Ryan Pease is the winemaker at Paix Sur Terre in Paso Robles, CA. He discovered his passion for wine while studying finance at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. A part-time tasting room job at Linne Calodo and a transformative trip to France—sipping Domaine Tempier along the Rhône River during Bastille Day—sealed his future in winemaking.
After earning his degree and a minor in Wine & Viticulture, Ryan gained hands-on experience during harvests at Linne Calodo and Epoch. He later served as winemaker at Grey Wolf Cellars, revitalizing their program, and at Brecon Estate, before committing fully to his own label, Paix Sur Terre.
Founded with his wife, Nicole, Paix Sur Terre—meaning “Peace on Earth”—focuses on mineral-driven Mourvèdre, along with small lots of Grenache and Syrah. Today, Ryan dedicates himself entirely to crafting expressive, site-driven wines that reflect both passion and place.
Media Inquiries: ryan@paixsurterrewines.com | https://paixsurterrewines.com/
What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your brand?
When I look back on the last 18 harvests, it is hard not to go all the way back to the moment I applied for a tasting room job at Linne Calodo when I was finishing my Finance degree at Cal Poly as the formative moment. If I do not send that resume and ace that interview, I might not even be in the industry and would probably be living a miserable office job life. I sent that resume only because I wanted something to do on weekends and I liked wine. I had not even heard of Linne Calodo, it was the only tasting room job posted at that time. The moment I walked into that cellar and tasted those wines, something inside me changed forever. I had never felt a connection or life force like that before and I wanted it. I asked if I could work the upcoming harvest, 2007, and the rest is history. Crazy to think my entire life hinged on that decision. That first job at Linne Calodo would lead me to Neil Collins of Tablas Creek, Lone Madrone and Bristols fame. That man was instrumental in teaching me how to make Mediterranean style white wines, low alcohol chillable reds and age worthy 100% Mourvèdres. Those men shaped everything about my wine program by opening doors for me and answering anything I asked them.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained.
I would like to own my own winery facility but that is about it. I have no desire to own an estate vineyard. I like working with multiple sites and being able to pivot in an instance when I am inspired by something or the market changes. I make all the wines I could have ever dreamed of making minus Picardin and I have that dream in motion. It would just be great to have my own home to make wine In while blasting jam band all damn day, have my barrels 2 high and just be able to take my sweet time since I am in no one else’s way. Sounds like heaven! Although I will admit, custom crush does have some nice social aspects, getting to work with other winemakers and collaborate and learn. It helps keep complacency at a distance and that is my only fear of working alone. There is an accountability that comes from working around other winemakers.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
Considering I am on a desert island, I would need something refreshing to go with the seafood and warm weather. It would have to be my Ugni Blanc. It blows my mind what that wine has become. I checked out the site in 2013 because Neil Collins told me he heard there was Ugni Blanc there and I had expressed interest in the grape due to my affinity for Bandol Blanc. I love the sea spray note, zesty acids and really earthy minerality that grape provides to those blends. The block was planted in 2001 and was used for home winemaking by the owner because he had a passion for the grape and had no market to sell the grapes. The site is pure chalk rock limestone, it looks like a moonscape. It is also pounded by coastal winds all day so the wines from this site had to have crazy tension. Boy did it. We debuted our first Ugni Blanc from the 2013 vintage in spring 2014, a whopping 50 cases. The next vintage I took over the entire acre and before we knew it, we were getting 93-95 point scores on it every year and critics hailed it as one of the most thrilling and groundbreaking wines in Paso. At the time, only Tablas Creek’s Vermentino and Lone Madrone’s Picpoul were made in that vein. We do not even market that wine and it is the first thing to sell put every year. Wild the grapes were not even sold on the market and I could stumble upon a gem that had not been discovered yet. Here’s the Ugni Blanc wine review.
Bonus Question: What are your wholehearted convictions related to the wine business?
I hate dogma in this industry. It is a disease that only hurts our cause and muddles our message. The natural wine movement with their nonintervention dogma to the point they were marketing vinegar was egregious. Sulfur is a natural element. A minimal dose of sulfur at key moments protects the wine naturally and for some reason a wine made with no additions or adjustments but uses a proper dose of sulfur is seeing as not natural. That’s insane. Bravo if you pull off a no sulfur wine, but it should not be the hill to die on. The screwcap diehards and their dogma. The snotty Cabernet elite and their dogma. Its gross and turns off consumers. Wine should be minimal to no intervention, well made with no obvious defects, fun and affordable. If we focus on that, we will gain many more new wine drinkers.