Peter Michael Winery

Sir Peter and Lady Michael searched for six years for land that could serve as both vineyard and family retreat before buying 630 acres of volcanic ridges on the western face of Mount Saint Helena in 1982. The site lies in Knights Valley, in the far northeastern corner of Sonoma County. Once called Sugar Loaf Ranch and spanning just over 600 acres, it was a largely abandoned ranch of mountainside wilderness. Most of a nearby town burned down in the 1960s, and the valley still has no hotels, tasting rooms or post office; its wineries use a Calistoga mailing address. Sir Peter paid $1 million for the ranch. The first vines went in a year after the purchase, and in 1989 Sir Peter's son Paul, then 18, helped plant the first 16 acres of the Les Pavots vineyard. Sir Peter established his eponymous winery in 1987 and began building the winery in 1989; it is still the only winemaking facility in Knights Valley.

The purchase followed Sir Peter's "100x100" vision: 100 percent family ownership for at least 100 years. Born in 1938 and raised in Croydon, South London, Sir Peter made his fortune as an entrepreneur in microelectronics and other media technology before turning to wine, and Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in 1989. His son Paul and Paul's wife Emily now continue the vision. Emily first came to the ranch with Paul in 1996, shortly after their engagement; the couple married in 1997, and their three children, Elliot, Anna and Mylo, have visited every year since infancy. Lady Michael, known as Maggie, runs the pedigree herds and organic crops on the family's farm in Berkshire, England, and takes a close interest in the farming at the winery. Paul and Emily taste every parcel individually but do not join the blending sessions.

Peter Michael Winery farms three vineyard estates totaling 1,191 acres, with 201 acres under vine and the rest preserved as wildlife corridors. The Knights Valley Ranch, home to the winery, spans nearly 750 acres with 149 planted on the slopes of Mount Saint Helena between 900 and 1,900 feet, on rocky, volcanic-origin rhyolite soil. Its named blocks include the Les Pavots vineyard (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, planted 1989-1999, 900-1,400 feet) and four single-vineyard Chardonnay blocks: Ma Belle-Fille (planted 1999, 1,700-1,900 feet, named for Paul's wife Emily), Belle Cote (planted 1990, 1,700-1,800 feet), La Carriere (planted 1994, 1,200-1,700 feet) and Mon Plaisir (1,700-1,800 feet). Together these blocks produce six Chardonnay bottlings, including Point Rouge and Cuvee Indigene. The Seaview Estate, in the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA on the Sonoma Coast, covers 400 acres with 28.5 planted to three Pinot Noir vineyards at 1,000-1,450 feet. The family bought it in 1998, and the remote location, rugged terrain and strict environmental regulations meant eight years passed before the first vine went in. The Oakville Estate in Napa Valley's Oakville AVA covers 41 acres, with 26 planted on the benchland to Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot; the family bought these vines, on the former Showket vineyard, in 2009. Since 2003 the winery has also sourced Pinot Noir from the Pisoni Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA.

Les Pavots, the Cabernet-based Bordeaux blend from Knights Valley, debuted with a small lot from the 1988 vintage and remains the flagship; L'Esprit des Pavots is a second Cabernet blend from the same vineyard. The white Bordeaux blends L'Apres-Midi and Coeur a Coeur are both Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon from the Les Pavots vineyard; the winery's first Sauvignon Blanc came with the 1991 vintage. The Seaview Estate yields three Pinot Noirs, Ma Danseuse (named for Lady Michael), Le Caprice and Clos du Ciel, first released with the 2009 vintage. Le Moulin Rouge, a Pinot Noir from Pisoni Vineyard fruit, began with the 1997 vintage. Au Paradis, a Cabernet Sauvignon from the Oakville Estate, debuted with the 2011 vintage, and Le Chapeau Blanc also comes from Oakville.

Helen Turley made the winery's earliest wines, including the debut 1988 Les Pavots, at the Vinwood Cellars custom-crush facility in Geyserville. Mark Aubert succeeded her as winemaker. Vanessa Wong joined as Aubert's assistant winemaker in 1996 and was winemaker for the 1999 and 2000 vintages, then left in 2001 for the first harvest at Peay Vineyards, the estate she runs with her husband, Nick Peay. Luc Morlet, who arrived in the United States in 1993, worked at Peter Michael from 2001 to 2005 and kept consulting afterward. His brother Nicolas Morlet joined in 2005 and followed Luc as winemaker; Nicolas grew up in Epernay, where the family has owned Champagne Pierre Morlet for five generations. Robert Fiore, trained in geophysics and recruited from Tim Mondavi's Continuum, was the newly appointed winemaker as of late 2021.

Eight Peter Michael wines have placed on Wine Spectator's Top 100 list since 1997, three of them in the Top 10, and the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Au Paradis, at 96 points, was Wine No. 1 on the 2015 list. Kal and Dorothy Showket planted that vineyard in 1988 and sold it to Peter Michael in 2009. Wine Spectator rates the flagship Les Pavots routinely at 95 points or higher on its 100-point scale. Jamie Ritchie, head of Sotheby's global wine business, credits the winery with laying the path for the region's best Chardonnays and with setting a new benchmark for classically structured California Pinot Noir. In 2021 the Bordeaux negociant CVBG took on the winery to sell Les Pavots and Au Paradis through the Bordeaux Place. The family also owns The Vineyard, a wine-themed luxury hotel Sir Peter opened 40 miles west of London in 1996; its restaurant wine list holds Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence.

Primary: petermichaelwinery.com (home, our-story, land, land/knights-valley-estate, wines, journal/the-founding-of-peter-michael-winery). Secondary: Club Oenologique, "Sir Peter Michael's journey from Silicon Valley to Knights Valley" (Nov 24, 2021); Wine Spectator, "Peter Michael's Quest" (Nov 15, 2014); Wine Spectator, "California's New Generation: Vanessa Wong" (Aug 15, 2003); Wine Spectator Top 100, "Wine No. 1 of 2015" (Peter Michael Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Au Paradis 2012). Last verified 2026-10-12.