Nagy Wines offers you a taste of the Santa Maria Valley | Chamber Spotlight

What does the rich, smoky flavor of Santa Maria tri-tip pair well with? Probably anything. But a great glass of red wine would be best. And the flavor of the beautiful wines produced here is easy to enjoy at Nagy Wines.

Nagy Wines owner and founder Clarissa Nagy spoke with Erin Gabel, of the Santa Maria Valley Chamber, about how she got into winemaking and her decision to start her business in the Santa Maria Valley, as part of our ongoing business spotlight series.

Nagy said she had an epiphany about her future career during harvest at Edna Valley Vineyards while attending school at Cal Poly. Standing on a barrel transferring pinot noir, the sensory delight of the sounds of the process, the smell of the barrels and the wine, and being outdoors made her realize “this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.” 

After working at Firestone Winery for five years, Nagy took a job at Byron Vineyard and Winery in Santa Maria working under Ken Brown, where she learned all about pinot noir and pinot noir clones while falling in love with the area, and her husband.

"I thought I would work here for a couple of years, but I ended up meeting my husband, falling in love, and we both love the Santa Maria Valley, so we never left.”

While love for the valley and the winemaking process helped Nagy find her career, it wasn't one that she had always planned for.  “I wasn’t planning on making my own label, or making my own wine or doing anything other than working for another winery," Nagy said. 

"I had no background in sales or marketing, or even working in a tasting room let alone running one, so for me that was one of the biggest challenges.”

But while moving at full speed building her business, Nagy learned that she had the most important skill in sales all along. People work with people that they like and trust, she said, and despite not having a background in sales, she had the people skills needed to earn people's trust. 

“I love people," Nagy said. "So for me that was the connection. With education, I love to share what I do, I love to share what I learned.”

That love of sharing and educating is easy to see at Nagy Wines, 2705 Aviation Way in Santa Maria. “I have four different wines on my tasting menu, so we have three that I pour in a burgundian or the balloon-shaped glass and then syrah that is in the rhone glass."

"I pour the same wine into two different glasses so you can experience the different attributes: how it smells, how it tastes, how you lift your head with the glass, where it goes in your mouth and how all of those things affect your whole experience,” Nagy explained.

Nagy was quick to point out that there isn't a "right glass," but rather a glass that you like the best. 

The success of her business has also allowed her to give back to the community in a multitude of ways — donating her time, resources and working with different scholarships. That connection to the community has only made her love of the Santa Maria Valley deeper. 

“What I really love about our area, people help each other," Nagy said. "Businesses help each other, in all of that, being part of the community is being able to give back to the community. That I think is the most rewarding part."