m2 is a small producer of ultra-premium wines from distinctive vineyards throughout California. m2 was founded in 2004 by Layne Montgomery and Chris Matheny. They are also the winemakers, the cellarmasters, the barrel washers, the sales & marketing department, and the financial department. The name m2 was chosen for the name of the winery because ... well, you’ll figure it out.
m2's wines are made in small lots following traditional production methods enhanced by adoption of current best practices. Our wines are styled so that the fruit of the vine is able to fully express its varietal character as wine - a wine that is true to itself - balanced, complex, approachable and age-worthy.
m2 was created to craft fine artisan wines; wines that are rare and unique, wines that deliver an outstanding wine drinking experience and tremendous value for m2's friends, fans and consumers.
Chris and Layne started making wine together in 2000. Their collaboration has produced award-winning wines; Zinfandel, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer, and several Syrahs from different regions in California.
We produce about 1600 cases of wine a year at our winery in Lodi. Our facility is 3600 square feet in size and is located in a light industrial zone. Half of the winery is carefully temperature-controled and dedicated to barrel storage (our "cellar"), finished case-good storage, our tasting room and our wine lab. The other half of the winery is used for fermentation and that's where we keep our destemmer/crusher, our press, various sized tanks and other winemaking equipment.
m2 does not own vineyard land; we source our grapes from a variety of elite vineyards across California. This means we can make wines from grapes that are best suited to the region in which they were grown. For the most part we have been making wine from the same vineyards since 2002. We have great relationships with our growers. They work with us during the growing season to ensure that our wines are made with exceptional grapes.
We use multiple strains of yeast during fermentation to create layers of complexity in the finished wine, much like an artist uses different colors to create works of art. We do not use oak staves, or chips or oak powders during fermentation or during barrel aging in the cellar. We carefully monitor our wines from the vineyard to the finished bottle, working to ensure quality from harvest until you pull the cork on a bottle of our wine.
We generally don't enter commercial wine competitions and we've got mixed feelings about that. On one hand, customers like to see ribbons and medals and wineries like to promote their extensive winnings; a ribbon or medal is external confirmation that the wine is considered to be good by someone. On the other hand, you don't see wineries touting their bronze medals, or their honorable-mentions, or the wines that didn't win anything. The best award we get is when you, our customer and friend, choose our wine off the store shelf, the restaurant list, or take some m2 home with you after visiting our winery.
Layne has what someone once politely called "a portfolio career," meaning he knows very little about a whole lot of stuff. His very first job was in an Arkansas cotton warehouse hand-writing receipts for each bale of cotton that came through the door. He holds a B.A. in broadcasting from Northern Arizona University with a minor in marketing. He worked in broadcast television (aka Tee-Vee) for about 15 years as a producer and director then as a marketing communication manager in the non-profit world. Currently his time is devoted to operations and winemaking duties for m2 along with a little free-lance writing and graphic design work to pay the cell phone bills.
Layne's experience with wine began in 1979 with a glass of Pink Catawba. Yes, there is such a thing. It was sort of like today's White Zinfandels, but not as good.
Chris holds an MBA from Fullerton State University and is, or was, a CPA. His business career spans 30 years in financial planning and financial operations. He still holds a "day job" [except during winemaking season] as CFO for a construction manufacturer and supply company in Sacramento. Chris is responsible for the financial management of m2 along with being lead sales guy and chief barrel washer.
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Layne, Karen, Diana and Chris, founders of m2 wines
Layne takes a hard look at a hydrometer reading.
m2 is a member of ZAP, Zinfandel Advocates and Producers
and Family Winemakers of California
