Peay Vineyards

Andy and Nick Peay got to know each other as brothers in the spring of 1995, when Nick would bring wine to dinner at Andy's Berkeley apartment. A cool-climate Syrah drunk with lamb persuaded Andy to pursue a life in wine rather than cooking. That year the brothers drove the back roads of the West Coast, from the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara through the Mendocino Ridges and the Sonoma Coast to eastern Washington, looking for a site with a cooler climate, less sunshine and a longer growing season for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah. Andy found a listed property south of Mendocino and drove past Sea Ranch and up the coast ridge along the Wheatfield Fork of the Gualala River to see it; the brothers bought the land in November 1996. For 200 years before that it had been farmed for apples and pears and grazed by sheep. The first 30 acres were planted in 1998, and 2001 was the first vintage. Much of that first crop went to a handful of top Sonoma labels (Williams Selyem and Failla were still making Peay wines in 2009) before the brothers gradually reclaimed the grapes for their own label.

• Andy and Nick Peay began searching for land together in 1995 and bought the Sonoma Coast property in November 1996
• For 200 years before Peay, the land was farmed for apples and pears and grazed by sheep
• First 30 acres planted in 1998; 2001 was the first vintage
• Much of the 2001 crop was sold to a handful of top Sonoma labels; Williams Selyem and Failla were still making Peay wines in 2009

Peay is a first-generation family winery: husband and wife Nick Peay and Vanessa Wong grow and make the wine, and Nick's brother Andy sells it and runs the business. Nick graduated from Bowdoin College in 1988 and worked at Schramsberg before taking his first full-time job with Bill Smith at La Jota Vineyards on Howell Mountain in Napa, then studied in the graduate enology program at UC Davis. He worked at Schramsberg, La Jota and Newton in Napa, was assistant winemaker at Storrs in the Santa Cruz Mountains from 1994 through early 1997, and worked harvests for Flowers in 1998 and 1999 and for Coldstream Hills in Australia in spring 1999. Vanessa Wong, a San Francisco native who began working in wine retail and catering at 14, studied viticulture and enology at UC Davis, spent a year in France researching at l'Institut d'Oenologie in Bordeaux, and was winemaker and assistant winemaker at Peter Michael Winery from 1996 to 2000; she also worked at Hirsch Winery, Chateau Lafite-Rothschild in Pauillac and Domaine Jean Gros in Vosne-Romanee. She joined Peay in the spring of 2001, ahead of the first vintage, and married Nick the following year. Andy earned a BA from Dartmouth College in 1992, spent a few years on Wall Street as a financial analyst, studied economic development at UC Berkeley, worked the 1995 harvest at Cain Vineyards in Napa, and earned an MBA from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. When cash ran low he moved back to San Francisco to take a job that helped fund the vineyard, then returned to Peay full time in 2004 to run the business and sell the wine.

• Nick Peay: Bowdoin College 1988; UC Davis graduate enology program; assistant winemaker at Storrs (Santa Cruz Mountains) 1994-early 1997; now vineyard manager
• Vanessa Wong: UC Davis viticulture and enology; Peter Michael Winery 1996-2000, plus Hirsch Winery, Chateau Lafite-Rothschild and Domaine Jean Gros; joined Peay spring 2001, married Nick the following year
• Andy Peay: Dartmouth College 1992; MBA from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business; returned to Peay full time in 2004 to run sales and the business
• The Peays started with no established family estate and no angel investors, relying instead on time spent finding the right site

