The House of Sonja Magdevski
Macedonia, Journalism, and Grenache Unite at Casa Dumetz in Los Alamos
COLLABORATION KEYS: Sonja Magdevski is reminded of Macedonian village life in how Santa Barbara vintners cooperate so well. “We’re all competitors, but we’re also all colleagues,” she said. “We have a lot of small producers and everyone has their own stamp.” | Credit: Macduff Everton
What follows is an edited excerpt from ‘Vines & Vision: The Winemakers of Santa Barbara County’, published in 2020 by Matt Kettmann and Macduff Everton.
With parents who emigrated from Macedonia to Michigan in the 1960s, Sonja Magdevski visited their homeland every summer to see relatives and the village where they’d lived for generations.
“In the Balkans at that time, everything connected to the village,” says Magdevski, who appreciated the role that the community played in growing food, harvesting grapes, and so many other aspects of rural life. “Wine, whiskey, and beer were always part of the table, but it was always homemade. We grew up with a great perspective on different cultures. I was super intrigued by that. I had all these questions I wanted to answer, which is why I got into journalism.”
