“Great wine begins in the vineyard”. A truism if ever there was one. It is indisputable that wine quality is inextricably linked to where the grapes are grown. The balance of ripeness and acidity, and the interplay between aroma and flavour, are largely determined by climate. When Al Scheid first purchased property in Monterey County in 1971, he did so based on the advice of Professor A.J. Winkler, a viticultural authority from the University of California at Davis, who classified grape growing regions by climate. Monterey County was classified as Regions I and II, comparable to Napa, Sonoma, Burgundy and Bordeaux.