Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/39104
strategic direction. He works between the Rancho Arroyo Grande property and his office in San Diego. “My role is to remove the reasons that something can’t be done.” Tom Conway, VP of Business Development, works on the West Coast, leading trade efforts with distribution partners and managing his own sales team. He has worked side by side with Conway winemaker Jonathan Médard as the winery continues to grow and become more technologically advanced. Gillian Conway has relocated to New Tom Conway stands amidst Syrah in the Coquina Vineyard at Rancho Arroyo Grande. The site was named after the ubiquitous fossil rock on the property. The Wine Spectator’s Matt Kramer lauded the Rancho Arroyo Grande 2007 Mourvèdre in his “My Wines of the Year” column, while THE TASTING PANEL fell head- over-heels in love with the Rancho Arroyo Grande 2007 Zinfandel and named it “Most Likely to Succeed” in our Class of 2010 Yearbook. Deep Sea Makes a Splash The concentrated fruit and the expressive and elegant nature of the Rancho Arroyo Grande estate’s specific terroir may garner its own praise, but the Conways have made a genius move in gathering the bounty from other sites throughout California’s Central Coast to generate another label: Deep Sea. The soil at Rancho Arroyo Grande proffers up a seemingly infinite supply of ancient seabed fossils . . . so why not continue that theme along the maritime route that encompasses the Central Coast AVAs and produce other wines that speak to the ocean’s proximity? Deep Sea—with its abstract “fog-wave” label—does just that. The wines are alive with aromatics, lively acidity and personality—a true homage to California’s most burgeon- ing AVAs. A Lifelong Dream Gareth Conway trained his palate and honed his olfactory acuity on the nuances of coffee. The former owner of an artisanal coffee-roasting operation, the oldest of the Conway siblings holds the reins as President and COO and is responsible for overseeing the winery’s York City, where she has made incred- ible headway not only in getting Central Coast wines acknowledged by somme- liers and retailers, but also in creating an identity for the Arroyo Grande appellation on wine lists throughout the East Coast. “We all scattered separately when we went to college,” explains Tom. “I was in New York, Gillian was in Boston and Gareth was in San Diego. But we all came back to California when the opportunity arose to purchase the Arroyo Grande prop- erty. Our dad wanted a wilderness playground, but also to be surrounded by vineyards.” Family patriarch Chris Conway retired and simply wanted to be at peace with nature on the spectacular California coast, but his children had dreamed about the wine business for a long time. “This was the chance for us to be a close family again, after being apart for many years,” Gareth points out. Deep Sea wines are influenced by the maritime climate of the Central Coast. Deep Sea Sauvignon Blanc from the Coquina Vineyard is a zesty fruit-bowl refresher. In search of the perfect wine- maker, Tom and Gareth began the interview process. “We wanted someone from France or Napa. The challenge was, we were an unknown and didn’t know if we could lure any talent,” adds Tom. But voilà! They found someone with the best of both worlds, Old and New. Champagne-born Jonathan Médard came with a pedi- greed French winemaking background (he had worked at Château Mouton Rothschild and at Champagne houses Louis Roederer and Moët & Chandon), but also had experience in Napa (at Newton Vineyard). Family Involvement The Conways are hands-on winery owners. Tom and Gillian pound the pavement to make headway onto wine lists and into retail accounts. Although they have landed some of the country’s top distributors, Gillian also maintains a successful winery-direct sales force in New York. “It’s august 201 1 / the tasting panel / 49