Ampelos Cellars

Specialties

We’re a small, family run vineyard and winery located in the Sta. Rita Hills appellation. We employ biodynamic farming practices, with rich cover crops, our own compost, elimination of herbicides and in general good, environmentally conscientious farming. As well as we are one of the first vineyards to be certified organic, biodynamic and «sustainable in practice» — all 3 practices. The varietals planted are Pinot Noir, Syrah, Grenache and Viognier with extensive clone diversity to provide us our «spice cabinet». We are hands on in our winemaking practices producing limited quantities of Viognier, Rose, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Grenache.

History

Established in 2002.

Ampelos has been a family endeavor from the start. Initially corporate folk, we loved getting away to the Sta. Rita Hills on the weekends and dreamt of one day planting our own vineyard and making wines. A cancelled meeting on the morning of September 11, 2001 helped us to realize that someday was TODAY.

We left two good jobs in the city, picked up some shovels and joined our son, Don, who had forged ahead in the art of winemaking. We are truly a small boutique winery with a dedication to hands-​on winemaking. Our production consist of 3500 cases a year of award winning red and white wines.

Ampelos is Greek for «vine.» We believe that all great wines are created in the vineyard and since winemaking traditions go back to ancient Greece we feel this name is perfect representation of us.

Meet the Business Owner

Peter and Rebecca W.

Business Owner

Originally from Alaska, Rebecca grew up in an environment where her dad was a commercial fisherman, bush pilot and her first vehicle was a snow machine. After college she moved out of Alaska looking for the big city life or as she would say «I needed cement». Rebecca worked for many years in different consulting firms such as Ernst & Young and Price Waterhouse. Her last corporate job was for an outsourcing firm where she was the CIO.

Peter is from Denmark and first came to the US as a graduate student at Princeton where he fell in love with the US. He returned to Denmark and decided to seek a job that would eventually get him to the US. Peter took a job with Price Waterhouse as an Information Technology Consultant and was moved to the US in 1988 (now you know how Rebecca & Peter met). Peter’s last job before becoming farmer and winemaker was working for an outsourcing firm as the CTO.