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Just outside the city of Santa Maria - some 16 miles from the waters of the Pacific Ocean - sits one of the most interesting and alluring wine estates in all of Santa Barbara County. The picturesque 200 acre Presqu'ile Winery property lies on a lofty rolling ridge that rises gently from the sandy Santa Maria Basin. This low-lying and primarily flat basin unassumingly fills the gap between the undulating Solomon Hills and the steep San Rafael Mountains that run east-west from the coast, and it is these unique transverse mountains that help create an ideal environment for cool-climate wine growing.
Presqu'ile Winery is particularly special not only because of the terrific piece of earth it occupies, but also because of the wonderful intentionality with which it operates. It has been family owned since its inception in 2007 when it was founded as an outlet for the Murphy family to craft the greatest wines they possibly could. Led by South African winemaker Dieter Cronje with consultation from famed producers such as Burgundy's Domaine Dujac, Presqu'ile has already established itself as a force to be reckoned with in Santa Barbara County.
To learn more about the wonderful Presqu'ile Winery operation we chose to pay them a visit on our recent trip to the Santa Maria Valley. We were fortunate to be guided by Nick Petrone, Presqu'ile's do-it-all production lead/technical tour guide/winemaker's assistant, on what turned out to be an extremely educational and insightful experience through all things Presqu'ile.
Our visit began in Presqu'ile's tasting room which is itself a modern architectural marvel. This beautiful and highly functional building was carefully carved into the precarious hillside and is connected via cave to the winery facility just up the ridge. After brief introductions and a welcome pour of sparkling we made our way out of the tasting room and into the cave for the first phase of the tour. Lining the walls of Presqu'ile's cave are barrels of various sizes and orientations which can be topped-up or filled via an ingenious system of pipes that run throughout the winery. The cave itself sits as far as 60 feet underground at its deepest point and provides a naturally cool environment for the wine in these barrels to mature. At the end of the cave hundreds of feet from the tasting room is an elevator that connects to various levels of the winery building.
We followed Nick into the elevator and zoomed all the way up to the winery's top deck. From here the property's orientation within the Santa Maria Valley was evident, and we could clearly see the point on the horizon where that day's clouds had crept in from the coast. Nick pointed out various local landmarks for reference, such as the Bien Nacido vineyard to the north and Solomon Hills to the south. We interestingly noted that the Presqu'ile property happens to be one of the closest sites to the ocean in the entire appellation, meaning that its mesoclimate is likely the coldest of any vineyard in the valley.
After gazing at the scenery and sipping some Chardonnay on the deck we moved our way down through the winery to get a look at the production facility. We quickly noticed that Presqu'ile's winery is extremely cleverly designed and immaculately maintained. Modern high-tech equipment lines what seems like every wall, and we observed everything from concrete eggs to genius gravity fed piping and even a brilliantly designed hydraulic punch-down apparatus. Presqu'ile farms their vineyard organically and even has gone as far as to receive Sustainability in Practice (SIP) Certification, and it became clear to us that their work in the winery is also done with the same level of care.
After geeking out with Nick in the winery we moved back down to the tasting room to get a better feel for Presqu'ile's wines. Nick guided us through a wide variety of Presqu'ile's offerings, including 3 sparkling wines, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, and even some Nebbiolo. As expected each of the wines we tried were fantastic, but there were a few in particular that stood out to us. First-off the sparkling wines were absolutely incredible. Made following the traditional methode champenoise, the Presqu'ile team has crafted a Blanc de Blanc, Blanc de Noir, and a Brut Cuvee in extremely small batches of 1000 bottles each. The wines were each aged for 6 months in nuetral oak before bottling and then were allowed to rest for nearly 4 years in bottle on their lees, giving them remarkable autolytic complexity on par with great Champagne. We've tried a lot of terrific Santa Barbara Sparkling wine lately but these wines were as good or better than anything from the region we've come across.
In addition to their sparkling wines the Pinot Noirs of Presqu'ile were incredible. The pure-fruited and delicately spiced bottling from their home vineyard was likely the highlight for us, but Presqu'ile also crafts single vineyard wines from a few other unique sites and it was a pleasure getting to compare and contrast the elements of terroir present in each bottle. Their estate Nebbiolo was also quite remarkable, and despite being a 2016 that had been in barrel for over 3 years it was still intensely tannic and acidic showing off beautiful notes of red fruit and rose petal. Overall we found the wines of Presqu'ile to be tremendously balanced, with an emphasis on showcasing elegant fruit, terroir, and structure in equal parts. These are truly world-class wines that are built for age and not just immediate enjoyment.
At the conclusion of our visit we left Presqu'ile Winery with incredible admiration for the intentionality of the entire operation. Everything the Presqu'ile team does is done well, and they have left no stone left unturned in the pursuit of greatness. Their wines are excellent, their property is beautiful, their facilities are immaculate, and their tasting room is stunning. In terms of all-around achievement in every facet of their business there might not be a winery in the country doing a better job than these fine people. We greatly enjoyed the time we got to spend with the fabulous folks at Presqu'ile and it won't be long until we're back again for another visit.