Presqu’ile The Point: Four Barrels from Block Five

Wind, sandstone, and Pacific air sit at the heart of Presqu’ile’s newest Pinot Noir. On April 8, 2026, Presqu’ile Winery released The Point, a 2022 estate Pinot Noir drawn exclusively from Block Five on its Santa Maria Valley estate.

For collectors who follow Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir by vineyard architecture rather than label romance, the appeal is unusually clear: one vintage, one estate block, and a cuvée built to show why this particular site can stand on its own.

Presqu’ile The Point Arrives from Block Five

The Point comes from a 4.5-acre parcel planted to Mt. Eden, Swan, and Calera Pinot Noir clones in Marina sand and Garey sandy loam soils. The block is SIP-certified and farmed by hand using organic practices, the kind of granular vineyard information that matters when a wine is asking for serious cellar attention.

Presqu’ile is a family-owned estate winery in the Santa Maria Valley of Santa Barbara County, founded in 2007. Its hilltop estate centers on cool-climate Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah, with The Point now sitting as its most tightly focused Pinot Noir expression.

The cellar work stays measured. The wine was fermented in stainless steel, aged for 11 months in 100% neutral French oak, then finished in stainless steel for an additional six months. No new-oak gloss leads the conversation. The vineyard does.

Availability is equally exacting: three-bottle boxed sets only, priced at $390, with Wine Club member pricing applied at checkout. The wine is not offered for individual bottle purchase or tasting room pours.

Why the Estate’s Most Polished Block Matters

Block Five reaches approximately 1,000 feet in elevation and sits about 14 miles from the Pacific Ocean, directly in the path of the marine layer moving through Santa Maria Valley. That combination of altitude, coastal influence, and exposure gives the wine its central tension.

Matt Murphy, Presqu’ile Co-founder, frames the site through farming conditions rather than ornament: “The Point comes from the wind-exposed, shallowest soils and warmest block we farm, allowing a longer, drawn-out growing season,” said Matt Murphy.

Winemaker Dieter Cronje puts the soil’s pressure in especially concrete terms: “It has a shallow, impermeable layer of sandstone about three feet down that stresses the vines in a particular way, and that tension is part of what makes it special.” A physical limit in the subsoil becomes a limit on vigor; Pinot Noir often grows more compelling when ease disappears.

Director of Farming and Viticulture Andrew Heilbrun has been central to the block’s evolution over the past several years, bringing estate knowledge and a focus on biodiverse, sustainable farming. Cronje credits Heilbrun’s patient, hands-on understanding of the site with transforming its potential.

Presqu’ile had made wine from Block Five for many years before it felt distinct enough to stand alone. That threshold is the important moment: The Point marks the block’s move from component to protagonist.

What Collectors Should Watch in This Limited Release

Four barrels make this Presqu’ile’s most limited release to date. Scarcity alone is never enough, but here it is paired with a disciplined set of choices: estate Pinot Noir, a single block, stainless-steel fermentation, neutral French oak élevage, and a final stainless-steel rest before release.

The three-bottle format suits the way many collectors actually live with a new cuvée. One bottle can set the early register; the others can follow as the wine settles and the site signature becomes easier to read. It is a practical structure for a Pinot Noir built around precision.

Cronje connects the wine in the glass to depth, concentration of flavor, and chaparral undertones, a particularly evocative marker for a dry, coastal California estate shaped by wind and marine influence. If that character carries through with the restraint implied by the neutral-oak regimen, The Point should be a revealing marker for how this block speaks on its own.

Alex Gerberick, Presqu’ile’s Director of Marketing, casts the release toward both loyal Pinot Noir drinkers and those who have yet to discover the estate: “There’s a tier of Pinot Noir drinker who has been waiting for Presqu’ile to make this wine, and a tier that doesn’t know us yet, but should. The Point speaks to both,” said Gerberick.

The Name, the Label, and the Coastline Behind It

The Point carries two meanings for Presqu’ile. It honors the Murphy family’s original peninsula-like gathering place on the Gulf Coast, also called “The Point,” and it speaks to the purpose behind the family’s winemaking.

Murphy makes that intent plain: “The point of Presqu’ile Winery’s existence has always been to make great Pinot Noir, and this release is one direct expression of that commitment and our family history,” said Murphy.

The label adds another coastal layer. It features a photograph by Tim Wanner, Presqu’ile’s Director of Hospitality and Sales, shot at Refugio point break along the Santa Barbara County coastline. For Presqu’ile, the surf location and the winemaking process both turn on a rare alignment of conditions.

The winery’s name, Presqu’ile, pronounced press-KEEL, is French for 'almost an island', a nod to the Murphy family’s Gulf Coast roots and the sense of place running through the estate.

There is also a hospitality dimension, though the wine remains the lead. Presqu’ile offers an onsite and locally grown culinary program led by Chef Julie Simon, alternate tasting and adventure experiences, and an arts and culture program in partnership with the Los Angeles Nomadic Division.

How to Approach Presqu’ile The Point Now

For a Santa Maria Valley collector, one useful lens is internal: The Point isolates the estate’s highest-elevation block and asks whether that site now deserves to be followed vintage by vintage.

The release also sharpens a broader conversation around estate specificity in California Pinot Noir. The strongest examples are rarely just about appellation names; they come from well-understood parcels, farming choices, and a winemaking frame that lets the terroir carry the weight.

Presqu’ile wines are available at presquilewine.com, select retailers, and in the tasting room, which is open Wednesday through Monday. The Point, however, belongs to a narrower category: a limited, site-specific Pinot Noir for drinkers who care about block, soil, exposure, and provenance.

For now, Presqu’ile has made its claim in the direct language a winery can use, one place, one Pinot Noir, and a release small enough for collectors to watch closely.