Sinor-LaVallee

Mike Sinor has always been a grinder, a way of life he learned at a young age while working in his father’s auto wrecking yard. He brought that mentality to his first wine harvest in 1993 and never looked back. Through grit and determination, and without formal training, he ultimately became one of the Central Coast’s most decorated winemakers.

Mike married Cheri LaVallee in 1996 in Burgundy, soon after they started their own label. In 2013, Mike and Cheri put everything on the line to acquire the ocean-view Bassi Vineyard near Avila Beach. It was the destination they’d always been seeking—a singular vineyard that they could steward with holistic and meticulous viticulture. The estate wines of Sinor-LaVallee are the outcome of this journey, and an emblem of this place.

Bassi Vineyard stands alone just 1.2 miles from the ocean in the San Luis Obispo Coast AVA that Mike helped found. From the crown of it, you can see the Pacific, a window into everything about this land—its morning fogs, briny air currents and steep oceanic soils.

Here on the coastal extremity, the sense of terroir is vivid and relentless, and we are called to hold nothing back. Their wines naturally reflect their pronounced coastal terroir, as well as the impassioned viticultural handwork that Mike’s farming practices brings to their vines and soils. The effect of these elements is highly local and personal—the hallmarks of Sinor-LaVallee.

Wines Produced

• Pinot Noir
• Sparkling
• Syrah