Discovery You Can Taste
Minus Tide Makes Wine with a Coastal, Community Focus
by Thom Elkjer
When the moon pulls the ocean farthest from shore, the result is known as a “minus tide,” because nature is revealing, not concealing. Tide pools, kelp gardens, shellfish colonies, and other wonders appear and delight us. Minus Tide Wines recreates that experience in a glass, revealing the flavors of hidden vineyards tucked into expressive microclimates in Mendocino County—from sun-baked inland valleys to wind-blown coastal ridges.
Minus Tide’s founders were college students when they met in the coastal town of San Luis Obispo in 2007. Kyle Jeffrey and Brad Jonas were studying winemaking and wine-growing, while Miriam Pitt was studying tourism and wine marketing. Though they dreamed of launching a winery one day, they parted ways at graduation, keeping in touch while becoming professionals in their fields. One fateful day in 2017, they met for lunch at the Inn at School-house Creek near Mendocino village where Brad grew up. “We walked in with our old dream of launching a winery,” he recalls, “but this time we came out with a plan.”
They based their winery in Anderson Valley, where Brad and Miriam lived together, hosting Kyle on his frequent visits from San Francisco or Los Angeles, where he was honing his skills in wine sales. Without deep pockets or their own vineyards, they scoured Mendocino for great grapes at affordable prices, rented space at Toulouse Vineyards to make their wine, and then focused sales on local outlets and restaurants in the Bay Area and L.A.
The Minus Tide philosophy is about finding choice vineyards, not vinifying specific grape varieties. The lesser-known Carignan variety was an early hit, coming from the inland area of Feliz Creek. It makes both red wine and rosé. Syrah, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir soon joined the lineup, sourced from vineyards on the western ridges above Anderson Valley. Flavors are ripe yet alcohols are refreshingly low. The winery tends to cellar its reds longer than other producers, so the wine is more integrated and refined on release.
Production is still small at under 1,000 cases, yet Minus Tide has quickly gained an outsized reputation among local restaurants and wine sellers. “It’s our top-selling wine brand,” says Wendy Lamer, proprietor of Boonville gourmet retailer Disco Ranch. “The wine is great on its own and amazing with food.” Major wine critics are now spreading the word, recommending the wines to international audiences.
Surviving, let alone succeeding, as a small winery is more easily said than done, but Minus Tide’s team brings optimism, energy, and strong alignment to their shared passion. “We all agreed that being part of the local food and wine community was important to us,” Miriam explains. “Obviously we need to sell far and wide, but we wanted our friends, visitors, and local businesses to be able to taste and pour our wines.”
The founders also aligned around the foundation of their enterprise: exceptional vineyards. “We want to have so much confidence in the grapes we get that we can do one of the hardest things for a winemaker—which is doing very little,” Kyle explains. “That’s why we focus on vineyards where the flavors and balance are grown right into the fruit.”
That light-touch winemaking Kyle refers to is evident in the wines, which offer the silky textures and bright acids that make wine a natural match for food. These qualities explain why so many Mendocino restaurants offer Minus Tide wines: the Carignan rosé, for example, pairs as well with a robust carnitas tostada as it does with a delicately poached fish. Restaurants also appreciate the responsive service from the winery. “We don’t have a tasting room,” Miriam points out, “so we go out of our way to keep our local purveyors well stocked.”
All this hard work and hustle takes time, which is why people are routinely surprised to discover that all three founders have day jobs. Kyle is winemaker for San Francis-co-based Woods Beer & Wine Co., Brad is assistant winemaker at Toulouse Vineyards in Philo, and Miriam—who designed and illustrated the wine labels—works for Berkeley-based J.A.M. Public Relations.
“We give up personal time for Minus Tide,” Kyle admits, “but this is how we express ourselves artistically. This is how we show people how great the wine from Mendocino can be.” The team also believes that they don’t need to own a lot of infrastructure if they have a strong, supportive community. “We have great relation-ships with our growers,” Brad says. “We are so fortunate and grateful that we can make our wine at Toulouse. Our suppliers and customers really want us to succeed. The word of mouth has been incredible.”
Like healthy grapevines, the Minus Tide team has continued to sink deeper roots. Brad and Miriam married up on Navarro Ridge in 2019 and bought a house in Boonville in 2021. Their son, Luca, will celebrate his first birthday in November. Kyle can be spotted playing disc golf with friends and pouring at local events. With every passing month, more people discover the meaning of “minus tide” from the winery that lives up to its name.
Find out more at MinusTideWines.com.
Photos by Mary Zeeble.
Thom Elkjer has been writing and teaching about wine for more than 25 years. He wrote this story under a loggia in Boonville shaded by Muscat vines.