“This is a total extension of time spent with my dad.”
Nick Perr just found out his great grandfather was a kosher butcher in Brooklyn. Had vines in his backyard, made red wine in a Brooklyn bathtub. Maybe that explains why Nick’s dad, Tim Perr, was drawn to humbler scenes. He found a laid back, fuss-free culture of tinkerers in Lompoc, Central California. They joined the tinker, and Pali Wine Co. got its start.
“ My earliest memories were spending time with my dad driving up to wine country hanging out at the winery with him and the friends,” says Nick. “All the loud noises, the banging, the spilled wine on the floor, the sense of fermentation… kind of the madness associated with all of that.”
Pali eventually planted their own in the Santa Rita Hills (Santa Barbara), promoted a talented winemaker who grew with them (Aaron Walker), made some killer pinots (the Santa Rita special) and excellent others (orange wine, sparkling rosé, Carignans, etc). All low-intervention, nothing added. “We believe the wine should tell us what it should taste like,” Nick says.
Nick, his wife, and his family opened this tasting room in Little Italy in 2016—with a massive, shaded back patio Narnia that’s a hidden gem in the neighborhood—cooking highly local food. Get the boquerones with cured local anchovies and local tomatoes on bread from North Park bakery, Companion. A simple, dang delicious thing made here from things grown around here.
“ I love everything about it,” says Nick. “I love that we’re working with nature. I love that we’re growing what we’re making. I love that I get to continue the legacy that my parents started and it’s something that I might be able to continue on and pass down to another generation. My dad’s pretty proud. And he’s from New York too, so.”
