Valley Trends Article

Good Juice

by JR Guerra

This month, we will focus on a winemaker that now hails from Paso Robles. Mike Sinor, a graduate of Mt. Whitney High School, is a winemaker working in Paso Robles. Mike’s introduction to the wine business came in 1991 when he went to work for Corbett Canyon Vineyards. Although it started out innocently enough as a fun job to pay for college, Mike was soon bitten by the “wine bug”. While working at Corbett Canyon, he also began working at six local Edna Valley area wineries doing anything and everything while gleaning every bit of information he could. For the 1993 vintage, Mike took the Fall quarter off from school to work and live full-time at Saucelito Canyon Winery. After finishing Cal Poly in 1994, Mike took a harvest position with Robert Mondavi owned Byron Vineyard and Winery in Santa Maria. The harvest position turned into a permanent cellar position, then Enologist, then Assistant Winemaker to Byron Ken Brown. During his stint at Byron, Mike had the good fortune to make two trips to France to study extensively the vineyards and wineries of Burgundy. Mike left Byron after the harvest of 2000 to become the winemaker for Domaine Alfred Winery in San Luis Obispo for the opportunity to be part of an exciting new brand as well as to be closer to his growing family in Arroyo Grande. In addition to his duties as winemaker, Mike supervised the vineyard operations and was in charge of the Biodyanamic aspects of farming the ranch. Mike is also one of the founding board members for the World of Pinot Noir event held each year in March and served as Board President for the 2005 event. Mike Sinor is recognized as one of the Central Coast’s highest-rated winemakers (96 points - Wine Spectator; 95 points – Connoisseur’s Guide; 92 points – Wine Advocate; 92 points – Wine Enthusiast). His winemaking career on the Central Coast spans more than 15 years. Currently, at Ancient Peaks Winery, Mike oversees all winemaking operations and directs the quality and style of the wines. His first complete vintage with Ancient Peaks, the 2006 vintage, yielded an abundance of accolades, including a rating of 93points by the Wine Spectator for the 2006 Zinfandel.
Mike was so kind as to make time to sit down with me and answer a few questions.

What is the first “great” bottle of wine you tasted? Your epiphany?

My epiphany wine was not so much about a bottle of wine but what I was going to do for the rest of my life. After a long day of crushing grapes I was by myself drinking a 1989 Zinfandel from Saucelito Canyon winery swinging in a hammock over looking that very vineyard (planted in 1880) when I said “yep, this is what I will do for the rest of my life….”

What is the best beer to drink during crush season?

Firestone. Think globally, drink locally.

Do you feel more like a farmer or a rockstar?

A Farmer who has the good fortune to do professionally what a lot of people do for a hobby.

How did you get into wine?

I needed money to pay for college.

How competitive is the winemaking business?

To this day, that’s one of the best parts of the Biz is that my closest friends are also my biggest competitors. At the vineyard and cellar level we share everything. I taste with other local winemakers (who make the same wines from the same locations at sometimes the same price point) at least once a month.
But when you’re out selling, that’s a different story……..

Is winemaking everything you hoped it would be and more?

Yes.

What’s your personal style when it comes to making wine?

Make good everyday decisions based on experience and intuition and pick great vineyards to work with.

What other winemaking regions have you explored, if any? What areas would you like to explore/learn more about?

Four trips to France, one to Italy. Did a harvest on the West Coast of Australia. 4 Trips to Oregon. Would love to get to New Zealand soon. My philosophy is not to copy what I see rather be inspired by what I see/ experience and bring it home to adapt it to my location.

Tell us a little about the vineyards you source grapes from and what you love about them?

My two favorites are Talley-Rincon and Margarita. With Talley-Rincon we get just one acre of Pinot Noir for our Sinor-LaVallee brand every year. The challenge there is we get one shot. From picking time, yeast and barrel selection, it is an education on a single Terroir. The Margarita is just the opposite but just as fun to work with. The Margarita Ranch is 12,000 acres with 900 planted to vines at 3 separate places. It has many different hill sides and soil types to work with. Being the southernmost vineyard in the Paso AVA temperature wise it is one of the coolest vineyards in the AVA producing vivid intense fruit without as much alcohol.

It’s not very often we see a 93 point wine that retails for less than $18/bottle. Wine Spectator gave the 2006 Ancient Peaks Zinfandel this score and voted it “Best Value Wine of 2008″. What did this do for Ancient Peaks and what will great press like this ultimately lead to?

That was amazing! No doubt it was a great way to launch a new brand. The exposure has been great. Sunset Magazine also rated us the “Steal of the year”. The combination of the two has helped get the name out to not just the hard core wine drinkers but everyday wine consumers too. As far as the future we have not changed course much. We have not doubled the price or become a “Zin House”. We will continue to make the same good decisions day to day that we did before “the score”.

The 2006 “Oyster Ridge” is, simply put, hedonistic. What is it about this wine that you love the most and what food should it be paired with?

The best part about that wine is how it was created. During harvest I picked a few rows of almost every varietal that Ancient Peaks farms. Then I put it through the small lot “cool guy” wine making techniques that I have built over my career, small open top fermenters, native yeast, hand punch down, top end French oak etc. When blending time came we went through as series of blind tastings and blends to eliminate egos and components. We were hoping for a traditional Bordeaux blend but that ultimately did not make the best wine. And that’s what Oyster Ridge is all about, it’s about being the best not just using what you hope or think is the best lots. Food wise, Roasted leg of Lamb crusted with Rosemary and served with Garlic Mash potatoes might hit the spot.

Cheers, and happy sipping.
JR Guerra- owner of The Cellar Door. Visalia Ca.