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56 W i n e s & V i n e s O C T O B e R 2 0 1 4 Cello Maudru Construction was the gen- eral contractor for the project. After barrel aging the wine is sterile fil- tered (the only time it's touched with a pump) and bottled with a mobile service. Presqu'ile is distributed nationally through Wilson Daniels. Murphy said case production in 2013 was around 8,000, and the plan is to eventually expand that to 12,000 to 15,000 cases. The tour at Presqu'ile includes a differ- ent wine at each level of the winery and ends with a taste on an observation deck from the roof of the hilltop structure. At the far edge of the horizon, one can make out white sand dunes on the coast. The ocean is at the western end of the Santa Maria Valley funnel that carries cool ocean winds inland up the valley that runs west to east. The topography and climate of the area makes it one of the longest rip- ening areas in California, and that's what Murphy and Cronje say makes Santa Maria so perfect for Pinot Noir. The estate vineyard is comprised of 73 acres of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah and a small plot of Nebbiolo. Jim Soll- berg, owner of Maverick Farming Co., currently manages the vineyard and helped lay out the vineyard. The strategy in the vineyard is similar to that expressed in the cellar. A philoso- phy of low-intervention coupled with a vigilant attention to every detail. Cronje likened it to a Burgundian approach, for which the wines are not overly manipu- lated in the cellar and the grapes are not pushed too hard in the vineyard. "They have a very good understanding of show- ing terroir and not overwhelming the wines with too much winemaking or too much farming," Cronje said. He added that he finds it ridiculous to set arbitrary limits on wine alcohol levels, but also says he doesn't have much confi- dence in a wild fermentation finishing successfully with too much alcohol pres- ent. With that in mind, grapes are usually picked at 21.5° to 23° Brix. "The longer growing season you have, the cooler growing season you have, the more phe- nolic ripeness you get at lower Brix," Murphy said. For Murphy, Presqu'ile is the destina- tion he reached after choosing to take a journey into winemaking. It's also where he and his family ultimately decided to stay after researching great Pinot regions of Oregon and California in a search for land for their winery. "We weren't limit- ing ourselves on where to go initially, when the idea was first conceptualized," Murphy says. "But because of our experi- ence here in Santa Maria, and just the connections we've made and the quality we saw and the potential we saw, we decided to stay here." Winemaker Dieter Cronje demonstrates how to use Presqu'ile Winery's pneumatic punch-down device. G R A P E G R O W I N G W I N E M A K I N G TECHNICAL REVIEW Euro-Machines, Inc. West: Fairfield, CA 94534 - Phone 707-864-5800 East: Culpeper, VA 22701 - Phone 540-825-5700 info@euromachinesusa.com www.euromachinesusa.com A subsidiary of Scharfenberger Company Germany Euro-Machines offers high-quality equipment based on your vision to bring out the best of every vine, with our proven history in the careful handling of grapes and together our love of good wine. Europress 6-320 hl Europress-Cool with cooling jacket Euroselect berry selector Destemmer crushers Sorting equipment Conveyor belts Vibrating tables Custom-made tanks Pumps Braud grape harvesters and much more Get the best out of your grapes. The Europress exclusively by Euro-Machines