Ancient Peaks

Brand Description

Grapes were originally planted at Santa Margarita Ranch by Franciscan missionaries in the late 1700s, however the region's modern viticultural era began with the planting of Margarita Vineyard by the famed Robert Mondavi family in 1999.

In 2005 the ranch owners, the Filipponi, Rossi, and Wittstrom families, took full ownership of the vineyard and established Ancient Peaks, a name they chose to honor the towering Santa Lucia Mountains that border Margarita Vineyard. These peaks are pivotal to the complex geology and marine climate that distinguish the vineyard’s terroir. The mountains, in combination with the area's diverse soils and marine-influenced climate deliver remarkable wines with a unique and vivid sense of place.

The winery's production began in earnest with the 2006 vintage under the guidance of Founding Winemaker Mike Sinor and Winemaker Stewart Cameron. The wines made an immediate splah upon release, and continue to receive recognition for capturing the extraordinary character and flavors of Margarita Vineyard. Ancient Peaks winery is proud of the ranch’s unique place in California history, and is honored to be a steward of its winegrowing legacy.

Location of Vineyard

Margarita Vineyard stands alone as the southernmost vineyard in the Paso Robles region, tucked beneath the peaks of the Santa Lucia Mountains, just 14 miles from the Pacific Ocean. This demarcation was officially recognized in late 2014 with the creation of the Santa Margarita Ranch American Viticultural Area (AVA), a new sub-appellation of the Paso Robles AVA. Margarita Vineyard now enjoys the rare distinction of being the only vineyard located within its own namesake AVA—a testament to the vineyard’s unique sense of place. Here, the vines unfold along a rare array of soils amid one of the region's coolest growing environments. The resulting wines express an unmistakable sense of place, with vivid structure, varietal authenticity and flavors that are native to Margarita Vineyard.
Santa Margarita Ranch’s persistent marine influence, combined with unusually cold spring temperatures, creates a late and long growing season—enabling the fruit to develop a signature combination of fully developed flavors with fine natural structure.

Santa Margarita Ranch is marked by an unusual diversity of soils, due largely to an array of active fault lines along the coastal ridge. The churning of the faults has resulted in five distinct soil types that ebb and flow across Margarita Vineyard. Of the 11 sub-appellations within the Paso Robles AVA, Santa Margarita Ranch receives the highest amount of rainfall—29 inches per year on average from Pacific storms across the high mountain ridge. The AVA’s pronounced soil diversity allows for a range of expressions from a single varietal. The varietal wines of Ancient Peaks are typically blends of multiple estate blocks planted to different soil types, resulting in wines with natural fullness and complexity.

Winemaking and Viticulture Philosophy

Passion for sustainability runs deep at Ancient Peaks and the winery is Sustainability in Practice (SIP) Certified. As ranchers and farmers, the team believes caring for the land and community is paramount to preserving the future. Fair wages, medical insurance, training, and education, are all provided to each employee through their social responsibility programs. The vineyard and winery are both solar powered, fully offsetting the energy used to grow and make the wines. Wind machines are used for frost control, limiting water use. Vineyard Manager Jamie Muniz manages pests by promoting habitats for native predators using bat boxes, owl boxes, and raptor perches, and wildlife corridors enable deer, bears, and other animals to pass freely through and around the vineyard.