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Winemaker
-Vanessa Wong
Vanessa Wong joined Nick and Andy for their first vintage in 2001. She is a graduate of U.C. Davis Viticulture & Enology with experience in France and Australia, as well as in the Napa Valley and Sonoma. A native of San Francisco, Wong was initiated into the wine business by working in wine retail and catering. This early exposure to the world of wine and its distinctive yet universal appeal sparked her fascination with winemaking. This led her to pursue a degree in viticulture and enology.
Vanessa expanded on her studies at U.C. Davis by working at various wineries in the Napa Valley and spending one year in France to study enology and do research at the l'Institut d'Œnologie in Bordeaux. Upon completion of her studies she traveled between Europe and Australia to explore the diversity of winemaking, returning twice to France to work at Château Lafite-Rothschild in Pauillac and Domaine Jean Gros in Vosne-Romaneée. Settling back in California she served as enologist at Franciscan Oakville Estates before going to Peter Michael Winery where she made wine from the 1996 to the 2000 vintage first as assistant winemaker, then later as winemaker.
Together with Andy and Nick Peay, Vanessa shares the vision of farming grapes on the Sonoma Coast and making wines that are expressive of its unique climate and soil in their pursuit of creating world-class, single-vineyard wines.
Winegrower
-Nick Peay
Nick's interest in wine started when, seeking to be different from his older sister, he accepted his parent's offer to try wine that evening with dinner. A fascination set in that laid the groundwork for his considering a career in wine and wine growing. After graduation from college, Nick set off for California with an ambition to discover if he would catch the wine bug working for a winery or end up pursuing a life as a chef.
It did not take long for Nick to discover his calling. After working crush at Schramsberg, Nick took his first fulltime with Bill Smith, owner of La Jota Vineyards. The most critical lesson Nick learned from Bill was the importance of controlling your grape source. Acting on this inspiration, he decided to study in the graduate enology program at UC Davis, so he could someday grow his own grapes and make his own wine. Nick worked before, during, and after the schooling at Schramsberg, Newton, and as assistant wine maker at Storrs in the Santa Cruz Mountains from 1994 through early 1997. As he witnessed the trials of running a self-starter venture at Storrs, Nick was delighted to discover his brother Andy might be interested in joining up to start their own vineyard and winery.
In the beginning, Nick and Andy founded the company and planted the Annapolis parcel as a team. While the young vines matured, Nick worked harvest for Flowers in 1998 and 1999 and for Coldstream Hills in Australia in the Spring of 1999. When Vanessa joined the brothers in 2001, all the pieces fell in to place and Nick concentrated on winegrowing while helping Vanessa in the cellar. Due to his training and experience in making wine, Nick's approach to grape growing stresses practices that lead to wines that express their fullest potential, no matter the cost or the effort. He hopes that will lead to wines that delight his brother, Vanessa and everyone who tries Peay Vineyards' wines.
Sales, Marketing & Everything Else
-Andy Peay
In 1995, over a bottle of Château Beaucastel and a rack of lamb, Nick convinced Andy to pursue a life in wine. It was that easy. Prior to that time, Andy had received his BA from Dartmouth College and, upon graduation, spent a few years on Wall Street as a financial analyst.
After leaving banking by way of trekking through Southeast Asia for a year, Andy studied economic development at UC Berkeley. That spring, Andy traveled to various wine regions and enrolled in the OIV Wine Marketing Summer Session at UC Davis. He continued to pursue his interest in wine by working the 1995 harvest at Cain Vineyards in Napa. By this time, Andy was hooked and moved to San Francisco to learn about the retail end of wine at The Jug Shop. During that time, Andy and Nick searched for land to grow cool climate Pinot noir and Syrah. They purchased their land on the Sonoma Coast in 1996.
While looking for a potential vineyard site and preparing to plant, Andy received an MBA from the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley. Upon graduation Nick and Andy co-managed the planting of the first 30 acres. After that was complete, Andy moved back to San Francisco to work as a brand manager for a gourmet food company, Napa Valley Kitchens and as a brand strategy consultant with The Brand Consultancy.
With the release of the first vintage, Andy very happily returned full time to Peay Vineyards. He feels very lucky to share a vision for making high quality wine with an intelligent, hard working winegrower and an exceptional winemaker who also happen to be his brother and sister-in-law.
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