By admin 
Wait a minute. Could that really be the Devin Nunes proudly pouring wine for customers inside one of the newest tasting rooms on the Central Coast?
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It could indeed.
The former Republican congressman from the Central Valley who was once a conservative lightning rod, chair of the House Intelligence Committee and a closely aligned Donald Trump ally is now a public-facing proprietor — though a kinder, gentler version of the partisan warrior and ubiquitous fixture on our TV screens.
Nunes opened a tasting room on July 4 on busy Price Street in Pismo Beach, a dining and drinking hub popular with both locals and tourists, including many from the San Joaquin Valley. It’s named the Nunes Wine Company, which could be a blessing or a curse — or a bit of both.
The new venture is a comeback of sorts for Nunes, who has been out of the public eye for a while. After a 20-year career in Congress, he resigned in 2022 to become CEO of Trump’s social media empire, only to be replaced four years later after the company’s stock plunged 67%.
Nunes continues to live in Tulare, but when he’s in Pismo, you may find him at his tasting room, welcoming guests, shaking hands, discussing the characteristics of the various Portuguese red blends that are the winery’s specialty. (Veteran Central Coast winemaker Mike Sinor, the founder of Ancient Peaks, is the winemaker.)
It’s a far cry from his days in Congress, where his close ties to Trump and his penchant for lashing out at his critics earned him a divisive reputation that could turn off some potential customers, while perhaps inspiring conservative fans to make a pilgrimage to Pismo.
A homage to Trump and company
Like Trump, Nunes does not soft-pedal his politics to woo customers.
He leans heavily into his political career. His name is plastered on every one of his wine bottles, and one wall of the tasting room is taken up mostly by framed photos of Republican luminaries, including President Trump presenting Nunes with the Medal of Honor.
There’s also a giant American flag and a screen that displays digital photos highlighting his time in Congress and beyond.
The decor is a bit of a gamble. Typically, politicians who have commercial ventures are more circumspect.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, for instance, co-founded the PlumpJack Winery Group in the 1990s, which now includes three tasting rooms in Napa Valley. PlumpJack — named after a Shakespearean character — doesn’t tout its connection to the governor, however. In fact, you have to hunt to find any mention of Newsom on the company website.
‘We welcome him’
Nunes — who was notorious for freezing out the media back in his lawmaking days — was not available for an interview about his business strategy, and neither he nor his staff responded to a list of questions sent via email.
The winery staff did, however, share a predictably upbeat message about the future.
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“Nunes Wine Company opened the tasting room here because Pismo Beach is a fantastic, easygoing place for friends and family to get together and enjoy a great glass of wine grown locally in San Luis Obispo County. With its distinctive Portuguese-style azulejos tiles, the tasting room is an excellent fit with the array of restaurants and wineries on Price Street,” it said in part.
Ash Mehta, who owns Tastes of the Valleys wine bar across the street from the Nunes tasting room, is also optimistic.
“We welcome him,” he said. “It’s going to bring in more people interested in wine.”
How good is Devin Nunes’ wine?
Nunes wines retail between $50 and $120 for the Patriot Reserve. Tasting notes describe them as “old world wines handcrafted from Portuguese and Bordeaux varietals grown in San Luis Obispo County.”
Mike Botwin, who heads the local chapter of the American Wine Society, said he happened to stumble on the tasting room recently and was impressed.
“Quality is very good,” he wrote in an email. “He seems to be interested in wines of restraint. He’s keeping away from big body, high alcohol and highly concentrated wines and producing well-balanced and fresher wines.”
A review posted on the winery’s website is equally favorable:
“I will wager you’ve never had anything quite like them,” columnist Roger Kimball, who writes about culture, politics and wine, said in The Spectator. (Note: This publication is not connected to the Wine Spectator).
Those are persuasive recommendations, but they may not be strong enough to overcome objections from those who find Nunes’ politics unpalatable.
As one first-time customer muttered on his way out of the tasting room: “It’s a shame his name is on it, because the wine is good.”
But let’s think about that for a moment.
Nunes needs some sort of harmless pursuit to occupy his time — something interesting enough to dissuade him from reentering politics. Wine sounds like a perfect diversion.
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Why not drink to that?