The 53-acre estate sits on a hilltop above a river, four miles from the Pacific Ocean in the far northwestern corner of the West Sonoma Coast near Sea Ranch and Annapolis, at elevations of 600 to 775 feet. Pinot Noir is the largest planting at 34 acres, farmed as 13 clonal selections and picked in 25 to 30 separate blocks that are vinified individually before blending. There is no single Scallop Shelf or Pomarium block in the vineyard: those are cuvee names for blends of several blocks and clones. Syrah occupies 8 steep, terraced acres planted to six clones, and Chardonnay covers 7 of the coolest acres, planted to Old Wente and Dijon selections. Smaller estate plantings are 1.8 acres of Viognier, 0.4 acres of Roussanne and 0.2 acres of Marsanne, the last two planted in 1998. Peay also makes Pinot Noir from the 44-acre Savoy Vineyard in Mendocino County's Anderson Valley, planted by Richard Savoy in 1991 and now owned by FEL, and about a quarter of its Sonoma Coast Chardonnay blend comes from the Searby Vineyard near Occidental in the southern West Sonoma Coast.

• 34 acres Pinot Noir (13 clones, 25-30 picking blocks); 8 acres Syrah (six clones); 7 acres Chardonnay; 1.8 acres Viognier; 0.4 acres Roussanne and 0.2 acres Marsanne
• Pinot Noir cuvees (blends, not single blocks): Pomarium, Scallop Shelf, Ama, Sonoma Coast, Savoy and the rare barrel selection Elanus
• Syrah cuvees: Les Titans and La Bruma, both from estate fruit
• Non-estate fruit: Pinot Noir from Savoy Vineyard (Anderson Valley, planted 1991) and about a quarter of the Sonoma Coast Chardonnay from Searby Vineyard near Occidental

Peay is certified organic and does not till its soils, to encourage soil and root health; it is also certified for fish-friendly farming and integrated pest management, runs its tractors on biodiesel and uses solar power at both the vineyard and winery. Vanessa Wong builds each vintage's Pinot Noir blends blind, without knowing case counts, new-oak percentages or stem use, and makes the Estate Chardonnay blend blind of production information as well. Barrels not selected for the named cuvees become the Cep second-label wines, so only 70 to 80 percent of what is grown may be bottled under the Peay label in a given vintage. In select vintages the team also makes Elanus, a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir of fewer than three barrels each, about 50 to 75 cases. Les Titans Syrah runs to 200 to 300 cases per vintage and spends 16 months in barrel and just under two years in bottle before release.

• Certified organic; no-till farming; fish-friendly farming and integrated pest management certifications; biodiesel tractors and solar power
• Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blends are assembled blind of production numbers before Vanessa Wong finalizes each cuvee
• Barrels not selected for Peay bottlings become the Cep second label; only 70-80% of what is grown may be bottled under the Peay label in a given vintage
• Elanus (Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) is a barrel selection of under three barrels, about 50-75 cases, not made every year

The San Francisco Chronicle named Peay Vineyards its Winery of the Year in a profile by wine editor Jon Bonné published December 27, 2009, calling it "the very model of the modern wine estate" for a family winery built entirely on its own vineyard. By 2006 Peay had topped 3,000 cases, all from its own land. The Chronicle put the Annapolis site at 600 to 800 feet and called it a chilly slice of the world even by Sonoma Coast standards. Peay republishes the profile on its press page. Peay farms within the West Sonoma Coast AVA, as Andy Peay announced on July 26, 2022.

• San Francisco Chronicle Winery of the Year, announced in a December 27, 2009 profile by wine editor Jon Bonne
• By 2006, annual production had topped 3,000 cases, all from estate fruit
• Elevation: 600-775 feet in Peay's own figures; the Chronicle gave 600-800 feet
• Peay farms within the West Sonoma Coast AVA (announced July 2022)

Primary sources (the estate's own site, peayvineyards.com): home, about us, Nick Peay, Vanessa Wong, Andy Peay, estate vineyard, topography, soil, climate, farming practices, contact/visit, press archive, Winery of the Year press page, its West Sonoma Coast AVA article, and the Pinot Noir, Syrah, Chardonnay, Cep, Viognier and Roussanne/Marsanne wine pages. Secondary source: SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle's December 27, 2009 Winery of the Year profile by Jon Bonne. Last verified 2026-10-12. Where the estate's own site and a secondary source disagree, the estate's own site governs.