January 24, 2017 – It has been a busy year for Peter Figge—expanding his custom crush business, making his own 2,400 cases of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and also making wine for Carmel Valley Ranch’s own brand called “Swing.” He installed their estate vineyard, all planted to Pinot Noir, in 2010.
He’s had a very unique arrangement in Carmel for several years at the Winfield Art Gallery on Dolores and 7th, where he’s been pouring Figge Cellars wines for a few years, but he’s had a hankering for Carmel Valley for awhile. When he heard Joyce was moving to expanded new digs in the Village, he got to thinking it might seriously be time to make a move. Figge and his wife, Amy, lived on Laureles Grade in Carmel Valley for 18 years after meeting in College in Colorado. They currently live in Carmel.
So the big news of the day is that Figge will be moving his tasting room operation to the former Quail & Olive location at 3 Pilot Road in Carmel Valley, next to Corkscrew and across from Roux. He’s excited to be returning to the place he considers “home,” and is looking forward to the camaraderie of all the tasting rooms already there, along with all the great restaurants, including Lokal, Café Rustica and Wills Fargo.
He believes that the wine crowd in Carmel Valley is a bit more serious and dedicated than in Carmel-by-the-Sea. He describes that crowd as “browsers:” the tourist guy who is just killing time while his wife is shopping next door. It’s a different mentality in Carmel Valley Village, where people come specifically to taste wine, enjoy the views and stroll around the quaint beauty of the bucolic town.
Figge—who was born in Iowa and grew up in Kansas City—has an innate love of mountains and thought he would pursue a career as a wilderness ranger. He spends every chance he can in the great outdoors, running, biking, mountain climbing, skiing, which explains why the whole concept of wine appealed to him. He adds that his father was a big wine collector, and he honed his palate on his father’s rather extensive wine cellar growing up.
Being outdoors in the vineyard came easily and naturally to Peter and his first job in the wine industry happened to be with Beringer as a vineyard manager, responsible for hundreds of acres. When he went to headquarters to pick up his paycheck, he was impressed by the amicable crew and the way the entire staff seemed to enjoy their jobs. He thought, “I could get into this!” After that he worked crush at Grgich Hills where he met the cellar crew he later saw on screen in “Bottle Shock.”
While waiting to matriculate at UC Davis, he worked a crush in the Barossa Valley and enjoyed seeing their way of doing things. He definitely had made the right career choice. After earning his Masters in Viticulture at Davis, Figge got a job with Franciscan managing 2,000 acres on the Central Coast, during which time he developed an 800-acre property in Paso Robles for them.
Working 6 days a week and traveling constantly wore on him, especially since he and Amy had had just had a baby, so he started his own vineyard consulting business. He formed Figge Cellars in 2004, with the first vintage under the label being 2005. His winery is in Marina, where he does custom crush.
He’ll be shutting down his Carmel tasting room to focus on the new Carmel Valley location, which he takes possession of in mid-February. One of the aspects of the former Quail & Olive location he really appreciates is the outdoor patio. He knows he’s got some infrastructure work to do before he can open, so he is optimistically targeting the end of March. But he’s ever the optimist: and that’s one of the things we admire about him. His wines absolutely reflect that spirit. They’re sure to make you smile. Carmel Valley is about to get just a little sunnier.
About the author
Laura Ness is a longtime wine journalist, columnist and judge who contributes regularly to Edible Monterey Bay, Spirited, WineOh.Tv, Los Gatos Magazine and Wine Industry Network, and a variety of consumer publications. Her passion is telling stories about the intriguing characters who inhabit the fascinating world of wine and food.
