Deep Thoughts with Dieter Cronje of Presq’ile Winery
(Written for the blog by Breakaway Tours & Event Planning, March 2018)
Dieter Cronje is the founding winemaker at Presqu’ile Winery, a family owned 73-acre estate vineyard & winery located in the Santa Maria Valley.
Get the scoop on how a journey that began in Cape Town, South Africa led him to becoming a rising star in the world of Central Coast winemaking in this interview for the Breakaway Tours & Event Planning Deep Thoughts blog.
Breakaway Tours: How long have you been making wine? What attracted you to the industry?
Cronje: My first vintage was 2004 in Stellenbosch, South Africa at Kanu winery. I got into the industry mostly because of my dad, he was not a winemaker but did enjoy drinking wine so when I finished High School me and him looked far and wide for industries that would facilitate my love of chemistry and biology. We settled on winemaking. At this point, it was mostly because it sounded way more interesting and fun than what my friends were going to school for. The passion for wine really only developed a few years later, once I had a better understanding of the history and pedigree of great wine.
BT: Do you have a formal education in winemaking? If so, what is it?
Cronje: I have the Equivalent of a Bachelors degree in Oenology from Elsenburg Agricultural College in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
BT: What do you love about being a winemaker?
Cronje: The ability to work with nature on such an intimate level is what I find most interesting. From trying to understand the effects of weather on the fruit characteristics, to working symbiotically with microscopic cells to achieve a beverage that provides so much pleasure.
“The diversity is amazing. If you can’t find a California wine that you like, then you might just not like wine at all.”
BT: What’s your winemaking style? What’s unique about how the wine you make?
Cronje: Very few if any winemakers are so unique in their style that it doesn’t overlap with what has already been done or what somebody else does. I’ve just taken the least intrusive and most natural production methods I have learned over time and combined them into my philosophy.
BT: Who are the key players on the Presqu’ile team?
Cronje: All of our employees have an important role to play. In our production team, we could not get the job completed without our competent staff. Our assistant winemaker, Mike Chase, our Oenologist Anna Murphy and our cellar-master Isaias Flores make me look good on a constant basis. Not excluding our front of house and office staff, who do an excellent job at hosting our customers and running the business-its very much a team effort.
BT: What does an average day at work look like for you?
Cronje: It depends on the time of year. Typically during harvest, which is when we are busiest, it starts off in the vineyard checking on fruit followed by processing the fruit we picked for that day and then checking on all the juice/wine we have in the cellar. [That’s] followed by some administrative work in regards to tracking volumes and provenance of the wines. Obviously, [we] sprinkle in some tasting as we go along.
BT: Do you have a favorite harvest memory?
Cronje: When I was a cellar rat in South Africa, we worked very long hours so I would sneak away and get inside a wine tank for a nap, with the hope that nobody would find me. One of the guys noticed snoring coming from the tank and proceeded to stick the water hose through the valve and blast me awake. We had a good laugh, but I started working on my tank sleeping technique to avoid getting busted again – many lovely naps followed.
BT: Of your current releases, what’s your favorite?
Cronje: The 2015 vintage is drinking fantastic, especially the Chardonnays.
BT: What’s the most challenging aspect of your job?
Cronje: It would have to be sales- the market is so volatile and competitive that there needs to be a constant adjustment to stay with the trends.
BT: What keeps you going when the going gets tough?
Cronje: When a customer or critic enjoys the wine we worked so hard on. Seeing our tasting room full of satisfied customers is by far the best part of the job.
BT: When is the last time you learned something about wine that you didn’t already know?
Cronje: Daily. Every year, every varietal, every barrel can teach you something about your vineyard and the methods you applied in the winery-you just have to pay attention and explore your curiosity in regards to yours and other wines.
BT: What’s so great about California wine?
Cronje: The diversity is amazing. If you cant find a California wine that you like, then you might just not like wine at all. As for a weakness, a lot of the laws are archaic and difficult to maneuver if you are a small winery.