How does a star vintner stay healthy? For Brian Talley, the answer is 20-mile bike rides and wonderful meals featuring vegetables from his farm.

When Brian Talley's grandfather started farming in California's Arroyo Grande Valley in the 1940s, he opted for bell peppers instead of grapes. "Grandpa didn't think grapes would work," recalls Talley, who now produces Talley Vineyards' wines (most notably Pinot Noir and Chardonnay) while continuing to farm peppers as well as napa cabbage, avocados and cilantro. Many of those ingredients go into the healthy meals that Talley, a hard-core athlete, loves to cook—dishes like Asian-inspired cabbage salad and flounder with smoky corn. But his two young daughters take over for Sunday brunch: "I return from a 20-mile bike ride," Talley says, "to find goodies like pancakes with local strawberries."

Published October 2006