One of my favorite pinot noirs that is produced right here in California comes from a boutique wine company making ultra limited production Pinot Noir and other varitals. Their focus is to source grapes from the best vineyards from the Sta. Rita Hills AVA within the Santa Barbara county and make elegant wines that are indicative of the region. The wine company is the brainchild of 2 partners who approached wine making through taste and science.
Raymond Wan
A businessman by nature, Raymond Wan earned a degree in business and has led a successful career in finance and sales while formulating the business plan and concept for the Wan Fiore Project. A long-time wine enthusiast, Raymond joined the world of winemaking in the winter of 2009 while interning at Clos Pepe Vineyard and learning hands-on vineyard management skills. Impressed with what he saw, he conceived the idea for making high-quality Pinot Noir from the Sta. Rita Hills appellation as the Wan Fiore Project which began with the harvest of 2009. Raymond’s association with Clos Pepe allowed WFP to make a Clos Pepe Vineyard Pinot Noir in both 2009 and 2010.
Robert Fiore
A scientist by education and training, Robert Fiore enjoys the melding of geology, chemistry, biology, and meteorology that form the exciting world of wine making. Robert took his first UC Davis Extension winemaking class in 2003: Introduction to winemaking. He became hooked and attended short courses on campus for Wine Analysis, Varietal Wine Grape Production, and Managing the Small Vineyard in 2004. He continued with the semester-long Extension class Wine Production in 2006 then took two semesters of classroom organic chemistry at night and weekends to better understand the chemistry of wine. In 2010 he completed UC Berkeley’s Extension class Introduction to Biochemistry. Amongst all the course work, Robert also successfully completed internships with Spring Mountain Vineyard in the Napa Valley in 2008 and 2010 and with Buccella in 2009.
Check out their site www.wanfioreproject.com to learn more about their wine and Rob’s year in France on their blog.
The Wan Fiore Project wines have gotten amazing reviews on the Pinot Report and I cannot think of a better gift for the holidays than wine! So for the rest of November and December enjoy free shipping on your wine orders on their site www.wanfioreproject.com
