Yeah, yours.

Well, I think the rosé I brought in, I really love. I just really love. I think it's just so refreshing and delightful. And we, honestly, we are brand new, and we do not make, we are selling very few wines now. And then we'll add and add as we, and we're really not interested in buying other people's grapes. We're growing the grapes.

We make the wine with our grapes. I like that. This is a good pitch. I was going to say, for all the foodies out there, just to take a quick nit break. Because I'm always thinking, what would I pair this with? You could pair this with a very gamey meat too. That's how bold and flavorful it is.

It's not like your typical... It is very light and refreshing but it does have a really good underlying flavor. It will cut through meat. It will cut through it perfectly. Yeah, if you had like duck. So yeah, so there you go. That's Nick's tip on that front. So Carmel, before we let you go that's niche don't get some tip on that

on that front so Carmel before we let you go where can people find the farm where do people get in touch and learn more I think the best place to find us is on Instagram at

South Paddock Winery and then you can also the farm is called Whitehall Farm, but there are several, there are many Whitehall Farms, which is why we named the winery South Paddock Winery. But you can also go to,

the website is whitehallfarmandvineyard.com. And then there's a tab for South Paddock Winery because the farm also does horse boarding. One fun thing we do is you can book a trail ride around the farm and end up at the winery. So the overall website kind of deals with the horses and the wine. But if you just want to look at wine information, at South Paddock Winery on Instagram. That's awesome. That's awesome. That must be fun. I'd take a ride around and then end at the winery Winery on Instagram. That's awesome. That's awesome.

That must be fun. I take a ride around and then end at the winery and have something nice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A great, beautiful ad thing to do on a weekend or an afternoon. Exactly. Must be beautiful. And what are the hours of the tasting room for now? Right now we are Saturdays only and from 3 to 7.30.

Oh, perfect. And then we'll be adding hours as we add wines. So we're just the little baby winery just getting going. Getting started. I love it. Well, Carmel, it's been an absolute pleasure to have you on. Thanks so much for

coming by and sharing this new gem with us. Oh, well, thank you so much for coming by and sharing this new gem with us. Well, thank you so much for having me. We appreciate it. We appreciate it. So be sure you can find us, South Paddock Winery, on Instagram, www.whitehallfarmandvineyard.com. So it's super easy. I did some tagging, so check the comment section

if you want to find the Angels Afghan Cuisine or the South Paddock Winery. And I think this Saturday should be a beautiful Saturday, so three to seven, I think. Which is perfect, because the market ends at one, so you can just plan your day.

There you go, so go to Itch, that's from Itch, drive off to 30 minutes, and you're right there. Yeah. So it's beautiful. So that's fantastic, and be sure to check that out.

So this has been a great show with you. Appreciate it. I mean the guests made it great but I'm not going to dismiss that Nick is also a great host. So always appreciate that joining you on that. Next week we've got some future awesome guests. We're going to be joined by Kate Purnell is coming back.

Kate is back from Kate Teaches Swim is joining us. And then we'll also be joined by Liz Knobby from Alight Flowers. So we've got two more great desks that will be on with us next week, so be sure to check that out. Fun side fact, Liz Knobby

was my art history teacher at UVA. Really? And I invited her, I invited the business on the show and she remembered me despite the fact that it only took one semester. So we were catching up after that as well. Imagine how things come full circle. Yeah, they come full circle.

That's awesome. I had no idea, and then it turned out great. That's awesome. So she'll be on next week. So you should definitely be on then. I'll definitely be in the studio just to say hi. Just to say hi. All right.

So that'll be great. Always appreciate that. Thanks to everyone who tuned in this morning. Thanks to Kevin Hiddens for a great question. Hopefully we asked it in the right way, but that's full. You can let us know. Correct as if we're wrong. Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah. And thanks to everyone who tuned in and sent us questions and comments. Looking forward to seeing everyone next week. I probably won't be on with you next week, but I will be back. I will be back eventually. So thanks to Judah behind the camera. Thanks to the I Love Seville Network. Thanks to our awesome

partners, Matias Yon, Credit Series Insurance Forward Adelante. Thank you to our presenter, Emergent Financial Services. Thanks all of you. We wish you a most wonderful weekend. Enjoy the beautiful weather. If you're a summer person, try to embrace the coming of fall. If you're a fall person, I don't need

to tell you to enjoy it because you're already thrilled. But have a great weekend. We look forward to seeing you next week. But until that time, as we like to close it out on the show, hasta mañana.