Anthony Craig was born in Gateshead, a North Eastern English town on the River Tyne, close to the Scottish border. He studied drama and moved to London to study at the Drama Studio, then on to Los Angeles to embark on his acting career. At the end of 1990, looking for relief from the craziness of an actor's life in L.A. he moved north to San Jose and found work with a small local winery, David Bruce. There he discovered a love for Pinot Noir in particular, and after a few years became head winemaker and expanded the winery's reputation for Pinot Noir and the wide range of vineyard sources. Working with grapes from more than 50 vineyards from Mendocino to Santa Barbara gave him a unique overview of the great potential of Pinot Noir in California's varied regions. In 2002 he set out on his own to create his own wine label, Sonnet Wine Cellars, as a homage to his old life as an actor and the great playwright, William Shakespeare. Today, Anthony not only makes award-winning wines under his own Sonnet label, he is also the winemaker for Muns Vineyard (since 2005) and is head winemaker at Silver Mountain Vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains. He lives in San Jose with his famous musician wife, choral conductor Elena Sharkova, and their son Alexander.
About the Muns Vineyard site, Anthony says: Muns Vineyard is located at 2600', making it the highest Pinot vineyard in the AVA. It is often above the fog line. The altitude and constant wind off the coastal fog make it cool enough to make an outstanding Pinot Noir, despite the sunny exposure. The wind at this site also plays a vital role outside of its cooling influence, producing thicker skins and higher phenolic content, colour, tannins and flavour. I usually press off this wine early to avoid excessive tannins and allow the natural beautiful fruit characteristics (typically black cherry) to shine through. The Santa Cruz Mountains AVA minerality and acidity is a major player at this site, allowing the wines to age gracefully for many years. Dijon clones 114, 115, 667 and 777 produce a more complex, well-rounded and structured wine.
