Season XIII: Ali Rush, sommelier + owner, 15 Degrees C Wine, Templeton, CA

Ali Rush is a certified sommelier, wine educator, and owner of 15 degrees C wine shop in Templeton, California. I first met Ali when I was trying to take what’s called the WSET exam, a certification for wine experts. I had heard from someone that a new little wine shop next door to Trader Joe’s in Templeton would host the exam. I looked them up and called, and that new little wine shop was Ali’s 15 degrees C. At the time, there were zero local wine shops focusing on international wines, not to mention shops owned and operated by a sommelier — and especially not a young woman. Ali was the O.G. in this regard, and has helped usher the Central Coast into a new phase of wine appreciation over the last dozen years — a phase that includes wines from South Africa, Italy and Argentina, as well as those from across California. She is particularly knowledgeable in (and obsessed with) Spanish wines and food, and visits Spain regularly, as she has since she was a child. 

Website: 15degreescwines.com

Instagram: @instagram.com/15degreesc