Peter Michael

Peter Michael Winery was founded by British businessman Sir Peter Michael in the early 1980s with a singular vision - to make wine in the terroir-driven tradition of Burgundy and Bordeaux, under the California sun and in California soil. The winery currently produce around fifteen wines using four varietals - Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

Peter Michael is the only winery in Knights Valley. Its original winemaker was the famous Helen Turley, followed by Mark Aubert and Luc Morlet. Currently winemaking is under the leadership of Nicolas Morlet, Luc’s brother, whose extensive experience with Bordeaux and Burgundian style viticulture and winemaking lends itself well to the Peter Michael mission of producing single-vineyard, limited production bottlings from small, mountain vineyards. Consistency and quality are the watchwords here - the wines are clearly inspired by the poise and precision of their Old World counterparts but can't help expressing an edge of Californian excess - ripe fruit abounds on the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir while the Cabernet Sauvignons have a density and concentration that many Bordelais would envy.

The winery was established by Peter Michael and his wife Margaret in 1982. Michael's background was in technology and had founded the digital picture company Quantel in the UK in the early 1970s. He arrived in California in the early days of the Silicon Valley tech boom and soon invested in a winery. The winery released its first vintage in 1987 and has since enjoyed a high level of critical acclaim. Three of Michael's wines have ranked in the top 10 of Wine Spectator's Top 100, and since the 1995 vintage, 14 wines have been rated 98 points or higher by US wine critic Robert Parker.

Peter Michael's property in the Knights Valley AVA is at a much higher altitude than many others in the area, with vineyards reaching as high as 2000 feet (610m) above sea level. The result is cooler growing temperatures, which allows for wines in the more restrained old world style. In 2006, Peter Michael began planting a vineyard in Fort Ross-Seaview AVA in Sonoma County. In 2009 added an Oakville AVA vineyard in Napa Valley.

Peter Michael Winery remains a family-owned estate that is now run by Peter's son Paul and wife Emily (the inspiration for the Belle-Fille Chardonnay label and vineyard). Only a small number of cases reach the retail market as the majority are set aside for the mailing list and long-term restaurant clientele.