About Us

Originally from Dayton, Ohio, I have spent most of my life in Los Angeles working in the entertainment industry as an actor in TV and film. In 2017, my husband and I had an opportunity to move to Los Olivos, California and buy a little farm with goats & chickens. Quite the idyllic getaway from the hustle & bustle of big city living. I had already been passionate about wine for many years and held my WSET Level 2 with Distinction Certification. Future Perfect Wine came to be when I decided to embrace the part of myself that knows intrinsically that passion is greater than fear and that we are all capable of anything when we follow our hearts. And also that life is short, so we should do what we love. But, what if life is long?!?! Even more reason to do what we love!

I’m always amazed by our glorious wine region in Santa Barbara County, California and focus on environmentally sustainable wine. I have been incredibly fortunate to learn under the tutelage of JG, winemaker of Story of Soil. Working with her my first few years in the vineyards, winery, bottling, tasting room, wine club, etc… was a tremendous experience which solidified that my heart and soul were destined to be winemaking. In 2020, the stars aligned and I was able to add Peter Hunken – prolific winemaker for 21+ years in SB County and ACMW (of labels: Holus Bolus, The Joy Fantastic and owners/vignerons of The Joy Fantastic Vineyard) Peter was a mentor who helped me fine-tune and focus on what would come to be my first, full harvest of the Future Perfect Wine line-up. Woot-woot!!!

My incredibly supportive and good-humored husband, Nate “Tater” Stricker, is the epic wind beneath my proverbial wings! Nate is my harvest-supporter, tasting room-wine-glass-polisher and most amazingly, my encourager when wine does what it will and challenges me. And somehow, he clings tightly to an unwavering confidence in my defiantly enthusiastic attempts at creating and sharing all things good, kind and hopeful. This is Future Perfect and I am, after all, in the business of Bliss! And even though he has a full-time job, he holds the working title “Assistant to the Winemaker”. The man who truly does NOT work here! 😉

I am very proud to have saved for years be able to launch Future Perfect on my own and to continue to own, operate and grow this extraordinary, dynamic little winery as a one-woman corporation! Now, my heart swells with gratitude that after these several years, I have been able to assemble a tiny but tremendous group of gals to help with Future Perfect! And here they are…

My love and interest for wine turned into a passion and career when I had the opportunity to live and study abroad in the South of France at 19 years old. The love and importance of wine in France was infectious. I spent 6 months in Aix-en-Provence learning the ins and outs of French wine and the culture around it, and knew from that moment I would never look back!

Upon returning and graduating from Miami University with a degree in Small Business Administration and Global Wine Studies, I packed up my life in Ohio and moved to Santa Barbara to start my career in wine, and I cannot imagine a better place to do so. I’ve worked in and managed tasting rooms both in the Sta. Rita Hills and downtown Santa Barbara, earned my WSET II with distinction, and am always in the pursuit of learning something new about the world of wine.

So what brought me to Future Perfect? That same infectious passion I felt in France is beaming through the walls of this Tasting Room, and I cannot WAIT to continue fueling that passion in the Santa Barbara Wine Community. I find the most joy in connecting with equally geeky oenophiles about all things wine (and beyond!).