Etienne Terlinden was exposed to the world of wine at a very young age. In fact some of his earliest memories evoke images of him playing with his younger brother in his grandfather’s extensive personal cellar at the family’s Chateau near Brussels. However, it wasn’t until much later in life that Etienne would accept his calling to become a wine maker in the Central Coast.

Etienne landed his first “cellar rat” position with Mr. Zarif at Laetitia Winery. He later went on to work a crush at Gainey in Santa Ynez before taking a winemaking position working for the Miller Family at heir facility, Central Coast Wine Services in Santa Maria. Here Etienne worked closely with the 40 plus boutique producers who made their wines there. He also became very experienced working with the fruit from the Miller’s vineyards, Bien Nacido and French Camp. Etienne describes this four-year experience to that of working a dozen harvests in a single winery. He gained hands on experience working alongside some of the regions most respected wine makers who were producing wines from prestigious local Santa Barbara vineyards. It was during this time that Etienne reconnected with Mr. Zarif and served as Summerland’s consulting wine maker for the first two vintages before taking the position of full-time wine maker on the 2004 harvest until present.

In his own words, Etienne believes that Santa Barbara has become an exciting place to work as the vineyards here have really come on track, affording him the means to produce world class wines from a truly unique terroir. Etienne resides in Santa Barbara with his wife and daughter and enjoys surfing and sailing when he’s not crafting Summerland’s wines from vine to bottle.