Jessica Gasca

Coming Up

Wine work often starts in service before it reaches the cellar, and Jessica Gasca’s route followed that pattern. Behind the bar at Nice Matin in New York City, New York, she learned speed, timing, and the discipline of serving at close range. In Los Angeles, California, restaurant management added another layer: reading the room, keeping a floor moving, and understanding how food, drink, and place have to land together. The first direct exposure to production came through an internship and harvest work at Gary Burk's winery in Santa Barbara County, California (2009). There, the work shifted from service to source. Fruit, soil, weather, and timing were no longer abstractions; they were the daily terms of the job. Gasca has put that plainly: “Being that connected to the earth was inspiring.” Ownership and cellar responsibility now define Jessica Gasca’s position through Story of Soil, alongside her role as president of Santa Barbara Vintners Foundation. Both roles sit on the same foundation: making wine with attention to site, and keeping the regional wine community part of the work. Her own summary is direct: “I don’t believe wine is about me. It’s about where it’s grown. My job is to tell that story, about that piece of land.”

Where They Are Now

At Story of Soil, the winemaking stays tied to vineyard character rather than stylistic display. Jessica Gasca’s approach keeps the emphasis on what each site gives, with the final wine reading as a record of place more than an imprint of personality.

Signature

Jessica's signature wines include 2021 Larner Vineyard Syrah. The vintage and vineyard name do the work here: a specific site, a specific year, and a wine shaped to register that particular piece of land.

In Their Words “I don’t believe wine is about me. It’s about where it’s grown. My job is to tell that story, about that piece of land.” “Being that connected to the earth was inspiring.”