Chicago Wine Press Delivers
A Portrait of Two Brothers
“If you know the people,” Chicago-based wine writer and lecturer W. Peter Hoyne explains, “it’s easy to understand the wines.” In “Mark & Jeff Pisoni, The Soul of Santa Lucia Highlands,” Hoynes put this theory to the test, offering readers of the Chicago Wine Press a close look at Pisoni’s relationship with the land we farm and what Hoynes calls “the lives behind the labels.” Over the years the Pisoni family has been very fortunate for its recognition from wine critics, but we were particularly pleased when Hoyne chose to spotlight the ways in which our vintner and our farmer—brothers born two years apart as well as longstanding wine partners in the family business—work together to coax the grapes to fruition and create wines that express, to the best of our ability, the character of our spectacular acres in the Santa Lucia Highlands.
Just as split-second timing between teammates is everything in the art of baseball, coordination is all for farmers and winemakers. Like baseball, making wine combines long stretches during which the casual onlooker might imagine little appears to change, followed by moments (think the moment harvest begins or the beginning of bottling) when everything changes all at once. Baseball fans might watch for an hour during which only two men make it on base, only to blink away a double play executed in seconds. In the same way, weeks and months elapse while our grapes ripen on the vines, until the critical point when Mark, our farmer, and Jeff, our vintner decide they should be harvested—at which point everyone at Pisoni springs into action to make sure harvest happens as quickly and perfectly as possible.
A visitor might think the period before harvest a relatively quiet one, but for Jeff and Mark, this time is one in which they are walking the land continuously, gathering data on soil and climate conditions, and combining notes about what they each glean by smelling and tasting the fruit. Choosing the best moment to harvest (and the best moment for other crucial aspects of winemaking), they need to work as a team together.
We like Hoyne’s piece because it shows how the Pisoni brothers’ aptitudes and interests complement each other. As vineyard manager, Mark’s work has been the natural outgrowth of the activities he enjoyed as a kid. Jeff’s interest in chemistry as a boy also makes his job as vintner seem practically inevitable. When the brothers were young, it was Mark who “got the tractor for Christmas,” while Jeff got “the chemistry set.” “I kind of naturally drifted to the vegetable side of things,” Hoyne quotes Mark. Meanwhile, Jeff loved working at wineries all over California. The positions they hold at Pisoni is “a natural split.”
Mark and Jeff form a seamless partnership, ensuring that every bottle bearing the Pisoni name reflects their family’s passion, their land, and the timeless allure of the Santa Lucia Highlands.Peter Hoyne, Chicago Wine Press
Of course, Jeff and Mark sometimes disagree—what brothers and co-workers do not? But the secret of their success—maintaining respect and care for people as well as maintaining an attitude of humility in the face of Nature—is also the secret of their family’s success more largely. Together, Hoyne writes, “Mark and Jeff form a seamless partnership, ensuring that every bottle bearing the Pisoni name reflects their family’s passion, their land, and the timeless allure of the Santa Lucia Highlands.” Their “shared vision and commitment” lets the Pisoni brothers continue working “to elevate their family’s legacy in crafting Pinot Noir that honors their family heritage while pushing the boundaries of what is possible in this renowned appellation.”
Lucia Ranks #7 In World 
Two Brothers, Two Locations: How a Grape-grower and a Winemaker Work Across the Miles 
Farming for the Future.