ADVANCED MIXOLOGY
SPIRITED CELEBRITIES
Challen Cates Challen Cates, currently starring in the hit show Big Time Rush, was born in Virginia and grew up riding horses and tasting wine. Her resume reads like a who’s who of the industry. With film and television credits including Desperate Housewives, Criminal Minds, CSI: NY, Monk, and Lifetime’s Missing, among others, she is well known to TV viewers. She has worked with some of Hollywood’s hottest stars, from Eva Longoria to Heather Locklear. Her present series is one of Nickelodeon’s latest breakouts and focuses on four hockey players from Minnesota who find themselves in Hollywood recording an album as a hot boy-band.
Growing up, Challen’s parents spent their time harvesting grapes and making wine. Challen recalls, “As a kid, I remember being embarrassed that my Dad’s fingers were always stained purple and that our house smelled like fermentation. Now I think those things are cool.” Bill Cates, Challen’s dad, bottled all the typical varieties of wine, but always had a strong desire to make Pinot Noir. Unfortunately, the Virginia climate was not suitable for the pinot grape. Fate stepped in and presented an opportunity for Bill to buy a few tons of Pinot Noir from two of the best vineyards in California. He jumped at the chance.
44
CHILLED MAGAZINE
Photos by Jennings Paige
Challen was already living in Los Angeles and working as an actor when Bill started their winery in Santa Ynez. Challen remembers, “They would come to California to visit and to check on the grapes and I would do my best to convince them to move across the country.” Bill commuted for the first two years and then eventually moved the rest of the family to the Bien Nacido Ranch, a huge vineyard in Santa Maria, with hopes to expand production of Tantara Wines. They say in the wine business that timing is everything and Challen’s father found that this was very true for the pinot grape. Luck was on his side again when the grapes he bought harvested five to six tons to the acre as opposed to the usual two and half tons. And the quantity did not diminish the quality of the grape, which is not usually the case. Thus, the Tantara pinot varietals were born. Though Tantara is considered a “boutique winery”, it makes ten vineyard designated pinots and five generic blends of pinot. Tantara’s pinnacle wine, the “Evelyn” Pinot Noir, is named after Challen’s grandmother and is blended from the best six barrels from each vintage. It is described as a wine of elegance and refinement with subtle aromas of raspberries, cherries, strawberries, and spices such as cinnamon and allspice.
