1/17 Winemaker Denise Shurtleff from Cambria Estate Winery
Erik Hines meets Winemaker Denise Shurtleff!Long before the Santa Maria Valley benchland was recognized as a great winegrowing region, the native Chumash Indians knew it as "tepuztli," meaning copper coin. Later, Spanish settlers translated the word as Tepusquet. As part of an 1837 Mexican land grant, "Rancho Tepusquet" was home to cattle and row crops throughout the 1800s.
Proprietor Barbara Banke acquired a large portion of the original Tepusquet Vineyard (planted between 1970 and 1971) in 1986 to serve as the site for Cambria winery. Over the last two decades the vineyard has been expanded, replanted and updated with new clones and rootstocks to take advantage of the unique climatic and geological conditions of the Santa Maria Bench.
Denise went to California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, received her Bachelor of Science degree in Dietetics and Food Administration, then joined Cambria in September 1999.
When not making wine Denise lives with her husband and two sons on their five-acre property. As a family, they enjoy camping, kayaking, swimming and sports in general. Denise loves to cook and grow fruits and vegetables on their land.
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