Page 22 - Grapevine July-August 2015

In The Winery

Field Recordings:

Making Waves in
Paso Robles By Nan McCreary

A ndrew Jones, a 34-year-old up-and-com- tantly, he’s developed a “sixth sense” for spotting
ing winemaker from Paso Robles, Calif., is vineyards that have exceptional potential. It is
bringing innovation to California winemak- from these observations that Jones’ wines, Field

ing and he’s doing it from a nontraditional perspec- Recordings, were born.

tive: a perspective he has learned, literally, from the

ground. As field representative for Sunridge, the As a graduate from Cal Poly with a major in agri

largest commercial grapevine nursery in the U.S., culture-business and a minor in viticulture, it’s not

he plants over a million vines in the San Joaquin surprising that Jones’ travels with Sunridge (50,000

Valley and the Central California Coast annually. to 60,000 miles a year) would eventually lead him

For years, he’s traveled the state, choosing rootstock to winemaking. In fact, he began experimenting

and overseeing planting operations. Most impor- with making wine in 2004, buying small lots of the

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