Located in the heart of Santa Barbara County, Presqu’ile (pronounced press-KEEL) is a small, family-run winery.

After searching high and low along the west coast of the country, in 2007 the most perfectly diverse land was found on the hills of the Santa Maria Valley. Following this extensive quest, the Murphy family, Santa Barbara County Vineyard Manager Jim Stollber and winemaker Dieter Cronje, planned a winemaker’s dream, which the world now knows as the Presqu’ile Vineyard & Winery. Presqu’ile which means “almost an island,” in French was named after a property the Murphy family lost to Hurricane Katrina.

Dieter Cronje was the founding winemaker for Presqu’ile. He grew up in Durbinville in South Africa near Cape Town. He thought the sound of fermenting grape juice seemed like a fun major and received his degree from Elsenberg Agricultural College, which has trained winemakers since the late 1800’s. As a part of his education, he worked for Kuna Winery under the mentorship of Richard Kershaw who taught him his appreciation of Pinot Noir. He also traveled to France for an exchange program with the University of Bordeaux. The final part of his program brought him to Santa Maria.