Nectar from Heaven - A New World Legend

Once upon a time, a child was camping with his parents at their family-owned vineyard. At night, surrounded by total darkness, he raised his eyes towards the sky and found it covered with glittering stars. What was more, shooting stars would cross the sky almost every minute and the boy was left totally stunned and dumbfounded. Next morning, the child woke up and found morning fog pouring in from San Francisco Bay, covering the vineyard and its slopes and left the surrounding hilltops like isolated islands in a sea of clouds. The boy woke his parents and shouted in excitement: "Mum and Dad, are we in heaven?"

A year later, the family-owned winery was about to introduce a new wine, the boy's parents remembered the aforementioned episode and named the wine "Au Paradis", meaning, in heaven. For the child, it was no doubt that day that he felt being in heaven, but for his grandfather, Sir Peter Michael, the founder of the family-owned winery, the winery is not only the realisation of his youthful dream coming true, but also a legend created through his vision, persistence and the investment of tremendous financial means.

Indeed Sir Peter himself is a legend. During his youth, accompanying his father, he visited many famous chateaux in Bordeaux, which ignited a dream deep down in his heart that he would one day become the owner of a world renowned winery. Peter Michael then grew up to become an electronic engineer and entrepreneur in the United Kingdom, acquiring a fortune through the development of electronic applications for the TV industry in the nineteen seventies. During this period, through work requirements, he visited the Silicon Valley often and had many opportunities to visit the nearby Napa Valley. One day, while attending a concert, he encountered a Californian Chardonnay and was duly impressed. Not long after, he read about the Judgment of Paris in the newspapers which convinced him of the great potential of Californian wines and spurred him on to invest in a winery there.

In 1982, after a six-year search and inspection of 40 different sites, Sir Peter finally found the perfect place, and immediately decided to pay $ 1 million for 630 acres of barren land in Knights Valley, Sonoma County, California. In 1983, Peter Michael Winery came into being, and the fact that it is the only one, among his numerous investments, that is named after Sir Peter himself attests to the importance he places in this investment. From the start, he has the insight that a top winery cannot be built overnight, and he therefore sets the motto of 100/100, which dictates that his family should maintain 100% ownership of the winery at all times, and that they are determined to run it for at least 100 years. The winery's operating principles are that the vineyards should be located on hillsides, using traditional winemaking methods and with low yields; such principles are to ensure that the standard of the winery's product can match those of France's top wineries.

In the years that ensued, Sir Peter invested heavily in reclaiming land, establishing plant that is technologically advanced, and the hiring of top winemakers to take charge of winemaking operations. Starting with the first winemaker Helen Turley, and followed by Mark Aubert, Vanessa Wong, Luc Morlet and the incumbent Nicolas Morlet, each and every one of them is a star. Since 1987, when the first batch of wine was produced, and through the past quarter of a century's diligent efforts, Peter Michael Winery now owns vineyards in three California viticulture areas. In addition to the original Knights Valley Vineyards, it now also has vineyards in the Seaview area of Sonoma Coast and also owns a vineyard in the Oakville area of Napa Valley.

From the Knights Valley vineyards hails the winery's flagship cuvee Les Pavots, which is a blend comprising mainly of Cabernet Sauvignon, some Merlot and Cabernet Franc and a tiny bit of Petit Verdot. The vineyards also produce small quantities of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. The remaining areas specialise in Chardonnay, now producing a total of six cuvees. The vineyards in Seaview area of Sonoma Coast mainly grow Pinot Noir, comprising a total of four cuvees. The Oakville vineyard in Napa Valley is planted with Bordeaux varietals, producing the Au Paradis cuvee mentioned in the earlier part of this article.

Due to their superb quality, the wines of Peter Michael have been well received from the start, and are also highly rated by world famous wine critic Robert Parker. It is understood that all wines rated by Robert Parker are all above 90 points, which gives a good indication of how high a standard the wines have attained, thus no wonder Peter Michael is now one of the wineries with a cult following. Having said that, Paul Michael, the second generation at the helm now at Peter Michael Winery hastens to add that, their main winemaking principle is to respect the terroir of the vineyards, and they will never adjust their wines to suit the palate of any particular wine critic. This must be good news to wine consumers and, having tasted some of their wines, the author cannot help but to exclaim: "Au Paradis."