Peake Ranch is a winery whose star is on the rise. It’s one to watch out for if, like us, you love great Pinot Noir.

Double 94 Point Pinot, at 55% Off, it’s the perfect opportunity to get in on this incredible gem!

We had heard the name in whispers and read the occasional press… “An up-and-coming estate readers need to check out is John and Gillian Wagner’s Peake Ranch… Prices haven’t caught up with quality, so these are still screaming values.” Jeb Dunnuck enthusiastically cheered. “Winemaker Wynne Solomon continues to impress at Peake Ranch.” praised Vinous.

So, when this knockout landed on our desk, we popped the cork right away! A beguiling aroma of black cherry, wild herbs, and pink peppercorn drew us into a palate lined in satiny tannins with a filigreed complexity that transfixed us! It’s Pinot Noir at its best! Any fan of the variety owes it to themselves to try it. Period.

It turns out that Peake Ranch owner John Wagner has been assembling an unconventional team of, dare we say, Spies.

As a seasoned Operative, you will understand that in wine there are a few famous names (most of whom deserve their reputations…) and there are true Operators – geniuses toiling behind the scenes that don’t do it for the recognition. As a former Physics professor, Wagner has an eye for such quiet talent – and he’s assembled a dream team for Peake Ranch.

He started with recruiting Mike Anderson. While not a household name, Anderson was a professor at UC Davis teaching viticulture and running UC Davis’ Oakville Station (the small island in the heart of To Kalon Vineyard in Napa) for over 30 years! He now brings his considerable talents to bear in his mission to, “keep the vineyard alive forever,” through the best of science and tradition.

On the winemaking team, Wagner initially recruited Paul Lato, Sommelier turned winemaker whom none-other than Robert Parker once told, “I want to be the first one to write about your wines.” Before he left to focus on his own label, Lato mentored his successor, this wine’s creator, Wynne Sargeant (née Solomon). Young, modest, and super-talented, as Jeb Dunnuck puts it, “Winemaker Wynne Sargeant had some big shoes to fill taking over the reins from Paul Lato, but she has unquestionably risen to the occasion and today is making some of the finest wines in the Central Coast.” Adding to the talent pool, they brought in Maria Nikolantonaki as a consultant. Another true Operator, Nikolantonaki was born in Crete, but earned her graduate degrees in France and did her post-Doc at UC Davis. Her brilliance with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay earned her a position on the faculty of the University of Burgundy, where she teaches aspiring winemakers. The results – the wine shows the brilliant intensity that his Lato’s hallmark while displaying an underlying elegance and subtlety, “a lovely verve” as Wine Advocate puts it, for which Sargeant is becoming recognized.

Adding to the brilliance of the team is the truly unique site of Peake Ranch Vineyard itself. “Anyone who has had the privilege of being on that land can speak to its innate power and…well, magic.” raves Jeb Dunnuck. Wagner had already purchased and partnered in a couple of vineyards in Santa Barbara when in 2012 something truly special came up for sale – in the south-east corner of the Sta. Rita Hills, a 50-acre vineyard previously owned by artist Channing Peake and pioneering vintner Richard Sanford, made famous as the adobe tasting room in Sideways! Not just a piece of history, but an exceptional terroir for Pinot Noir!

Like we said, if you are a fan of the variety, be it Pinot Noir from California, elsewhere in the New World, or from Mother Burgundy, at 55% off you owe it to yourself to try this wine!

94+ Points – Jeb Dunnuck “The 2022 Pinot Noir Peake Ranch Vineyard is tighter and more focused, with juicy black cherry and redcurrant fruit as well as some sappy, floral, and forest floor-like notes. This medium-bodied, focused, beautifully balanced 2022 will benefit from a year or two of bottle age and keep nicely through 2034. Drink 2024 – 2034”

94 Points – Wine Enthusiast “Dark sage, pencil shavings and pepper dust aromas meet with black plum on the nose of this dense and brooding Pinot Noir. The palate is more delicate and nuanced, its chalky and tense frame offering rose petal and crisp boysenberry flavors.”