Mark Adams, owner and winemaker for Ledge Vineyards, grew up in Paso Robles on a 40 acre farm that his parents had purchased in the 70s. Post-college, having studied music and cinema, Mark worked for Sony Picture Studios and made numerous trips to Cannes and tours of Europe, further exposing Mark to wine in general and the remarkable variety of Rhone wines in specific. In the early 2000s he moved back to Paso, planting four acres of Syrah, and joined Justin Smith at his new winery, Saxum Vineyards, as his assistant and first employee.

Mark’s time with Saxum served him well as he learned from an extraordinarily gifted winemaker and helped to fashion dozens of 95+ points, including Wine Spectator’s 2010 Wine of the Year. While Mark started focusing full time on Ledge a few years ago, he still helps out at Saxum whenever needed (conveniently located just a mile or so away). His estate vineyard has expanded gradually to 15 acres, with additional Syrah plantings as well as Grenache, Roussanne, Mourvedre, Cinsault and Counoise.