ABOUT US

Domaine Alfred is a young winery, born from a tradition of excellence, merged with innovative approaches and blessed by the wonders of the Central California coast environment. Located in the cool Edna Valley of San Luis Obispo County, the winery is able to take advantage of long growing cycles combined with idyllic soil and an ideal climate. Domaine Alfred's first vintage was in 1998. Most of Domaine Alfred wines are estate bottled with grapes from its Chamisal Vineyard.

Chamisal, the first vineyard in the Edna Valley, was originally planted in 1972. Purchased by Terry Speizer in 1994, the then dormant vineyard was replanted in 1996 with six clones of Pinot Noir on 30 acres and five clones of Chardonnay on 30 acres. In 1999 another Chardonnay clone was added along with four clones of Syrah planted on 14 acres. In 2000, three Chardonnay acres were grafted over to Grenache and two to Pinot Gris. An additional eight acres were planted with two new Pinot Noir clones and the original Chamisal clone of Chardonnay was reintroduced. With these grapes as the soul of Domaine Alfred's wines, it is great to know that Chamisal has nearly 30-years of history producing world-class grapes, a tradition which Domaine Alfred works hard to continue.

The winemaking philosophy of owner Terry Speizer (left) is simple - Great Wine Begins on the Vine!. "The grapes are the soul of our wine. If we do an exceptional job on the soul, then all we have to do is give it heart," explains Terry. For its inaugural 1998 vintage, as well as 1999 and 2000, Terry himself was responsible for giving the wine "heart" as the chief winemaker for the winery.

New DA Winemaker Fintan du Fresne (right) takes over the reins from Mike Sinor, who has left to make his own signature wines. Du Fresne (Fin) brings a wealth of fine winemaking and growing experience from stints at Adelaida and Calera wineries in California, as well as handling seven crushes in his native New Zealand, where he had earned graduate degrees in Geology and Geomorphology and post graduate degrees in Viticulture and Enology.

Domaine Alfred Winery offers both Califa and Estate styles of its Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah wines, and has recently introduced other new wines including Pinot Gris, Vin Gris and Rose.