Toasting a Decade
The estate’s 10-year-old tasting facility
Written by Anna Ferguson-Sparks | Photographs by Heather Daenitz / Craft & Cluster (Picnic, Simon); Courtesy of Presqu'ile Winery (Tasting Facility, Wine & Food)
In its tenth year of welcoming guests to the tasting room at its hilltop Santa Maria Valley estate, PRESQU’ILE WINERY has much to celebrate. Drawing on their Southern hospitality roots, the Murphy family continues to provide spot-on service while keeping the greater good in mind. Presqu’ile’s admirable sustainability efforts, which include its certified organic estate vineyards, have earned the winery the even more rigorous SIP Certified standing. Moreover, Presqu’ile is working toward its goal of being net zero, thanks in part to the estate’s 774-panel solar farm, which produces nearly 500,000 kilowatt-hours per year, an offset equal to the annual energy use of 45 average homes. The estate also includes a one-acre, organic vegetable-and-herb garden, which chef Julie Simon uses for her globally influenced, seasonal menus.
Presqu’ile has expanded its offerings to five different tasting experiences: an Estate Tasting Flight, highlighting new and current-release estate wines; the Wine & Food Experience, featuring a curated tasting flight paired with a mezze picnic; the Estate Horseback Tour & Tasting, a trail ride through the 400-acre property, also culminating with food and wine; and the Wine & Food Tour, a private walk through Presqu’ile’s wine caves and winery, ending with a pondside food-and-wine pairing. For larger groups, there’s Wine & Bocce on a private terrace. 5391 Presqu’ile Dr., Santa Maria, presquilewine.com
