Matt Murphy, President

As president of Presqu’ile Winery, Matt Murphy has guided his family’s efforts to establish Presqu’ile as one of the Santa Maria Valley’s defining wineries, recognized for making balanced and sophisticated cool-climate wines.

From his earliest work directing the planting of the Presqu’ile Vineyard to his role overseeing the design and construction of Presqu’ile’s state-of-the-art gravity-flow winery to shaping the elegant stylistic identity of the winery’s Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, Matt’s leadership has established Presqu’ile as one of California’s most exciting wineries.

Matt grew up in El Dorado, Arkansas. The eldest son in a family of wine lovers, he was exposed to fine wine at a relatively early age, including many of the great wines of Burgundy. Matt also often spent harvest season at the family’s farm in neighboring Louisiana, where four generations of the Murphys have been growing corn, soy and rice since the 1930s. While studying molecular, cellular and developmental biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Matt followed his emerging appreciation of fine wine and his love of the land, and worked a summer at Signorello Estate in Napa Valley. At Signorello, Matt found that he loved working in the vineyard, and the collaborative nature of making wine.

After university, Matt headed west and took a position in the cellar at Santa Maria Valley’s Ambullneo Winery. There, Matt spent three years learning viticulture and winemaking from the ground up—experience that planted the seed for what would become Presqu’ile. Matt also became good friends with Ambullneo’s assistant winemaker, Dieter Cronje. The two found that they shared strikingly similar philosophies about winegrowing, winemaking, and the relatively untapped potential of the Santa Maria Valley to make some of California’s finest cool-climate wines.

In 2006, building on his family’s shared love of wine and agriculture, Matt and his parents, Madison and Suzanne, began an extensive search for the finest vineyard land on which to found Presqu’ile. Though this search spanned the entire West Coast, they were thrilled when it ultimately led them back to Santa Maria Valley—an area whose wines the Murphy family had fallen in love with. In 2007, Matt and his family acquired 200 acres of highly prized land on the cool, sandy-soiled south side of the valley where the region’s most elegant wines come from.

In the years since, Matt has guided Presqu’ile, developing the vineyard, building the winery and creating a small portfolio of acclaimed wines in collaboration with his parents and siblings. “Around the world, the greatest wineries are multigenerational family endeavors,” says Matt. “This is the model we are following. We are a very close family that loves doing things together. Presqu’ile is an extension of this. We are building Presqu’ile together. We all share the same vision for quality and the same desire to establish something special and enduring.”

Dieter Cronje, Winemaker

A cool-climate Pinot Noir specialist, Dieter Cronje brings a unique perspective, gained in two hemispheres, to Presqu’ile.

As the winery’s founding winemaker, Dieter had the rare opportunity to contribute his insights to the original planting of Presqu’ile’s 73-acre estate vineyard, an experience that gave him an intimate knowledge of the vineyard’s rich diversity. He also collaborated with Presqu’ile’s founders, the Murphy family, during the design of Presqu’ile’s purpose-built winery. In this gravity-flow winery, Dieter preserves the vineyard’s diversity by working in small lots, and applying a gentle, minimalist approach that accentuates the character of the vineyards. The resulting wines offer the purity, elegance and signature spice that have made Santa Maria Valley famous among connoisseurs of great cool-climate Pinot Noir.

Dieter, who was raised just outside of Cape Town, in the wine country of Durbanville, South Africa, inherited his love of wine from his father. Together, the two would share and talk about wine. Recognizing Dieter’s aptitude for biology and chemistry, his father encouraged Dieter to study winemaking. Dieter enrolled in the globally renowned Elsenburg Agricultural College, which has been training winemakers since 1894. As part of his curriculum, Dieter spent a practical year at South Africa’s acclaimed Kanu Winery, where he worked alongside renowned winemaker Richard Kershaw. While Dieter learned a great deal from Richard, it was a bottle of 1997 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche that Richard shared with him that might have been the most significant lesson. “I tasted the Domaine Dujac and I knew that I wanted to spend my life making Pinot Noir.”

Eager to gain a global perspective, Dieter did an exchange program with the University of Bordeaux, and traveled extensively throughout Burgundy and Champagne to learn more about Pinot Noir. He also spent a Northern Hemisphere harvest working at a custom crush facility in the Santa Maria Valley. Inspired by the unique character of the region’s Pinot Noirs, Dieter jumped at the chance to return to Santa Maria Valley as the assistant winemaker for Ambullneo, after earning his degree in enology and cellar technology. At Ambullneo, Dieter became good friends with coworker Matt Murphy. In three years of working together, they learned that they made a great team, and had a common vision about what makes a great Pinot Noir. Over crush pad conversations and late nights sharing great Burgundies, Matt realized that Dieter would be the ideal winemaker for Presqu’ile.

Today, Dieter considers Santa Maria Valley home. “There is a sense of community and camaraderie here that I love. For winemakers, the focus isn’t ego or money; it’s about making wine for the right reasons.” In the winery, Dieter does as many as 25 Pinot Noir fermentations each vintage to make just five Pinot Noirs. Employing a gentle approach that uses native yeasts, whole clusters and modest new oak, while eschewing winemaking “enhancements,” Dieter makes authentic, elegant wines that show the unique terroir of Santa Maria Valley. “I think of our region’s transverse valley as a very special feature that the world created to make fascinating Pinot Noirs. It is not my job to speak for our region; it’s my job to let the Santa Maria Valley speak for itself.”

Mike Chase, Assistant Winemaker

Born and raised in Los Gatos, California, Mike attended Cal Poly and received his degree in Enology & Viticulture. Post-college, he traveled extensively in pursuit of furthering his wine education, which brought him to vineyards in New Zealand, France, Chile, and Argentina. Mike officially joined the team at Presqu’ile in 2014. Beyond his responsibilities as assistant winemaker, Mike is Presqu’ile’s de facto property manager – in short, he oversees all of the work done on our property. When not in the cellar, you will likely find him cycling, running, surfing and golfing.

Anna Murphy, Enologist

Anna grew up in El Dorado, Arkansas and attended Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, where she earned a degree in psychology. After graduation, Anna took a position at Hendrix working in the International Programs department, where she helped to manage the college’s Rwandan scholarship program, as well as the study abroad programs.

In 2011, excited by her family’s work at Presqu’ile, and eager to learn more about the wine industry, Anna joined her siblings Matt and Jonathan in Santa Maria to work her first harvest as a cellar hand. After immersing herself in several areas of the winery’s operations, including managing the wine club and helping to open Presqu’ile’s original Los Olivos tasting room, Anna’s interest for viticulture and enology drew her back to production. In addition to being mentored by Dieter, Anna augmented her technical understanding and gained hands-on experience by taking classes at Allan Hancock College and UC Davis as well as working abroad at Tuscany’s Tenuta Dei Sette Cieli winery and Domaine Dujac in France.

As Presqu’ile’s enologist, Anna works closely alongside winemakers Dieter and Mike at every stage of the winemaking process, from the growing season through harvest to final blending and bottling. Anna also collaborates with her family to guide the overall direction of the winery.

Isaias Flores, Cellar Master

Isaias learned how to drive a tractor before a car, so needless to say, his farming background is strong. His tenure at Presqu’ile began while working alongside our original vineyard manager, Jim Stollberg. After spending copious amounts of time amongst our vines, Isaias learned every nuance of Presqu’ile’s unique growing sites. Looking to broaden his skillset from the vineyard to the cellar, Isasis joined the production team during the 2013 harvest. Today, he currently holds our cellar master title, and is responsible for all of our daily winery and warehouse operations.