Wine

Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008

The Grapevine: Ancient Peaks Winery focuses on Bordeaux wines

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Like so many spots in California, Santa Margarita Ranch got its first grapevines from Franciscan missionaries, back in 1774. The Franciscans even built a way station between the San Luis Obispo and San Miguel missions that still stands on the ranch.

Fast forward to the present. The 12,000-acre ranch, which was part of a Spanish land grant at one point and surrounds the town of Santa Margarita, is now owned by three families: the Filipponis, Rossis and Wittstroms. Wine grapes are thriving there on the 866-acre Margarita Vineyard. And those three families have started a wine brand, Ancient Peaks Winery.

The name Ancient Peaks is a nod to the Santa Lucia Mountains, which form a backdrop to Margarita Vineyard. The vineyard was developed by the Robert Mondavi Corp., which leased the land in the late 1990s. Mondavi never took any fruit, though: By the first harvest, in 2004, the company was in the thick of the turmoil that resulted in its eventual acquisition by wine giant Constellation Brands.

In 2005, the ranch’s owners bought back the lease. They sold most of the grapes that fall — they still do—but they also had a little wine made at Domaine Alfred in the Edna Valley. That’s where they met winemaker Mike Sinor. Sinor left Domaine Alfred in spring 2006 to concentrate on his own Sinor-LaVallee label and joined the Ancient Peaks project a few months later.

The Margarita Vineyard is the southernmost vineyard in the Paso Robles appellation. It’s a warm spot, but it gets cooling breezes and fog from the ocean more quickly than Paso Robles proper. Co-owner Doug Filipponi calls it “as cool a climate vineyard as there is” in Paso Robles. Because of the conditions, he says, the grapes accumulate the desired flavors at lower sugars. And as a result, “the alcohols are refreshingly moderate” in the wines, Sinor says, adding that most of them check in at under 14 percent. Ancient Peaks uses only about 10 percent of the grapes from Margarita Vineyard, which is on an ancient uplifted seabed, and Sinor says he works with vineyard manager Jeff Filipponi to find the best that the vineyard has to offer.

The Ancient Peaks lineup is focused on Bordeaux grape varieties, with a little syrah and zinfandel thrown in, and the wines are very affordably priced. The 2006 merlot ($15) is a little spicy, with ripe black cherry, a subtle hint of anise and good concentration. The 2006 cabernet sauvignon ($15) displays bright black cherry flavors with notes of mocha and black olive and firm structure.

The 2006 zinfandel ($15)—a rare example that’s under 14 percent alcohol — is juicy and brambly, with bright berry and spice.

(Some of the fruit is from the San Juan Vineyard in Paso Robles, which is also owned by Doug Filipponi and Karl Wittstrom.) And the 2006 syrah ($15) offers ripe blackberry fruit accented by mocha, spice and smoke.

Later this year, the winery will release a 2006 red blend (cabernet, petite sirah, syrah and petit verdot) called Oyster Ridge Cuvée. The wine is named for a section of the vineyard that’s riddled with ocean fossils, and it’s expected to cost about $50. I tasted a barrel sample, and it was dark, ripe and structured, with flavors of blackberry, cassis, dark chocolate, spice and a hint of cedar.

Sinor is also making small lots of some other wines, including malbec and petite sirah. A barrel sample of the 2006 malbec offered lots of juicy blueberry and blackberry fruit, while a sample of the 2006 petite sirah was inky, robust and peppery.

The small-production wines will be available primarily through a wine club and a tasting room, which the owners plan to open late next month in the town of Santa Margarita.