Scott Peterson
USA
Scott's Wines
- USA
- 22 wines
- 5 styles
Defining California winemaking. Rich, generous and full-throttle.
Scott spent over 20 years making wine for storied Sonoma wineries like Kendall-Jackson and Buena Vista – as well as Argentina’s Nicolás Catena Family of Wines and Chile’s Axel and La Playa Wines – before Angel support allowed him to march to his own drum.
Scott loves working with Angel funding because you allow him to make the wines he wants to. He's old school, and he doesn't want to make new styles just because they’re trendy.
If you like gloriously decadent, no-holds-barred wines, buy everything Scott makes. You will not regret it.
Vineyard Location
Scott Peterson's Story
Scott Peterson is fiercely independent and marches to his own drum (more on that later). Determination, grit, independence, resilience, and strength are apt descriptors of Scott, a no-holes-barred winemaker who never gave up on his dream of making his own wines instead of working for others.
Born in California, Scott and his family moved to Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1970, when his father accepted a professorship at William & Mary and became the institution’s youngest tenured professor at age 31. From this pedigree emerged Scott, who spent his formative teen years as a drummer in Williamsburg’s Drum and Fife Corps. At a young age, he learned the importance of discipline, history, and tradition, all of which would serve him well, when, at the age of 18, he took off first for Maine, then eventually headed back to his home state of California, dog in tow, where he would find a calling in the culinary world, then the irresistible enticement of wine.
Scott’s spent the better part of the last 30 years honing his craft, working nationally and internationally with storied brands like Kendall-Jackson, Buena Vista, Argentina’s Nicolas Catena Family of Wines and Chile’s Axel Wines and La Playa Wines. While at Kendall Jackson in the 1990s, Peterson worked with well-known winemakers Andre Tchelistcheff and Jediah Steele, where he learned to make his signature California-style Chardonnay known all over the world as unctuous, ripe and powerful.
Scott then ventured into the world of winemaking entrepreneurship, creating his first label in 1999, S.P. Drummer, a highly acclaimed Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon blend, then Rumpus in 2007, focusing on Sonoma Coast wines. He worked diligently, entering new markets and selling wine through distributors, which brought initial success, but proved to be very time consuming and taxing. In 2013, Angels funded Scott’s third label, ROX, then took on his other 2 brands a few years later. Because of your support, his career has taken off and flourished.
Scott – who dubs himself a “one-man show” – now has three labels – Rumpus, ROX and S.P. Drummer – the latter which is a throwback to his drumming days in Williamsburg. Since his first internships in Sonoma County, Scott has studied Sonoma’s appellations and investigated the best sites for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, like Petaluma Gap, Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast. He’s also ventured into Napa Valley for Cabernet, Clarksburg for Petite Sirah and Tempranillo, and Argentina’s high-elevation vineyards for Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay.
With Angel support, Scott’s making a diverse range of wines – his mom’s favorite Sauvignon Blanc, four distinctive Chardonnays, Napa and Sonoma Cabernets, California Petite Sirah and Tempranillo – plus a collection of wines from Argentina. His wines are one of a kind, just the way he likes them.
Scott's Archangels
Live each day as if it were your last and enhance every dinner with a glass of wine. Cheers!
I love cooking with wine ... Sometimes I even put it in the food!
Sweet to semi-dry wine lover. Loving my wine tasting journey. I enjoy trying many different wines and NW has helped me to evolve my taste in wines so that I now enjoy many more varieties.
I am a RETIRED computer geek that worked for a large consumer products company. I have always liked wine to a certain extent since I was old enough to drink it (or my parents would let me try it). However, I was seriously bit by the wine bug a number of years ago and began trying everything! I'm more partial to reds and sparklers than whites (especially sweet wines - color me dry), but love trying them all! Bas vers le haut!
The discovery of a wine is of greater moment than the discovery of a constellation. The universe is too full of stars.<br /><br />― Benjamin Franklin
Transplant to Florida here. Pharmacist, wine enthusiast, photographer, and traveler. I LOVE the Naked Wines experience- getting the opportunity to try wonderful new wines on a regular basis is so exciting and enlightening!
