Presqu’ile, the contemporary-styled minimalist estate winery poised high in the hills of Santa Maria with stunning ocean and vineyard views, recently announced their second year win in USA TODAY’s 2019 National Readers Poll of 10 Best Tasting Rooms across the United States. Presqu’ile proudly served as the only representative and entry from Santa Barbara County, a region rich with over 200 wineries and tasting rooms. The top ten winners were announced online, Friday, August 23, 2019.
“It’s always been our mission at the Presqu’ile tasting room is to share our passion for the wines from Santa Maria Valley and our estate vineyard in a relaxed, elegant setting while providing world-class hospitality,” states Matt Murphy, co-founder and president. “This nomination for the top 10 Best Tasting Rooms and eight place finish in the poll is a testament to the hard work our team puts in daily to deliver this experience. They are an extension of our family and do an incredible job living up to our high expectations for the guest experience at Presqu’ile. A huge thanks to our friends and extended family who voted for us; we are so appreciative of the support.”
Nominees for USA TODAY 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards categories are chosen by a panel of relevant experts which include a combination of editors from USA TODAY; editors from 10Best.com; relevant expert contributors; and sources for both these media and other Gannett properties and included experts Jill Barth, a Provence Wine Master; Shana Clarke, Wine Editor for inside.com and contributor to Eat Sip Trip; Karen MacNeil, one of the foremost wine experts in the U.S.; Ziggy Eschliman, publisher of ZiggytheWineGal; and June Rodil, a Master Sommelier, all chosen for their knowledge of wine and the American wine scene.
All voting is digitally submitted by the public, and the 10Best Readers’ Choice Award contest is accessible on the 10Best.com website. 10Best.com provides users with original, unbiased, and experiential travel content of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world. The team of local travel experts is a well-traveled and well-educated group who are not only experts in their fields – and their cities – but discriminating in their tastes. These local experts live in the city they write about and the content is constantly updated. 10Best.com averages 5 million visitors per month.
The Murphy family’s efforts have established Presqu’ile as one of the Santa Maria Valley’s defining wineries, recognized for making balanced and sophisticated cool-climate wines. From directing the planting of the Presqu’ile Vineyard to overseeing the design and construction of the state-of-the-art gravity-flow winery, shaping the elegant stylistic identity of the winery’s Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, to shaping the tasting experience, the Murphys’ collective vision has established Presqu’ile as one of California’s leading wineries. And thanks to USA TODAY it is now a must stop on anyone’s wine-bucket list.
ABOUT PRESQU’ILE WINERY:
Located in the heart of Santa Barbara County’s Santa Maria Valley, Presqu’ile (pronounced press-KEEL) is a small, family-run winery dedicated to making exceptional cool-climate Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Presqu’ile is a multigenerational collaboration between Madison and Suzanne Murphy, their three adult children, Matt, Anna and Jonathan, and their daughters-in-law, Amanda and Lindsey. No strangers to agriculture, four generations of the wine-loving Murphy family have been farming land in Louisiana for almost a century. Led by eldest son Matt Murphy, the family founded Presqu’ile—the Creole word for “almost an island”—both as a tribute to a beloved Gulf Coast family gathering place that was lost in Hurricane Katrina, and because they envisioned Presqu’ile as an island-like haven amid the vines. Also on the team is rising star winemaker Dieter Cronje.
The Santa Maria Valley is one of the most distinctive winegrowing appellations in the world. With one of the longest growing seasons in all of California. The Santa Maria Valley is a true cool-climate winegrowing region, yielding wines of extraordinary elegance and purity—qualities that define the world’s best Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. To preserve the complexity of these grapes, the Murphys worked with acclaimed San Francisco-based Taylor Lombardo Architects to create a gravity-flow winery designed to Matt and Dieter’s specifications. And to ensure that each wine reflects its vineyard, Dieter practices a naturally minimalist approach to winemaking, with a focus on whole clusters, native yeasts and modest new oak. As a result, Presqu’ile’s wines are pure and purposeful, conveying the authentic charm, complexity and signature Santa Maria spice that have made the wines of the Santa Maria Valley famous among enthusiasts of elegant and balanced wines. In addition to being featured by USA TODAY, Presqu’ile Winery has received accolades in numerous publications including Vinous; Santa Barbara News-Press; The Daily Meal; Santa Barbara Independent’s “Tastings To Do;” Condé Nast Traveler’s “Beautiful Wineries in California;” Must Do Travel Show and the Travel Channel.