Cambria

According to our head winemaker Jill Russell, "Happy people make great wine." It’s a simple idea, but it’s true. Here at Cambria Estate Winery, we love our work. Maybe it’s the land, maybe it’s the team—maybe it’s just from drinking and sharing all that delicious wine—but we can’t think of a better place to be than our estate in the Santa Maria Valley.

Just a 40-minute drive from one of California’s top surf spots in the Pacific Ocean, you’ll find the Santa Maria Valley AVA, a stretch of land we call home. Our founders, Barbara Banke and Jess Jackson, however, saw Santa Barbara County as more than a beautiful spot (within that 40-minute drive you transition from gorgeous beaches to rolling mountains and farmland). They knew they were part of a group of pioneers who were onto something big, some-thing exciting — something that was going to add a new chapter to the story of California wine.

To this day, our estate remains family-owned and under the care of Barbara and her daughters, Katherine and Julia Jackson. Adding to our collective of strong female leadership is general manager and former head winemaker Denise Shurtleff, and head winemaker Jill Russell.