How immigrant winemakers helped define California's Central Coast wine region

The world-class wine region has global roots from France, Greece, Mexico, Bosnia, and beyond.

Key Takeaways

• Immigrant winemakers have transformed California’s Central Coast wine region, bringing global winemaking traditions from France, Greece, Mexico, Bosnia, and beyond.
• From Paso Robles to Santa Barbara, generations of newcomers have honored their cultural roots while embracing the freedom to innovate with grape varieties and blends beyond traditional appellation rules.
• Their personal journeys and community-driven approach highlight how cultural diversity continues to shape the identity and innovation of Central Coast winemaking.

In the United States, wine has been shaped by immigration. In fact, wine itself is an immigrant.

For centuries, it embodied migration to the New World. Religious missions established the roots of viticulture, which continued through colonization and newcomers who brought with them traditions of modern winemaking. 

California’s Central Coast is a descendant of the movement initiated by Franciscan Fathers in the 1700s, when Father Junípero Serra planted Mission grapes brought from Spain in San Gabriel and San Juan Capistrano.

In Santa Barbara, the first Mission grape cuttings were planted in the Milpas District in 1782. Over centuries, winemaking has continued to reflect the inherited traditions and cultural influences that characterize many regions within the Central Coast AVA.

Here, enthusiasts, winery workers, and winemakers have pursued their American dream from every corner of the world. They planted vines from their homelands and nurtured them to thrive. 

In Paso Robles, famous Polish concert pianist Ignace Paderewski planted Petite Sirah and Zinfandel on his Rancho San Ignacio vineyard during the early 1920s. Legendary enologist André Tchelistcheff, alongside Dr. Stanley Hoffman and Jack Foote, was among the first to see the potential of Cabernet Sauvignon in Paso Robles. He began to plant the variety there in the 1960s and ’70s.

Greek, French, Indian, Armenian, Italian, Mexican, and Bosnian winemakers have helped make the Central Coast one of the most diverse viticultural areas in the country. They created a culture of camaraderie and collaboration and passed it on to the new generation.

Building a legacy close to one’s roots while honoring the land 

For Stephan Asseo, a seasoned vigneron from Bordeaux, the Willow Creek District in Paso Robles was a place where he could experiment with different grapes, free of the famed French appellation’s strict regulations. 

After he left France and his Domaine de Courteillac in 1998, Asseo, along with his wife Beatrice and three children, scoured South Africa, Lebanon, Argentina, and Napa in search of a new beginning. Eventually, he chose California as the home for his new brand, L’Aventure, to produce blends using locally grown international varieties.

“I was always focusing on the potential of the terroir, the configuration of the soil, the interaction of the weather,” he says. “It was more important than the notoriety of the site. I can make the wine of my place, and I can express the interpretation of my place with that freedom, instead of making the wine of my appellation that some people in some offices in Paris decided that we should grow.”

Asseo’s new home not only granted the freedom to create, but it also offered true community support. During his first days in the region, he found it surprisingly easy to rely on his neighbors and colleagues. 

“On the technical side, maybe I was more advanced than [they were], but when you start from scratch, as I did, I thought that I was very rich and poor at the same time,” he says. “I could borrow some equipment. Already established winemakers helped me find a distributor. Here, if you are successful, people are happy for you. I think that is the beauty of this country.”

In 2013, his daughter, Chloé Asseo, became general manager of L’Aventure. Chloé grew up with the winery. It shaped her childhood and set the standards by which she lives. 

Chloé has a clear vision. “I don’t see legacy as something frozen in time,” she says. “To honor it is to protect its essence — the pursuit of excellence, the family spirit, the boldness — while allowing it to evolve thoughtfully. My role is not to rewrite their story, but to continue it with the same conviction and care.”

In the rolling hills of the Los Olivos District, Alexis Zahoudanis, general manager of Demetria Estate, pours the 2023 Cuvée Papou to honor Demetria’s founder, his late father, John Zahoudanis.

