Optima Winery

Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon — The flagship, built the way André Tchelistcheff taught Mike Duffy to build it.

Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel — A bold, classic expression of the valley’s benchmark grape.

Petite Sirah & Zinfandel Port — Dark, structured, small-lot reds.

CMP and PMZ Blends — House red blends made in tiny quantities.

Under five thousand cases a year, made with extended maceration, counter-pressure racking, and unfiltered bottling.

Optima is Mike Duffy’s winery, and it started in a garage. He grew up in Redding with a home-winemaker father and declared his intention to major in enology at UC Davis while still a high-school sophomore; his first Optima label, in 1984, was four hundred cases of Cabernet made with his late wife, Tina. For nine years he was head winemaker at Field Stone in Alexander Valley, working beside André Tchelistcheff — the most influential American winemaker of the post-Prohibition era — who told him to make a Cabernet that spoke for Alexander Valley rather than imitate Napa. That lesson still defines the house.

The winery sits on a hilltop off Dry Creek Road, though its flagship fruit comes from Alexander Valley; the Dry Creek side gives the Zinfandel and Petite Sirah. Production stays under five thousand cases, which lets Duffy work the way big wineries cannot — extended maceration, counter-pressure racking, unfiltered bottling. It is a family operation now, run with his wife Nicol and four sons between them, and Nicol usually pours. A second label, Fitch Mountain Cellars, began with a five-thousand-dollar tax refund.

Mike Duffy declared his intention to major in enology at UC Davis while still a high-school sophomore in Redding. He interned at Trefethen in Napa, then spent nine years as head winemaker at Field Stone in Alexander Valley, working alongside André Tchelistcheff — the most influential American winemaker of the post-Prohibition era — who urged him to make a Cabernet that spoke for Alexander Valley rather than imitate Napa. He launched Optima in 1984 with four hundred garage-made cases.

Nicol Duffy, a Santa Rosa native with an accounting background, married Mike in 2001 and helped turn Optima into a full family operation with their four sons. She runs the business side and usually pours in the Tuscan-style tasting room. Mike’s first Optima vintage, in 1984, was made with his late wife, Tina.