MARK BRIGHT - SOMMELIER - WINEMAKER
Sommelier and winemaker Mark Bright’s journey began at age 15 in the rolling countryside of Burgundy, a short train ride from Paris but a far cry from his Chicago roots. Mark, named best new sommelier by Wine & Spirits in 2005 can ultimately put his vocation down to chance and good taste. “I never really had any experience with wine, food, anything in depth like that really.”
An encounter on that fateful trip with Veronique Drouhin a member of Burgundy's wine making royalty, made everything clear. She opened his eyes to the winemaking process and the land. “I just got exposed to this whole world history and culture in wine regions and it blew me away.” Mark laughs, “I’m not just a winemaker in Santa Cruz.”
With specialization in old-world wines, Mark realized that as a San Francisco resident, he was a short drive to several of the most desirable wine-growing regions of the new world.
The NorthCoast California AVA’s of Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley and Santa Cruz Mountains, due to their proximity to the ocean as well as mountain terrain provides rocky, acidic soil that seamlessly abuts loamy clay and sand depending on the vineyard. They also happen to be the ideal conditions for growing the traditional grapes most used in Bordeaux and Burgundy; Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
To Mark, the most important part of wine is the grape. “We do sorting in the vineyards so that if we have issues with different parts of any vineyard we can identify it right there, stop, come back. We don't sort in the winery. We sort in the vineyard. You understand your vineyards better that way.”