Presqu’ile Wines
Santa Maria Valley, California
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In 2007, after an extensive search that spanned the West Coast of the United States, the Murphy family acquired an ideal unplanted 200-acre property (77 acres are planted to vines) in the hills of the Santa Maria Valley. Just 6 miles off the coast, they oversee the farthest west vineyards in Santa Maria. Over the next two years, the Murphys, along with Santa Barbara County Vineyard Manager Jim Stollberg and Winemaker Dieter Cronje, meticulously planned the design of the Presqu’ile Vineyard with an emphasis on diversity. To achieve their vision, they mapped the site's deep sandy soils, distinct airflows, patterns of sunlight, hillside angles and elevations. Collectively, the result is a winemaker's dream, offering a treasure trove of individual blocks and sections, allowing Dieter to craft complex and layered small-lot wines.
"Presqu'île" means "peninsula," or "nearly an island" in French/Creole and was the name of the Murphy's beloved family compound in the Mississippi Delta, where Matt spent every summer until it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The winery is named after this place to honor this place that engendered a conviviality among family and friends and warmth of human spirit.
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Approximately 85% of the wine made at Presqu’ile is entirely estate grown. The rest comes from a handful of partnerships with growers who have holdings in some of finest cool-climate vineyards in the region, including Rim Rock, Steiner Creek and the legendary Bien Nacido Vineyard.
In 2016 they started organic farming trials.
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Presqu’ile is a gravity-flow winery, starting high up on the crush pad, 110 feet above the barrel cave. Gravity flow is a much gentler way of handling grapes and making wine. It also doesn’t require as much power to run.
Jeremy Seysses of Domaine Dujac has been a consulting winemaker at Presqu’ile since the 2015 vintage. His involvement led to several major changes in winemaking, including: no batonnage, less new oak. Now introducing oxidation of the juice early on and putting the wine into stainless for 6 months before bottling. Changing their pruning style.
A note about how to think about labeling in Santa Barbara:
- Santa Barbara County - a catch-all appellation. “Bourgogne Rouge”
- Santa Maria Valley - an AVA. “Gevrey Chambertin” (Presqu'ile Vineyard is here.)
- Sta Rita Hills - another AVA “Morey St Denis”
Wines
Chardonnay Santa Barbara County
First vintage 2015.
From a combination of sites, most of which is estate.
The SBC sees slightly shorter aging -11 months in oak (25% neutral French/75% Austrian fudera). Finished with 6 months in stainless steel.
Chardonnay Presqu'ile Vineyard
100% Presqu'ile Vineyard.
The Presqu’ile Vineyard is planted in the Santa Maria Valley AVA and is located only 16 miles from the Pacific Ocean.
As the site has gained maturity, the distinctive character of their Chardonnay has become apparent, and beginning with the 2013 vintage they started bottling a single vineyard wine. The sandy soils of the vineyard yield a taut, mineral-laced expression of Chardonnay with an old-world sense of balance and tension.
11 months in French oak (15% new), 6 months in stainless steel
Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County
Sourced from: 30% Shokrian, 25% Presqu'ile, 25% Cottonwood Canyon, 20% Bien Nacido
They originally intended to be heavy on whole cluster, close to 100% but picked too early leading to under-ripe flavors. Funny enough, since Jeremy Seysses has come on board, they have dialed back the whole cluster and started picking a bit later. The Presqu’ile Vineyard site is far inland, the soils are all sand and marine sediments so the wine needs to be picked a bit later for a better balance.
10 months in neutral French oak, No whole cluster
Fermentation in concrete/neutral barrel
4000 cases
Pinot Noir Presqu'ile Vineyard
The Presqu’ile Vineyard is planted in the Santa Maria Valley AVA and is located only 16 miles from the Pacific Ocean. 100% sand, marine sediment.
Wines are much softer and elegant. (Santa Maria has more clay).
5% Whole Cluster
11 months in French oak (15% new), Finished with 6 months in Stainless Steel
Pinot Noir Rosé
Made from a flatter part of 3 different vineyards in the Santa Maria Valley, not suitable for the red, planted in the 1990s. All direct to press. Aged for 5 months in neutral barrel, sometimes a little concrete egg. Partial malo.
Gamay Nouveau (2021)
2019 was the first vintage.
100% Carbonic Gamay sourced from Santa Maria Valley.
5 months in neutral French oak
Syrah Presqu’ile Vineyard
100% estate fruit. Because of sandy soils, never really tannin driven.
45% whole cluster.
18 months in neutral French oak
A little history on Santa María Valley and overall southern California wine industry
Land ownership in the Santa María Valley derives from Rancho Tepusquet a 36 square kilometer land grant that was issued in 1837 by the Governor of Alta California at that time Juan B Alvarado to Tomás Olivera. Whom eventually became superintendent of three mission ranches: La Purisima, Santa Ines, and Santa Barbara. California at the time was in the midst of a revolution, and mass secularization of property into large cattle ranches.
The Santa María Valley is delineated by the San Rafael and Sierra Madre Mountains to the Northeast and Solomon hills to the south. The Santa María River cools the valley with its draw of cold pacific air, like the Santa Rosa River does to the Sta. Rita Hills draws the cool pacific fog which makes this climate so special, however the soils here are sandier, and provide for a lighter more aromatic expression versus what is found in the Sta. Rita Hills. This influence of the Pacific Ocean is one of the central costs most important moderators in climate. To imagine that Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are suitable at the 34th parallel also shared with Tunisia, Algeria and Lebanon!
One could say post prohibition, the Santa María Valley becomes one of the first places to consider for viticulture. The Winkler Index which delineated climatic zones for suited grape varieties in the early 1950s helped provide this path. The beginning of modern viticulture here dates as early as 1964 when Uriel Nielson plants Cabernet and Riesling and commercially sold it to Brother Timothy (Diener) one of California’s early pioneers, a mentor to Robert Mondavi, and who would use this fruit from this region to freshen his Napa Valley Wines (The contrary of “Midnight Sun” where some questionable French & Italian wineries would source grapes from the south to beef up their wines)
It wasn’t until the arrival of Jim Clendenen and his consecutive rock and roll voyages to Burgundy does Pinot Noir and Chardonnay start to percolate in this region. Meanwhile to the south in the Sta. Rita Hills Richard Sanford plants the legendary Sanford and Benedict vineyard on a north facing slope post returning from the Vietnam war, on a property without running water, or electricity. His first commercial release of this vineyard was in 1976.
In 1987 the Miller’s establish Central Coast Wine Services CCWS a custom crush facility that became an incubator for the young innovative second generation of the Central Coast. Along the likes of Joe Davis, Chris Whitcraft, later Justin Willet and Graham Tatomer. This facility has served almost like a co-op in the sense of community and a “salon” of ideas. Paradoxically speaking in Santa Barbara County large vineyards from fractured Spanish land grants, and shared space allowed for the importance of lieux dits, place and site to trump brands like seen in the Napa Valley. Oddly enough the very french varieties that the North boasts were first introduced to California actually by the ways of Southern California, when Jean Louis Vignes a Bordelais vintner from Cadillac in 1831 immigrated to Hawaii and then lost his business to Queen Ka’ahumanu’s edict of banning alcohol production. (This predates the state of California by nearly two decades).