Brenna Quigley: Wine geologist extraordinaire
It’s International Women’s Day on March 8th! Westgarth Wines would like to take this opportunity to salute all the amazing female winemakers, writers, leaders, and entrepreneurs who have enriched the world of wine throughout history until the present. With this in mind, we’re delighted to meet Brenna Quigley, an extraordinary geologist and wine lover who combines her passions and skills to explore terroir in much-loved wine regions and share her knowledge with fellow enophiles. Podcaster and tour guide, writer and educator, Brenna speaks to us about her work in the vineyards, the joys of deepening people’s love of terroir, and what’s coming up in her riveting podcast, Roadside Terroir.
You’re a geology-wine renaissance woman. Your work encompasses vineyard mapping and assessments for wine growers, creating terroir illustrations for wine lovers, leading terroir tastings and tours, and producing your podcast, Roadside Terroir. How do you balance these activities and how do they feed into one another?
I think of it as having two different avenues of my work: The technical side where I work in vineyards directly with vineyard teams, digging holes, taking samples, and running analyses, and the educational side which includes podcasts, trips, tastings, and seminars.
It’s a lot to balance, but I’ve always believed that it’s important for me to diversify my work and think it’s equally important to stay connected to both the technical and educational aspects of terroir. As a trained geologist, I always want to get my “boots on the ground” and see first-hand how some of the theoretical aspects of terroir function in a vineyard. I think this enhances the precision and accuracy of all the educationally-focused work that I do - it keeps me rooted in reality. Likewise, the amount that I learn from consumers and sommeliers about their experience with wines attunes me to the more romantic and metaphorical aspects of the wine industry, which I feel is equally as important as the hard science.
Some days my mind feels like it is being stretched far, but I love constantly learning new things and that every day is different.
How has studying geology and terroir changed your experience of tasting wine?
Knowing more about geology and terroir elevates the experience of tasting and drinking wine in just about every way. Of course, it taps into the ultra-geeky side of myself that loves to focus on details and nuances in wine, but I also love that it makes me feel connected to the earth on a more cosmic scale. It also connects me to the producer, because every great winemaker I have ever met is working hard to tell the story of a place that means something to them. I love trying to listen to that.
What is the most fascinating terroir you have studied and worked on?
That’s an impossible question! I am fascinated by all of the terroirs that I work on, but in different ways. Sometimes I am astounded by just how different the bedrock geology can be in a very short distance—such as in Alsace or in many parts of Napa and Sonoma. Other times, I am impressed by how much of a difference seemingly small changes in geology/soil/terroir can have on the final wines, such as in Burgundy or Barolo.
Which terroir are you eager to explore next?
I have a new vineyard project coming up on the West Sonoma Coast that I am very excited about. I have worked there before with the Flowers winery (which I adore) and have possibly never been so perplexed by an area before (except maybe on my first visit to Burgundy). I’m so excited to add another great producer and vineyard to my understanding of this area and to see if we can make more sense of the terroir. I aim to understand which elements of this complicated place are the most impactful on the wines.
In your fascinating Roadside Terroir podcast, what comes across is a sense of geology meets adventure. What’s your typical working process?
We are always learning new ways to explore, which keeps the podcast exciting. The main part of our procedure that I hope will never change is the amount of time and dedication that each member of our small team puts into the work. The team usually starts by simply driving through a region, sometimes on our own, sometimes with a guide, usually both and we record everything. Then, we do the same with each of the producer visits. We typically spend between two to four hours with each guest, walking through vineyards, tasting wines, and getting to know them to understand what they are aiming to tell us with their wines. This allows us to have real conversations with each person, and I think it is what makes our content so authentic. This means that once we get back home and start planning episodes, we usually have hundreds of hours of audio to go through. This can be a real challenge, but I am always surprised by how things seem to fall into place if you give them enough thought and attention.
Is there a standout Roadside Terroir episode for you?
The very first and the most recent episodes are probably the closest to my heart. The very first episode (Episode 1 in our first season about Santa Barbara County) was such a labor of love, and I’m so proud of what we were able to do when, I at least, had no idea what I was doing! This episode feels like you are joining us on a road trip and shows us learning how to immerse our listeners in the experience. It was terrifying for me to send my voice out into the world in that way, but I’m glad I somehow found the courage to do it.
The most recent episode, Haute Future, has a lot of these same elements. We included lots of immersive experiences such as a hike we took searching for granite in Maranges, Burgundy and this beautiful lunch our friend Matt made for us in Saint-Romain. This episode truly illustrates how far we have come as a team, but also that we are still rooted in the same goals as in that very first episode.
What’s next for Roadside Terroir?
We are working on the new series right now! We completed the last episode of Season 2 just a few weeks before my son was born when we had a much-needed rest and reset. This spring we will release some new episodes that will be different from our past content. These will be mostly stand-alone episodes and some mini-seasons that will allow us to explore some individual concepts in more detail (think minerality, regenerative farming). We’ll also explore some more wine regions. We are also currently in the process of searching for the perfect region for our next full-scale season, which we expect to begin production on in early 2026. This new phase of Roadside Terroir is very exciting. We are trying new things, have expanded our team, and feel like we are taking some big risks. It’s scary, but exciting and motivating — and hopefully our listeners will love it!
Which terroirs/appellations are the ones to watch? You highlight Maranges, Burgundy in one episode.
In Burgundy specifically, I am always looking at places like Maranges, the Hautes Côtes, and even some off-the-radar sites in Nuits-St-Georges. Back home, I am fascinated by my backyard, California’s Central Coast, as some of the most exciting things I see happening today are here. What Raj Parr is doing in Cambria is just so incredible and inspiring, and having spent more and more time there it has opened my eyes to some cool things going on in Paso Robles (yes, really!) and the newly approved San Luis Obispo Coast AVA as well.
From your years of work, do you think there are any standout misconceptions about wine and terroir you’d like to set straight?
When I started working in wine, we were all still recovering from the whole “minerality is a myth” and “terroir is all marketing” trends of the moment. However, I think that we are in a pretty good place now in understanding that terroir is complicated, but also important and real.
Tell us about the terroir tours you run.
So far, the tours we have done have all been organized by our very good friends at Hautes Côtes, who are just incredible professionals and also wonderfully warm and kind human beings. If we could do more and more trips with them, we would, but they are very busy (check out their Wine and Hip Hop events and TERRA art exhibitions to get an idea of the wonderful work they do). We hope to attempt some smaller-scale trips on our own in the future as well. Our upcoming trip with Hautes Côtes to the Rhône this summer is going to be very special. It’s sold out but we have a wait list in case of cancellations.
What are the most memorable reactions of tour participants and how do terroir tours change how they see wine?
I think the most memorable thing to come out of these trips has been the confidence the participants have gained in speaking about a region, the wines, vineyards, and even vintages. Burgundy can be so intimidating. I love spending time with participants after the trip and watching them confidently navigate the Burgundy section of a wine list. It’s just the best!
How can wine lovers and “terroir nerds” keep in touch with you?
I am always available via my email brennajquigley@gmail.com and on social media (although not as frequently). To stay up to date on Roadside Terroir episodes and events, visit our website, social media or sign up for our newsletter. For anyone interested in supporting Roadside Terroir we have a membership option and are also currently searching for new sponsors to finish out our 2025 fundraising. We’d love to connect and hear from you!
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