Friends Jim and Tracy Noonan, Gary and Karen Stewart and Steve and Lora Simonsgaard united to found Four Brix Winery in 2008. The sextet produces wine in Paso Robles. It’s poured at area restaurants and at a relatively recent addition, their Thousand Oaks tasting room.

Joshua Lurie: What’s your first wine memory?

Jim Noonan: My parents and grandparents having wine at Christmas and Thanksgiving as a child.

JL: When and why did you make your first wine?

JN: Our hobby wine or “garage” wines started to win medals at county fairs. Friends and family wanted to buy our wines but as you know it cannot be sold. So one day while camping in Ventura California I said, “we can do this, our hobby wines taste better than most of the stuff I can get at the market.” I called my partner Gary and said, “Lets do this, we can make this happen.” We have been making hobby wine for about 9 years and we started making Four Brix Wines in 2008.

JL: What’s a wine trend that you’re excited about?

JN: Besides some of the great Spanish and Rhone style wines being made in California? We have embraced the millennial buyers. Social networking to sell wine is so important these days. You better have an eye catching product, with the ability to talk about it, and back that up with a great tasting product. And we feel we have been very effective with all three. You can be all flash but if your wine does not hold up then you have only done part of the job. Our image is just an extension of the time and dedication of what goes into our bottle. We personally touch every bottle of wine that we make.

JL: If you could only drink one more bottle of wine, what would it be and why?

JN: Personally for me, and not speaking for my partners? I would have to say it could be anything just as long as I get to have it with some really good friends. Wine for me has always been a very social drink to be enjoyed and talked about. But if I had to choose just one not produced by Four Brix Winery it would probably be a bottle of St. Clemente “Oropus” or a Miner “Oracle.” They have sentimental value for me.