Wine & Spirits Magazine "Top 100 Winery of 2023," "Top 100 Wines of the Year," and "Top 100 Best Buys"

Story


Founded by Kyle Jeffrey, Brad Jonas, and Miriam Jonas, Minus Tide is focused on making elegant, balanced wines that showcase the distinct, coastal, and rustic vineyards of Mendocino, California. Shrouded in towering old-growth redwood trees, the winegrowing region of Mendocino County is influenced by the fog and cool air that drift inland from the Pacific Ocean. We work with sustainable and organic vineyards, most of which are dry farmed, to respect the land now and for the coming generations. In the cellar, we use minimal intervention practices to make our wines. We produce Carignan Rosé, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Carignan, and Syrah. Our goal is to make wines we love to drink and that pair well with food, so they tend to be high in acid and low in alcohol. We are thrilled to share them with you.

Minus Tide was founded in 2017, but the dream began long before that. The Minus Tide trio met while attending California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, in 2007. We talked about someday starting a winery, and as time went on, we worked on turning this dream into a reality. In 2015, we made a single barrel of Malbec from one of our favorite vineyards in California, Alder Springs, and from there our journey began.

Brad and Kyle make the wines for Minus Tide in Mendocino's idyllic Anderson Valleysurrounded by vineyards, redwood trees, and the pristine Pacific coastlinewhere Brad and Miriam live.

Minus Tide was named after the very low tides that expose hidden gems of the sea, and to evoke the feeling of the Mendocino Coast.

Kyle Jeffrey Minus Tide Owner/Winemaker
Kyle Jeffrey  //  Co-owner and Co-winemaker

Kyle is co-owner and co-winemaker for Minus Tide. He also handles sales outside of Mendocino.

Kyle was born and raised in Orange County. He attended Cal Poly, where he studied winemaking and viticulture, with an emphasis on wine business. He soon saw a career in winemaking in his future. Before classes had even started, Kyle met Brad, and they quickly became close friends. Kyle fell in love with the winemaking process, and began to make his own wine in the fall of 2009. In 2010, he and Brad made their first wine together—a Syrah from Paso Robles.

Following graduation, Kyle worked a harvest at Henri Cruchon in Lausanne, Switzerland, to learn about winemaking in Europe. It was there that he developed an appreciation for small-batch, handcrafted wines, with bright acidity and a deep sense of terroir. Kyle also worked harvests at the renowned Rudd Winery in Napa Valley, Three Sticks Winery in Sonoma, Claiborne & Churchill in Edna Valley on California’s Central Coast, and at wineries in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand and McLaren Vale, South Australia, before becoming the assistant winemaker at San Francisco’s urban Bluxome Street Winery.

After several years of making wine, Kyle moved to New York City to manage Discovery Wines, a very well-regarded boutique wine shop. There, Kyle was able to taste some of the world’s benchmark wines, and credits this time as the greatest education of his career. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he became a sales representative for the acclaimed distributor Revel Wine. He quickly developed relationships with many top restaurants and wine shops, and represented an impressive book of artisanal California wine producers.

Kyle is currently the winemaker at Woods Beer and Wine Co. in San Francisco, and he consults for a few small wineries.


Brad Jonas  //  Co-owner and Co-winemaker


Brad is co-owner and co-winemaker for Minus Tide. He also manages grower relations and local sales in Mendocino County.

Brad was fortunate to grow up on the coast of Mendocino. He could often be found diving for abalone and sea urchin, kayaking on the river, or exploring the redwood forests. He developed a deep bond with the area at a young age, and that bond has only strengthened with time. Each time Brad’s family would drive south towards San Francisco, he and his siblings would clamor for the opportunity to have some of the fresh grape juice made by Navarro Vineyards in Anderson Valley. When it came time to choose which university to attend, Brad selected Cal Poly to study wine and viticulture, where he met Kyle and Miriam. Before even completing his degree at Cal Poly, Brad fully immersed himself in winemaking.

Brad has made wines in California, New Zealand, and Australia. He was the cellar supervisor and vineyard assistant at Akarua in the Pinot Noir-centric region of Central Otago, New Zealand, and has worked harvests at Goldeneye in Anderson Valley, Haselgrove in McLaren Vale, South Australia, and on California’s Central Coast at Kenneth Volk Vineyards, Wolff Vineyards, Baileyana and Tangent, and Peachy Canyon.

With over 12 harvests now under his belt, Brad is the assistant winemaker for Toulouse Vineyards, located in Mendocino’s Anderson Valley, where he is responsible for the day-to-day winemaking and assisting the year-round vineyard crew.

Brad and Miriam's friendship during their time together at Cal Poly laid the groundwork for the strong relationship they have today, and in 2019, they were married.

Miriam Pitt Minus Tide Owner
Miriam Jonas
  //  Co-owner

As co-owner of Minus Tide, Miriam manages public relations and lends her deft palate to winemaking decisions. A talented artist, she also created the charcoal sketches for the Minus Tide label.

Miriam was raised in Palo Alto, California. Wine was a staple at her family’s dinner table growing up, and her dad’s love of great wine and food was naturally passed down to her, much to his delight. While earning her degree in recreation, parks, and tourism administration from Cal Poly, Miriam focused on wine tourism, as well as the promotion of the Central Coast wine region. She also graduated with a minor in studio art. During her time at Cal Poly, she became friends with Brad and Kyle, who were both studying wine and viticulture, and like them, was completely bitten by the wine bug.

Upon graduation, Miriam became the special events coordinator at Foley Family Wines, where she was responsible for multiple winery event venues in Sonoma and Napa, including Chalk Hill, Kuleto, and Merus. Miriam went on to become a member of the marketing team at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, where she helped to support a portfolio of 90 luxury hotels.

Miriam is currently a longtime account director at J.A.M. PR, a boutique public relations agency that represents a small portfolio of high-end wineries, including Spottswoode, Sea Smoke, The Duckhorn Portfolio, and Chappellet. A part of the J.A.M. team since 2012, she has established herself as a client-services specialist, who is always mindful of the small details that define great wine industry communications.