On a trip to Paso Robles years ago, Douglas Ayres was awed by the beauty of the land, the warmth of the people and the promising wine region. While later traveling through some of the most celebrated wine and cultural areas of the world, the memory of Paso Robles inspired him to return with a vision of owning vineyards, making world-class wine and developing a destination driven wine country resort.
Painting by Agata Zaborowski
Twin Oaks Valley Winery is a family owned and operated business. Although established in 2001, Malcolm and Kathryn Gray purchased the winery in 2013 to introduce new, updated winemaking techniques to “old world” wines and refresh the brand. We specialize in crafting small batches of wine from the finest grapes grown in the San Diego County. We are proud to support our local farmers and growers. In addition to making our own wines, we offer a “custom crush” service allowing individuals, groups and organizations to use the facility to make wine for themselves.
In the early 1900s, Cesare and Rosa Mondavi, newlyweds from Italy's Sassoferrato region, planted their roots in Minnesota. When the Prohibition Act of 1919 banned alcohol sales, Italian families were puzzled—wine was a daily essential. But a loophole allowed families to make 200 gallons of wine per year for personal use, and Cesare saw an opportunity.
He began shipping California grapes for home winemaking, quickly noticing that many came from a place called Lodi. With a keen business sense, he moved his family to California, including his young son, Robert Mondavi, and launched his own grape-shipping enterprise. Robert’s first job was hands-on, nailing crates for his father’s grapes, a start that would spark a lifelong dedication to wine.
Raised with values of hard work, Robert Mondavi embraced his calling. He studied business and chemistry at Stanford, followed by viticulture and enology at UC Berkeley, preparing him to make waves in California’s burgeoning wine industry. This early groundwork would help shape the legacy of one of California’s most revered wine pioneers.
Founded in 1990, McManis Family Vineyards is owned and managed by Ron and Jamie McManis, fourth generation winegrowers, and is located in the rich agricultural region of the northern California interior. Currently, the family grows a wide selection of grape varieties on 2600 acres of premium vineyard land.
Image - chardonnay grapes - photographer Randy Caparoso
From vine to bottle Mounts Family Winery specializes in hand-crafted, limited production lots of Petite Sirah, Malbec, Grenache, Viognier, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel.
The Stanton family has been growing grapes in the Napa Valley since 1947. They began making their own wine in 1999. For this first vintage and the next three they used grapes exclusively from our Oakville vineyard. In addition to the Oakville property, the Stanton family owns two vineyards in St. Helena.
In 2002, acclaimed winemaker Dave Phinney, joined the Stanton team, lending his talented hands to the ’02 vintage, creating a wine that quickly captured the attention of critics and wine afficianados. A fan of Petite Sirahs, Doug decided to dedicate some of their Petite Sirah production to introduce their first vintage in 2004.
Stanton Vineyards remains, and will remain, a boutique winery, producing about 800 cases total (625 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon and 180 cases Petite Sirah) under their Stanton Vineyard label. This small production, which accounts for less than 7% of the grapes grown on their properties, allows them to focus on producing both grapes and wine of great character. Because, as Doug, his father John, and grandfather Jesse all agree, the grapes and the soil come first.
Tedeschi Family Winery is a great boutique winery to visit and tour. Tedeschi produces approx. 2,000 cases each year. At the time of adding the winery to our California Winery Directory we learned from Stephanie Trotter- Zacaria the Directory or Sales and Marketing that Tedeschi Family Winery took some recent medals for their wines. Congradulations to Emil Tedeschi, vintner & the winery owner, to Emilio Tedeschi the Winery's General Manager and not for forget Mario Tedeschi winemaker. We will be updating the winery in the future and getting a better picture assigned to the listing soon *
Hours:
By Appointment Only
Two passions combined: award winning wines and rare wooden boats
Hours: Thurs-Sun | 12 pm - 5 pm
Book appts at boatiquewines.com/visit or
call 707.279.2675
Kirigin Cellars is one of California’s oldest wineries. We are little-known but have been an enduring part of California’s wine country since 1916. We are located fewer than 30 miles south of downtown San Jose.
Kirigin Cellars is one of the most delightful gems in Santa Clara County, nestled within 33 acres of rolling vineyards, nine acres of cricket lawns, over 1,000 rose bushes, and 100 towering redwood sequoias, all framed by scenic hills and rangeland. The winery’s historic buildings, wine-tasting areas, and a newly added Tuscan-style Club House exude a charming old-world atmosphere.
Since its founding, this family-owned winery has upheld a tradition of offering a relaxed, unpretentious wine-tasting experience with a warm, old-fashioned hospitality. Kirigin Cellars handcrafts small batches of exquisite wines from grapes grown right on the property. Eleven different grape varieties are cultivated here—Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Malvasia Bianca, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Malbec, Tempranillo, and Zinfandel—all of which are crushed within hours of picking at each harvest.
The historic winery opens daily at 10:00 a.m., inviting visitors to explore its wines until 5:00 p.m. The picturesque grounds are also open for picnics and tours, making it a perfect destination for wine lovers.
Back Road Vines is located in beautiful Suisun Valley, California. Hand picked grapes, trivia night, thirsty Thursday, wine and s'mores on Friday and more... this winery has a very active calendar of events and is well worth looking into for those who love activities surrounded by wine tasting (or vice versa). They even have a Bocce ball court on the premises!
They pride themselves in following the "old school" art of winemaking and use small vessel fermenting along with stainless and French Oak barrel aging. These wines have structure and balance. As of this writing there is a $20 Tasting Fee, which includes a crystal logo BRV Glass and five samplings of their latest release.
They are open daily from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm -
