A Northern California native, Winemaker Michael Cox grew up in the town of Sonoma and spent time in the Sonoma Valley wine production region as a student. His local headstart gave him an enviable background that most young winemakers find very difficult to achieve.
Mike first attended the University of California at Los Angeles, studying chemical engineering. It was then that his love for wine surfaced and took him down another road. In order to become a member of the wine industry, he transferred to the U.C. Davis campus and graduated with a degree in Enology in 1991. Mike also took advantage of coming home from school each summer to work at Sonoma area wineries, gaining good solid experience every step of the way. He worked his way up through the cellars of two prestigious wineries, Hacienda and Dry Creek Vineyards, while still in school. Prior to joining Schug in 1995, he held the Head Winemaker’s position at Napa Cellars.
Mike is of the “new school” of winemakers — superbly trained in a technical sense, but also involved in every step of the winemaking process. Like many good winemakers, he realizes that the quality of the grapes on the vine is the key to making good wine — ideas of his own that go beyond the laboratory measurements he learned so well at Davis. Mike likes to work closely with growers and prefers small production vineyards that contribute unique qualities to his blends. The Carneros grapes Mike works with at SCHUG offer unrivaled wine-making opportunities due to their unique diversity and complex, well-developed flavor characteristics.
Working at Schug for the past 20 years has afforded Mike the opportunity to make his home in Sonoma with his wife, Tina, and two children. His youthful passions of music and mountain biking have evolved. These days his spends most of his free time on a road bike and listening to music louder.