About Us

We thought...our Family grows wine grapes, we like drinking wine, why don’t we try to make a barrel or two for ourselves and share with friends.  Most of those thoughts come and go, probably for good reason.  Well four vintages and about fifty barrels later Altman Winery is here.

Wendy Caldwell-Altman and Mike Altman began Altman Winery with their first harvest in 2008.  We always knew we would be involved in the wine business. But after Wendy's recovery from a serious medical experience that diverted us from our don’t look up day to day lives we told each other that we shouldn’t put off someday for the future.

Wendy, an adventurous spirit who finds joy in her friends, animals and home. She works between hairstyling, helping with family business and marketing Altman Wines.  Mike is an executive with a local environmental and engineering firm who has been bitten by the winemaking bug he takes care of the legal and operational side of the winemaking chores.

Our winemaker and vineyard manager is Andres Ibarra.  Andres is a veteran in the local wine industry.  He has a natural pallet, an instinctual ability to work with blends and can recall wine characteristics with incredible clarity.  Andres also manages La Presa Vineyards as well as several other wine producing properties in Santa Barbara and Paso Robles areas.

The Rancher and Grower is Eric Caldwell (pictured above with Andres) also Wendy’s father.  Eric loves his land, loves wine and cooking great food, he enjoys sharing his passion with friends, where & how the grapes are grown and the history of the land.  Eric is very involved in his support of new and emerging winemakers by cultivating the grapes to suit their styles.