Title
Intro text for staff
Mika Selkirk
resident vampire
Born and raised in Transylvania, the land of vampires which, for good reason, also has one of the highest per capita consumption of red wine in the world, Mika moved to the US (Los Angeles) in late 2003 with a struggling vocabulary (now clearly overcome) and a passion for learning. In 2005 she moved to San Luis Obispo in order to learn by doing at Cal Poly SLO, and her passion quickly migrated to the local wine industry in the early months of 2009. At Le Cuvier, Mika enjoys the dynamics of our fabulous team, the offered guests experiences, having an onsite commercial kitchen and pairings to brag about, as well as the fabulous hilltop view. Hobbies: Art, sea glass collecting, rainbow hunting Favorite part of the winemaking process: barrel fermentation. Favorite local restaurants: Goshi SLO, Novo, Robin’s, Mistura Favorite memory: picking Tannat from A vineyard in the Adelaida AVA Corky Trait: cooking too much food & expecting everyone else to eat it Favorite things about Le Cuvier: 1. The wine 2. The view Favorite Variety: Cabernet Franc
Clay Selkirk
head winemaker & all-around cowboy
Clay joined Le Cuvier in February 2013. He comes from winemaking stock—his family owns & operates Cayucos Cellars, where Clay toiled in all aspects of the business before we lured him to our hilltop winery. He is uniquely familiar with Le Cuvier wines, as the Selkirks engage in similar winemaking practices at Cayucos Cellars—wild yeast fermentation & extended barrel aging, most notably. In addition to managing cellar operations, Clay often represents Le Cuvier at events, does the vast majority of our manual labor, and provides lots of feedback on our food pairing creations. He really likes that part of the job.
Miranda Thompson
vp of quality control
Miranda is what you might call a hardcore LC fan from way back. She was born and raised in Paso Robles and has been enjoying Le Cuvier wines from the moment she reached legal drinking age, and absolutely no sooner. Her in-laws were longtime Le Cuvier wine club members and friends of our proprietor’s brother, they introduced her to the wines and in 2014 Miranda signed up for the Elliptical society. Some time later, she was tasting at the winery every weekend when one day Mo said, “do you just want to work here?” to which Miranda replied, “is that a choice?”… and the rest is history. Miranda and her husband Jeremy have a small ranch in San Miguel where they live with their three dogs, two goats, and countless chickens. On their land they grow Cabernet Sauvignon and hope to make their own wine one day soon. Miranda is a positive ray of sunshine to all those who cross paths with her. From working in special education for 15 years to spending her summers as the director of programs for Camp Natoma, Miranda has a big heart and lots of love for her home here on the central coast. Hobbies: wine education, archery, being in nature Favorite part of the winemaking process: Quality control, of course! Favorite local restaurants: Le Petite Canailles (LPC), Goshi, The Hatch, Giuseppe's Favorite Le Cuvier memory: Library Cab Franc tasting; tasted '05, '09, and '12 vintages and the '05 smelled like the redwood forest floor Corky trait: drinking wine with chickens Favorite variety: depends on what she's eating, though she's partial to Cabernet Franc