John Wagner grew up in Ventura County, where - like Anderson - he was an early student of agriculture while laboring in his family’s avocado and lemon orchards. While Gallo purchased Sierra Madre from founder and longtime strawberry famer Doug Circle in 2018, the Wagners partnered into the site as well. On the road to Peake Ranch’s tasting room is the property’s historic adobe, prominently featured in the 2004 film Sideways. Gill and John Wagner, owners of Peake Ranch, first met Anderson when they delved into winemaking classes at UC Davis.Īround 2000, the couple invested in their first vineyard, the 150-acre Sierra Madre Vineyard, one of Santa Barbara County’s oldest vineyards, Solomon told me. He also managed the university’s Oakville Station Vineyard in Napa.Īnderson attributes early years working in his family’s grape nursery as the driving force behind his lifetime interest in viticulture. In 2018, she landed her first estate winemaking gig at Peake Ranch Winery just four years after its first vintage, working alongside founding winemaker Paul Lato during the 2019 vintage.Īt Peake, located at 7290 Santa Rosa Road in Buellton, Solomon has continued her focus on chardonnay and pinot noir.Īlso key to the winery team is general manager/vineyard manager Mike Anderson, who started at Peake in 2017 after more than 30 years as a researcher, author and educator at his alma mater, UC Davis. She recalled growing up with a passion for cooking - and chemistry, a key component of winemaking.Īfter graduating from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, Wynne worked in San Luis Obispo County’s Edna Valley, both for Stephen Dooley of Stephen Ross Wine Cellars, “who taught me pinot noir and chardonnay winemaking,” and then for Ryan Deovlet, who sourced those same grapes from vineyards in Santa Barbara County, she noted.įrom San Luis Obispo County, Solomon relocated to Melville Winery, where she learned estate winemaking from owner/winemaker Chad Melville. Wynne Solomon, a native of the Sonoma County town of Windsor, has been Peake Ranch’s winemaker since 2018. “I learned how to ride a bike in a nearby vineyard,” she told Noozhawk. To this effect, they maintain a minimalist approach by aging their wines only in neutral French oak and stainless steel and utilize whole cluster fermentation to contribute to the depth, structure, and complexity of their wines.Winemaker Wynne Solomon grew up around vineyards in the Sonoma County community of Windsor. At the time of harvest, they consider the wines to already be made, and strive to not interfere with their natural path in the cellar. Farming aggressively, yet carefully, and with the utmost respect to Mother Nature, helps encourage the vines to produce small amounts of intensely flavored/concentrated fruit. With the guidance of Head Winegrower, Chad Melville, Melville’s full-time vineyard crew nurtures their 120 estate acres organically, paying close attention to the health of both the vines and the soil. Rita Hills and has since become one of the most highly-regarded estates in California. Melville Vineyards was established in 1996 in the heart of the Sta. Ron Melville and his sons recognized that these exceptional conditions, combined with their commitment to “winegrowing,” would result in wines of remarkable quality. The highly unusual east-west (or transverse) mountain range, close proximity to the cold Pacific, consistent coastal fog, and steady afternoon breezes together create ideal conditions for growing cold-climate Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah. There is no place on earth quite like the Sta.
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