As of April 2002, a familiar Paso Robles wine label has a place on the map—literally. After nearly a decade of learning the art of winegrowing and winemaking, Alex and Monica Villicana opened their Westside Paso Robles tasting room, providing a home for their handcrafted, award-winning wines and a destination for fans of the label.

The Villicana label owes its existence to an unsuccessful culinary school endeavor. After college, Alex decided to pursue his interest in food and wine by enrolling in a culinary program. When the school failed to open, he shifted his focus to winemaking, taking a job working the harvest at a local Paso Robles winery in 1990 and enrolling in viticulture and enology classes at U.C. Davis.

In 1992, Alex was offered the chance to hand-harvest some Gamay grapes leftover from a mechanical harvest at a local vineyard. He eagerly accepted and made his first wine, catching the winemaking bug. In 1993, he was in the right place at the right time when he was offered three tons of Cabernet Sauvignon fruit from the renowned Tchelistcheff vineyard in the Adelaida hills. Fortunate enough to secure fruit from that vineyard again in 1994, Alex became captivated by Paso Robles—not only for its high-quality fruit but also for the cooperative spirit and energy of the local winemakers.