Anyone familiar with this winery and the stlyle of their Pinot
I had this last year at Sunday Vinyl in Denver. The somm was describing the BTG options and she mentioned that Jeremy Seysses was a consultant for this so I said I will take the poor man’s Dujac. It tasted like Corton to me. I saw Diana Snowden at the verticals and mentioned it to her, but she said Jeremy is no longer consulting there.
I tasted there a couple of years ago. Was thoroughly unimpressed with the entire range. The winery building and the grounds are great though ![]()
I also tasted Syrah from Presqu’ile grapes made by Holus-Bolus and it was WAY better than the estate production.
Steve,
I’m not a regular buyer but have positive overall impressions of the place. I do like the whites better then the reds, however. My only recorded note on the Pinot is from the 2016, which I criticized for being a bit cloudy and dull (though still a reasonably solid wine). They are not especially expensive so I think worth the cost of a bottle as a exercise in learning about a new producer. Do try the chardonnay while you are at it, though, as I think that offers more pleasure.
This seems to be popping up all over Denver these days. Had it once in Santa Barbara and then it seemed like it was on everyone’s wine list…
I agree Holus Bolus’ Presqu’ile Syrah tends to perform better than the producer’s. That said, I am a club member–of both–and enjoy Presquile’s wines. Their winery and experience is a big plus, so I will say it’s not purely about the wine.
As far as Presqu’ile’s style of Pinot Noir, they tend towards a red-fruited style, low tannins, overall fresh, without impression of excess oak. Pretty typical for the region–strawberry, cherry, mushroom and sage aromas. They used to be very heavy on stem inclusion, but have pulled back on that approach in the last few years. The vineyard designated wines are well-differentiated.
That said, I don’t find that every wine across the board delivers a great value. They do better in some vintages or with certain vineyards.
They do have a line of Santa Barbara County wines (PN, Chard, Syrah) that deliver nicely in the $20-$30 range. They are typical of the house style, well made, and balanced to my taste. I would start there if you can find those wider distribution bottlings.
It’s been years since they were distributed in Massachusetts as far as I know, but I remember the Steiner Creek pinots, the '12 for example, to have a lot of herbal intensity and personality. Their winemaker Dieter is a pretty interesting guy.
I would categorize their wines as a bit more ‘rustic’ and less fruit forward, except their sauv Blanc - they use the musque clone and t nda to be pretty tropical.
Dieter is an interesting guy, and the owners are very vested in the region and huge supporters of it. Their winery and tasting room are pretty isolated compared to most others in our area, but their hospitality is top notch; they have great food there; and they often times have live music.
Cheers
We opened the ‘21 Presqu’ile Vineyard chard a few weeks ago. To me, it certainly fell into the category of chards that I would pour for ppl who say they hate Chardonnay. A nice combo of ripe fruit and freshness with no / limited oak application.
To me, their Syrah is okay, their Gamay is not great. Their sparkling wines are sneakily quite good, and they typically are releasing some back vintage/late disgorged stuff to folks on the wine list. To your actual question, the SBC or Presqu’ile vineyard Pinots would be totally fair play for a down the fairway SB pinot in a blind tasting. For whatever reason my mental models for traditional vs. more modern SB Pinot are Au Bon Climat and Sandhi, respectively. I think Presqu’ile skews more toward the former (more polished fruit, structure, oak), but doesn’t whack you over the head with each of those elements as much as ABC does.