2018 September COLONY Magazine

COLONY TASTE
ANCIENT PEAKS WINERY
Ranch families bring singular vision to life in Santa Margarita
Ancient Peaks Winery is
the story of three families
with one vision — to be
proud stewards of a land steeped
in Mission-era history and Wild
West mythology.
Doug Filipponi, Rob Rossi and
Karl Wittstrom, a trio of local
winegrowers and ranchers, and
their families are the proprietors
of the 14,000-acre Santa Margarita
Ranch, one of California’s
oldest continuously-operated
ranches located in the hamlet of
Santa Margarita. Here the partners
founded the Ancient Peaks
Winery in 2005 with wines produced
from the coveted Margarita
Vineyard. The only vineyard in
the Santa Margarita Ranch AVA
(American Viticultural Area) is
cradled along the foot of the Santa
Lucia Mountains, just 14 miles
from the Pacific Ocean.
Recently remodeled, the Ancient
Peaks tasting room on El
Camino Real is furnished in an
eye-catching contemporary farmhouse
style. However, the Santa
Margarita Ranch’s illustrious
pedigree harks back to the Chumash
and Salinas Indians more
than 10,000 years ago.
Visiting the ranch is like stepping
back in time. Several years
ago I first experienced the sprawling
ranch in a Jeep tour with
Wittstrom, gathering large white
oyster fossil shells scattered in the
hundreds on the ranch — a testament
to the area’s origin as an uplifted
seabed, our host explained.
From luscious rich reds to crisp,
fresh whites, the Santa Margarita
AVA produces distinctive wines.
The region’s pronounced marine
influence allows the grapes to enjoy
a long growing season. Add to
that five types of soils — ranging
from volcanic and granite to rocky
alluvial, shale and ancient seabed,
formed as result of tectonic friction
in the surrounding Santa
Lucia mountain peaks — and
you get a richly complex portfolio
of some 18 different types of
wines produced at Ancient Peaks
each year.
“Only six wines are available
through distribution channels
and the rest at the tasting room
or through wine club,” said Mike
Sinor, when I recently met with
the director of winemaking at
the tasting room. We were joined
by Amanda Wittstrom Higgins,
fourth-generation vintner and
vice president of operations. We
started with some deliciously
crisp white wines, savoring an
aromatic 2016 Blanco, a blend of
chardonnay and muscat blanco.
“Good for a concert in the park
or on the porch,” Higgins said.
The 2017 chardonnay, fragrant
with tropical fruit, was a
standout for its affordable price
point at $19.
“It’s a competitive category,”
Higgins offered. “I was looking
for a food-friendly profile for
chardonnay under $16 per bottle,
with not too much oak or acid.”
Higgins gathered more than
200 chardonnays for her research
and the winemaking team came
up with the versatile chardonnay.
During the tasting line up,
Sinor recalls an interesting period
Amanda Wittstrom and Mike Sinor
Photo by Mira Honeycutt
of the vineyard’s history. The late
Robert Mondavi, known as the
Godfather of Napa Valley, took
a lease on 1,000 acres of Santa
Margarita Ranch in 1999 from
the trio of partners. “When Mondavi
saw the location and weather,
it was his vision that planted this
vineyard,” Sinor said about the
Margarita Vineyard. “He signed
up for a 30-year lease.”
Mondavi’s initial planting in
1999, concluded in 2001, was
of cabernet sauvignon and other
Bordeaux varieties to blend
with Napa Valley fruit to produce
high-end wines. A few
years later, though, the faltering
Robert Mondavi Winery
was sold to Constellation
Brands. In 2005 the three
families bought the lease
back from Constellation.
It was a blessing in disguise.
Now the three families got in the
business of producing wine and as
Ancient Peaks it became an estate
winery, Sinor noted.
Ancient Peaks is known for its
flagship Oyster Ridge, a lush cuvèe
of cabernet sauvignon-driven
Bordeaux style blend, and other
distinctive reds. The 2016 merlot
is loaded with dried cherries
and layered with black fruits, the
2015 zinfandel rings with heady
aromas of blackberries with traces
of brisk minerality and the
grainy tannins add depth and a
long finish to the 2016 cabernet
sauvignon. The 2014 petite sirah
is a mouthful of rich cherry cola
while the inky, muscle-flexing
2016 syrah-driven Renegade is
seamlessly blended with zinfandel,
malbec, petit verdot and
petite sirah.
Higgins is in charge of sales
and marketing as well as human
resources and special events. She
has pioneered several projects
at the winery — among them a
three-month internship program
at Ancient Peaks Winery and
Dream Big Darling, a nonprofit
agency offering full scholarships
to women in the wine industry.
This year Higgins launched Wine
Speak Paso Robles in Atascadero,
a four-day immersive experience
filled with seminars, workshops
and tastings.
The 2019 event is scheduled
from Jan. 7-10 and promises to
foster camaraderie and collaboration
between wine aficionados
and industry professionals.
September 2018, COLONY Magazine colonymagazine.com | 29