Sinor-LaVallee Winery

Sinor-LaVallee Wine Company was founded 1997 by husband and wife team of Mike Sinor and Cheri LaVallee Sinor. A small amount of wine was made from local vineyards like MacGregor Chardonnay and Dusi Zinfandel.

Mike was first introduced to the wine business when he took a job at Corbett Canyon Vineyards in 1991 to pay for college. He quickly became enamored with the wine business and added several nearby Edna Valley wineries to his growing employment resume. For the 1993 vintage, he took some time away from school to work full-time at Saucelito Canyon Winery.

After finishing Cal Poly in 1994, he joined Byron Vineyard and Winery and rose quickly to Assistant Winemaker to Ken Brown. While at Byron, Mike traveled to France and studied the vineyards and wineries of Burgundy. He left Byron after the harvest of 2000 to assume the role of winemaker at Domaine Alfred Winery in San Luis Obispo. At Domaine Alfred, Mike also supervised vineyard operations including the biodynamic aspects of farming the 130 acres of vineyards. After producing five vintages of highly acclaimed Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at Domaine Alfred, Mike departed to concentrate full time on his Sinor-LaVallee label and do consulting for other wineries.

Sinor-LaVallee works primarily with two vineyard sources – Talley-Rincon and Aubaine, both in the Arroyo Grande appellation, producing three distinct Pinot Noirs. Total production is about 400 cases. Mike’s wines are not meant for the timid. They are darkly colored and vigorous with flavor and character. With total production around 400 cases it is mostly sold through a mailing list.

Recently, Mike was named Wine Maker of the Year at the California Mid-State Faire.