Rising California Wine Star Expressing Dramatic Cabernet Sauvignon Vineyards Owned By Telecom Pioneer

It was as if a dream had materialized with the steepest slope he had ever seen with gorgeously maintained Cabernet Sauvignon vines nestled into carved terraces, no less. Not much impressed this self-made telecom pioneer as he had traveled all over the world and seen every kind of natural beauty one could imagine. At a time, he wasn’t even thinking of making wine; the pure power of this estate’s resplendence was like a siren song he could not deny, and within an hour, he bought the property.

Fahri Diner is a man who has always been bold in taking on a challenge or dreaming big, even without the connections and wealth to make it happen. He was raised in Cyprus, the island country located east of Greece, and grew up in a farming family who loved making olive oil. An academic scholarship brought him to the U.S. to study electrical engineering at Florida Tech, and he went on to become a founder of the fiber-optic company, Qtera, which would eventually sell for $3.25 billion. Even though Fahri has taken on other business ventures since Qtera, he sought out another passion that had deep roots in his family and he wanted to reconnect to small-scale farming, creating high-quality produce such as the olive oil his family made. But would he stay in Florida? Go back to Cyprus? Or find a ranch in the gorgeous state of California?

Alexander Valley

Fahri did what he always did when having to make a big decision. He went to a lake and skipped a stone; if it skipped three times, he would go to California and look for a ranch to reconnect to his farming roots. It was three times, hence, his two-year journey seeking out a unique property throughout California, from as south as Santa Barbara to as north as Alexander Valley in Sonoma County, began. Most people told him Napa was the place to be but Fahri has always trusted his instincts and didn’t see any properties that felt right. One day, in 2001, someone told him about a property in the Alexander Valley area in Sonoma County. When he had that moment of coming over the crest of the road, taking in those terraced vineyards on an extremely steep slope, he knew that this was the place, especially since there were olive trees so that he could make olive oil.

At first, he sold the grapes from the vineyards to local wineries eager to get them. Still, it bothered him that these rare vineyards were not getting the acknowledgment they deserved. So, he hired a team of experts, such as winemaker Philippe Melka, a true living legend in the wine industry, to express the place’s unique terroir and aptly take on the name Skipstone as a wine producer. The journey of him reconnecting to his roots while combining it with his love for the U.S., his second home that has given him so much opportunity to succeed, has finally kicked off, full force, with the recent completion of the new Skipstone winery with the initial building of it colliding with taking on a fulltime head winemaker to lead the charge, rising winemaking star Laura Jones.

Alexander Valley may not be a household name for Cabernet Sauvignon wines. Still, it is considered by many in the California wine industry to be one of the most important wine regions for Cabernet Sauvignon, only second to Napa Valley. Many well-known wine producers source Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Alexander Valley, giving little attention to the place, and there are some ultra-premium Cabernet producers with Alexander Valley on their labels. Still, the wine producer often sticks with customers, while Alexander Valley often goes unnoticed. But that was part of what drew Fahri to this place; it was an underdog such as himself, and it deserved someone who would show its full potential.

Laura Jones

His new head winemaking star, Laura Jones, is also an underdog who built a pedigree based on intelligence, talent and hard work, as she is originally from Wyoming but was able to get herself on the track of going into medical research in California, but when she was looking into grad schools, an encounter with someone in the wine world placed her on another path. So, she graduated from the prestigious graduate program in Viticulture and Enology from U.C. Davis and then went on to not only work in stellar wineries in California, such as Aubert Wines and Cliff Lede, but also spent some time in New Zealand and in Burgundy, France, at Domaine Armand Rousseau to give her an international perspective as well.

Even though there are only 27 acres of vineyards out of the 200-acre estate, the first thing Laura wanted to do was to employ precision viticulture practices by assessing the nuanced differences of each plot. So she installed three weather stations, one on the steeper hillside, one near the flatter part of the vineyards and one halfway up the hillside. During the summertime, there can be a seven to eight-degree difference between some parcels.

One of the things that Laura loves about Skipstone, other than the uniquely outstanding vineyards, is that they have a full-time vineyard crew, which is atypical as many times, the majority of a vineyard crew are temporarily hired for the busiest times of the year. But since Skipstone has a 180-degree amphitheater with an intense 60% degree slope, there is always lots of work to be done year round as it requires a lot of manpower to maintain vines planted in these extreme locations. Skipstone’s vineyard manager, Juan Alcantara, has been there for 16 years and half the crew has been there for 15 years, another aspect of Skipstone that goes against the norm since there is typically lots of turnover in the wine business. This is an aspect that Laura is excited about, as it will allow her to refine vineyard management with the same team over the years. The team has been working organically as they have been CCOF certified since 2008. Still, she is excited to place more energy into more precise expressions of each parcel, as she digs into the rockier soils that give more concentration, the gravel which is ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and the clay dominant plots where Merlot and Malbec thrive.

