Ancient Peaks Winery Visit – A True Surprise and Delight
Background
Recently a friend provided me a bottle of Ancient Peaks Cabernet Franc and mentioned he thought it was delicious. Had heard of them, but never tasted their wine. While in Paso Robles for Cabernet Franc Paso Robles in early December, I met with Mike Sinor, winemaker. I had no idea what to expect or taste and the following story unfolded.
The Winery
We had a very nice meal at their quaint restaurant at 22720 El Camino Real, Santa Margarita. Just as we were finishing lunch Mike Sinor came in and introduced himself as the Founding winemaker at their winery. We spent some time discussing the winery and hopped into a SUV to tour the vineyards/ranch. Much to my surprise, Ancient Peaks Winery is LARGE, consisting of 14,000 acres with 1,000 acres under vine. Here the video from the Oyster Ridge event center you get a 360 degree view of the property.
As it turns out Santa Margarita is the only vineyard in the Santa Margarita Ranch AVA in the most southern portion of the AVA. Some of the more interesting factoids of the vineyard were:
- Five separate soils are intermixed and found on the property, shown on one of their labels.
- The vineyard is only 14 miles from the Pacific Ocean and draws the fog onto the property
- It is the coolest sub-AVA in Paso Robles AVA.
- Being the coolest region, they are often the latest in full maturing of the vineyards. This helps in providing a slowing ripening process (often with challenges) but the reward is flavor, structure and with the varying soil types provides unique character to the grapes.
- They average 29 inches of rain with the surrounding Santa Lucia mountain range.
- Their sustainability practices have earned them SIP Certification (Sustainability in Practice).
- The owners of the winery are Karl Wittstrom, Rob Rossi and Doug Filipponi all local wine growing and ranching families in Santa Margarita.
- Santa Margarita was originally settled by the Franciscan missionaries around 1770. In 1889 the area was part of the Mexican Alta California land grant.
- It is named for Santa Margarita de Cortona Assitencia, an Italian saint.
- A rich and detailed history can be found on Santa Margarita and is fascinating reading. https://santamargaritahistoricalsociety.org/
Today they have the Oyster Ridge event building/site which is an ideal spot for weddings, corporate retreats and private events over-looking the vineyards and ranch. Additionally they provide a host of activities in the agritourism business on the 14,000 acres including vineyard zip lining, wild life tours and horseback trail wines.
The label called Oyster Ridge comes from so many oyster bed fossils found about the property. Here Mike Sinor is holding one fossilized oyster.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The Wines by Ancient Peaks – “Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Their wines have three distinct labels/branding going to market which are: Ancient Peaks, Oyster Ridge and Pearl. Many of the varieties are offered with all three labels/branding. Their white wines consist of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. The red wines offered are extensive with Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo and Sangiovese, Merlot, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Pinot Noir, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Zinfandel and of course the wine we sought out their Cabernet Franc. We were offered to taste “all the wines” but practically speaking it would be too much unless we camped overnight in the tasting room! We did taste the following wines and a couple of others. A second or third visit is definitely forthcoming to taste their Nebbiolo, Pinot Noir and Petit Verdot.
One of the many wines that grab our attention were the 2021 Ancient Peaks Cabernet Sauvignon not only for excellent winemaking with beautiful red fruit, vanilla, appropriate influence of oak and tannins with just the right about of edginess but also at a price point “unheard of” for this quality at $25/bottle.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The second one that stood out was the 2020 Pearl Collection of Cabernet Sauvignon. The aroma was alluring the flavors of blackberry and vanilla aligned with our palates. Again the quality for this wine was a bargain, yet being one of their highest priced wines at $72/bottle. Still for this depth of wine a bit unbelievable.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
We purchased and walked out of tasting room with 3 bottles of the 2020 Pearl Merlot, 2 bottles of the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon, 3 bottles of the 2020 Cabernet Franc and 2 bottles of the 2020 Pearl Cabernet Sauvignon. Can’t wait to do an in-depth wine review of each with an exquisite food pairing. As I normally state and quote, “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
I was extremely impressed with the quality of wines tasted, the history of the land/winery and the knowledge, warmth and hospitality of Mike Sinor. Wine Advocate summed up Ancient Peaks in a quote “keenly priced, high quality wines that deserve to be better known”.
At least two or three of their wines will make my annual Best Wines tasted for 2024.
I hope this article provides you an incentive to check out their gorgeous property and quality wines.
Sláinte,
Michael
July 7, 2025 at 6:55 pm
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