“My father's passion was always wine. He loved wine,” says Zahoudanis. “When he grew up, they had olives, citrus, and grapes. His father was a home winemaker. He would make the bathtub hooch. And I think that's where my father's passion started. And it was always one of his dreams. Ever since I was a young child, I can remember him wanting to buy a vineyard. I remember on a number of different occasions him trying to put that kind of deal together.”

John ventured from one entrepreneurial pursuit to another, but he always stayed connected to his orchard and vineyard in Litochoro, Greece, which he left at age 13.

In 2005, John realized his vision when he purchased Painted Hills vineyards in Los Olivos. He renamed the estate Demetria, both in honor of his daughter and of the Greek goddess of harvest (Demeter), and he cultivated Rhône varieties using biodynamic practices.

John planted Assyrtiko grapes as an homage to his heritage, which he used in a blend with Grenache Blanc. Demetria became another way to stay involved with the local Greek community. 

“We were always active members of the St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church,” says Alexis. “We would have our priests come out and bless the harvest. They still do it every year. My father really embraced his heritage because it brought community to him. And that was a big thing for him — having his people, our people, as part of the winery.”

Defying the odds to craft the best glass of wine

Samra Morris never thought that she would end up in Santa Rita Hills making wine at Alma Rosa Winery. She grew up in Bosnia in the early 1990s, a time when the world was rejecting communism, and then entered into a period of turbulence marked by lasting wars and conflicts. Samra studied food science and planned to pursue brewing. She was initially interested in the chemical aspect of winemaking. 

Her plans changed when she met her future husband, a chief master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force in Sarajevo. They moved to Napa for his next deployment, and Morris started to work at Hestan Vineyards with Thomas Rivers Brown.

“The first barrier that an immigrant can have in a new country is the language,” she says. “In the beginning of my career, I knew English, but still, during the harvest, they would tell me to do something, some technical words, and I would translate them into my language to understand.”

In 2019, Morris moved to Alma Rosa Winery as an assistant winemaker. When the winemaker suddenly left, she applied for the position with the proprietor, Bob Zorich.

“I went to him and told him that I wanted to be the winemaker. I knew I could do it, but I was scared since I didn’t have the experience of a winemaker,” says Morris. “He told me, ‘I know you survived war as a kid, you came to this country, you learned the language, and I think you can do it.’”

Since then, Morris has made wines that reflect her passion, which have brought many accolades to the winery. 

“Balkan people are very passionate and prideful,” she says. “So, I think my passion shows in my wines. I put 100% of myself into winemaking. I think the owner of Alma Rosa understands it as well.” 

Morris organizes tours to Bosnia to introduce Americans to her homeland and its viticulture. Many remember Bosnia as a place shaped by war, so she wants to show another side of her country.

“There are a lot of immigrants, especially in the wine industry in this area. They are from everywhere,” says Enrique Torres, founder of Diablo Paso Wines. “I myself feel like a [Paso] Roblon. 

Torres immigrated to the United States in 2001 from a small fishing village in Guerrero, Mexico. Since then, he has not missed a harvest, as he’s worked in different wineries in Paso Robles. As the second boy in his family, he was expected to become a priest, encouraged by his mother and grandmother. However, he chose something closely tied to the church: wine.

In the United States, Torres developed his love of Spanish varieties as he worked with winemaker Alan Kinne at Martin & Weyrich Winery. Since then, Diablo Paso Wines has produced Spanish wines made from Tempranillo, Albariño, and Garnacha grapes.

Over the last 25 years, Torres has been able to raise a family, make wine, and become part of a supportive community formed by both longtime residents and newcomers from around the world.

Torres continues to work with CaliPaso Winery, which took over Martin & Weyrich Winery in 2012. He also launched a second label under Diablo Paso Wines, Max and Nico, named after his two sons, that focuses on French and Italian varieties.

“In Paso, I feel like it’s still a friendly town, and I hope it stays that way with these immigrants. I appreciate that because we’re a big part of this community. We help each other. I love this town.”