Going Beyond Pedigree

Philippe Melka will remain a consulting winemaker but Fahri knew that to bring the wines to the next level, he needed someone whose whole focus was the Skipstone wines, hence, his search to hire a head full-time winemaker. He was undoubtedly impressed by Laura’s pedigree in terms of her education and her work experience. Still, the idea that she had no advantages in the business made it even more impressive. He is someone who knows that it takes more than pedigree to catch lightning in a bottle, as the person who can think beyond the norms and commit her life to a business is more valuable than her start in life. Not only does Laura have that special spark that he has always looked for when starting a new venture but the idea that Laura is married to the general manager of Skipstone, Brian Ball, ensures that she can devote her life to this winery.

But it wasn’t easy, as with any married couple, each person wants to have their own achievements and that has been their journey since they met each other at U.C. Davis all those years ago. Laura has worked for well-established top producers and she could certainly have gone down a different path but one is never sure that a winery team will stay together; one can almost guarantee nowadays that people will come and go, and in a way, causing a step back in progress as the group synergy will take time to come together to make extraordinary things happen. Yet as she kept coming up to visit Brian at Skipstone, talking to Fahri about his commitment to excellence, seeing the most remarkable vineyards she had ever seen and tasting wines that had aromatics and textures that blew her away, and knowing that the vineyard team was there to stay, she understood that everything she had learned around the world all led up to the great things she could accomplish as a wine family at Skipstone.

The estate of Skipstone can now be experienced with stays offered at the Residence at Skipstone, where one can live like a vintner but in the most luxurious way. The residence at Skipstone was the home of Fahri, his wife Constance and their small children. No expense was spared, so the house looks like a European castle with the stone exterior made up of stones pulled out of the property, and every sink in the house is a single boulder from the estate that has been cut and polished. Those are just a few stunning facets of this incredible 8,344 square foot home with five en suite bedrooms and a gourmet kitchen. But Fahri and his wife moved back to her home in Switzerland as they wanted their kids to grow up surrounded by family, and so, now their home is available to book for up to ten people. They have an estate director who will attend to every need, whether securing reservations at top restaurants, organizing winery visits, access to the Mayacama Country Club’s golf course, or arranging a wine tasting at the residence. Wine tastings that include not only Skipstone wines but also anything from Fahri’s personal cellar are available for purchase, which includes old Bordeaux, Napa and Sonoma benchmark producers from the early 1990s to 2000s and a wide selection of Champagne, just to name a few perks.

Also, Skipstone is building a second floor of their winery which will act as a stunning hospitality center to welcome guests. Sustainability is at the foundation of all these projects and they expect that when they are finished with everything, including being powered by 100% renewable energy, they will be only the fourth Platinum-certified winery by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

2019 Skipstone, Preface Proprietary Red Blend, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, a blend of various Cabernet Sauvignon parcels on the estate. Preface is a selection from Cabernet Sauvignon vines that make a wine that drinks well at an earlier stage and it is at an approachable price point, so it is a great introduction to the Skipstone portfolio. This wine also allows for a stricter selection for their flagship, Oliver’s Blend. Lovely balance with red cherries and black raspberries with hints of broken earth and a beautiful texture finishing with a pretty floral quality.

2019 Skipstone, Malbec, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California: 100% Malbec. Since they have a fair amount of Malbec that does really well in the clay-dominant parcels, they wanted to make a varietal bottling of Malbec to showcase that particular section. Laura loves the “inherent deliciousness” of their Malbec as they go out of their way to thin the crop, sometimes 50%, to get the highest quality. Yet, she balances out the fruit’s generosity by placing a portion of the wine in amphora, which brings out a savory quality. Decadent dark fruit with juicy blueberry and plum tart on the palate with a hint of allspice and dry herbs with a silky texture and long, flavorful finish.

2019 Skipstone, Ripple Effect, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California: 92% Cabernet Sauvignon with 8% Merlot, mainly from the Skipstone estate vineyards, with a tiny portion coming from another plot on the hillside outside of their estate. This wine is called Ripple Effect because they sourced a small amount from a hillside outside of their estate, it is the ripple effect of Skipstone emanating out of their vineyards. This wine illustrates the parcels on the estate that have more mountain fruit quality, which has slightly firmer tannins and high-toned fruit; hence, why they sourced outside fruit that would help highlight those qualities. Cocoa nibs and sandalwood incense on the nose with black cherry skins and broader tannins give more structure and shape with a vibrant and well-focused finish.

2019 Skipstone, Faultline Vineyard, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California: Blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. This is their Right Bank inspired blend as it is Cabernet Franc and Merlot – the percentages change every year, and these parcels are located on a fault line. The Mayacamas fault line which runs through their property, is one of the most active faults in the area, which is good for them as it relieves pressure and lessens potential future disasters. The U.S. Geologic Survey has three permanent installations on the Skipstone property, so they are an official earthquake measuring station. Aromas transport one into a walk in the forest with notes of tree bark and morels with elegant red and black fruit on the palate with a fine-laced structure with a long, expressive finish, leaving wildflowers in one’s head.

2019 Skipstone Oliver’s Blend Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, a blend of a couple of parcels on the estate. This wine is mainly made up of the oldest vines on the terraced hillside, with a small portion of a couple blocks on the non-terraced slope. 2019 was a small harvest, with only 2,000 cases made. The lush texture of this wine is absolutely stunning, and the combination of the outstanding mouthfeel and complex aromatics of crushed rocks, fresh tobacco, and pristine fruit makes this wine a jaw-dropping beauty.