Pairing Wine Chips with Santa Barbara Bottles
Huntington Beach–Based Snacks Go Great with These County-Grown Wines
One day back in 2017, Huntington Beach entrepreneur Jonathan Strietzel was chomping on cheesy potato chips with a glass of pinot noir and realized that the snacks’ flavor couldn’t stand up to the wine. He envisioned a stronger-tasting chip, one that could indeed pair with wine, and founded Wine Chips to tackle the challenge, rallying the support of family and friends in the test kitchen.
The line, whose chief creative officer is Santa Barbara–based branding guru (and cannabis farmer) Sara Rotman, launched in 2020 with four primary flavors — Smoked Gouda, Asiago, Blue Cheese, and Manchego. But they also produce “private reserve” batches like Dry-Aged Ribeye and Spicy Calabrese, released each month to club members.
The lattice-cut chips, which come with suggested wine pairings listed on the informative labels, are substantial in both thickness and seasoning, almost creating a creamy mouthfeel into which the wines can settle. They’ve already tallied more than $1 million in online orders and are now starting to show up on the aisles of gourmet grocers.
