Kaena Wine CompanyBorn and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii I grew up under the loving care of my Tutu, my Hawaiian great grandmother. I developed a passion for wine at an early age while drinking European wines with my German uncle and listening intently as he explained the importance of the vineyard. That passion grew into obsession working in the Honolulu fine dinning industry.I moved to Northern California in 1996 upon my first visit to the famed Napa Valley. After an extensive gourmet tasting at Oakville grocery, I headed for Niebaum Coppola winery. The tasting was amazing consisting of a five year vertical of Rubicon. After the tasting I was fortunate to meet Francis Ford Coppola and discussed with him his future plans for the estate. Looking for a good site for lunch Mr. Coppola suggested his hilltop picnic grounds overlooking the vineyard. It was there over lunch and a bottle of 1994 Edzione Pennino Zinfandel that the enormous beauty of my surroundings overcame me. I saw a vision of what my life would become, an eventual career in winemaking. Needless to say I packed up my bags and left Honolulu for the bay area three months later.Realizing Santa Barbaras potential for growing world class Rhone varietals I decided to dive head first into the wine industry, joining the Beckmen Vineyards winemaking team as a harvest grunt for the 1999 harvest. In 2001 I took over the reigns as assistant winemaker from Joey Tensley. While assistant winemaker at Beckmen I was responsible for helping take the winery to new heights in the market place through sales and marketing. In the cellar I helped change the way we looked at the vineyard and winemaking by embracing techniques used by the French masters of the Rhone. Quality was further ensured by meticulous monitoring during harvest and fine attention to detail in the cellar. In June of 2005 after six years at Beckmen Vineyards I made a the move to join the Fess Parker winemaking team as associate winemaker. After two years with the Parker family I am back at Beckmen but this time as winemaker.I started my own label Kaena in 2001 with 3 barrels. My label has since grown to an annual production of just under 500 cases, focusing on Grenache and Syrah. Using traditional techniques such as native yeasts and low sulfur additions, along with a little space age technology to control fermentations, it is my goal to make distinctively crafted wines that showcase varietal character and vineyard definition. My hope is to live up to my given Hawaiian name Kaena- translation potential for greatness.I hope you enjoy the 2003 vintage as much as I enjoyed making them.Aloha & Mahalo,Mikael Sigouin
Kaena Wine Company
P.O. Box 420
Los Olivos, CA 93441
Kaenawine.com
Ph.. 805-451-6037
[email protected]
