Viognier

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Barton Family Estate

Painting by Agata Zaborowski - woman with wine

The Barton Family Estate is the only site on the 46 West corridor in Paso Robles that offers Wine, Food, and Spirits all in one location. What more could you ask for when looking for a genuine Paso Robles tasting experience like no other. 

Today, Barton and his wife Jenny run the family business as a husband and wife-team. Joe’s mom, Shirlene, is also an integral part of the day-to-day operations still and they are a completely owned and operated family business to this day. Together they have modernized their family brand and added a beautiful urban farmhouse tasting room to the property. They added Barton’s Kitchen in 2013, offering farm-to-table, casual cuisine, and in 2022, Grain+Vine Craft Distillery was born. 

Woffard Acres Vineyard

Cabernet Sauvignon grape clusters

This was homiest and friendliest of the 3 wineries we visited. The view off the hill cannot be beat. It is gorgeous. It was neat to see the vines with fruit hanging off of them. Some of it had been picked and was waiting for pick-up, which happened quite often as the owner whizzed by on his ATV. We could see people in the back taking the grapes he had just delivered and running them through a press.

Come for the Wine. Stay for the View.

Guests are invited to savor award-winning, small-batch wines while enjoying breathtaking canyon views. With a production of only 1,500 cases each year, these wines are exclusively sold through the Sales Room. Reservations are recommended, and required on weekends in October. Walk-in guests will be seated as space allows. For reservation information, guests are encouraged to reach out.

Dogs are welcome on a supervised leash, and children may visit with parental supervision. Limos are not permitted without prior approval, especially during events and on weekends in September and October. Photographers are welcome during business hours.

Photo courtesy of Photographer Randy Caparoso

Mount Palomar Winery

people sharing wine

Mount Palomar Winery, located in the Temecula Valley wine appellation, is a fine wine estate dedicated to making wines of distinctive taste and high quality. Located among rolling hills and mesa lands at 1400 feet elevation, Mount Palomar is a working wine estate with 45 acres of producing vineyards overlooked by the Palomar Mountain range. John H. Poole established the original Mount Palomar vineyards, and was Mount Palomar Winery's first winemaker in 1975. He created a place where people could immerse themselves in the world of fine wine in a pleasant and relaxed Wine Country atmosphere. Today, Mount Palomar’s winemaker James Rutherford is a Northern California transplant who received his degree from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo. He gained most of his experience on the Central Coast in both the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo wine regions.

I sat on the Patio listening to some awesome music. Three very nice ladies were sketching while the music played! I had the best lunch, Chicken, Artichoke- sun dried tomatoes-feta cheese and roasted garlic flatbread! Glass of Dry Riesling! Delicious! The perfect outdoor day! If you have never been there, I suggest you go and relax on the patio for some great food and delicious wine tasting!

Rasmussen Vineyards and Winery

bottles of wine and grapes with vineyard in background

Larry and Elaine Rasmussen met at Cal Poly in the early 1960’s. Elaine is a native of San Luis Obispo, as were her mother and grandmother, so bringing their children to the Paso Robles area to visit family was a regular occurrence.

Larry grew to love and appreciate the local wines and one day (literally, just one day) decided to buy property for a vineyard. The vines were planted in 1995 and since the first harvest the vineyard has supplied fruit to other local wineries. Larry and Elaine with son Niles, his wife Wendy, and their daughter Kristin wanted to showcase the vineyard’s sought-after fruit in their own wines so in 2009 Rasmussen Family Vineyards and Winery was born.

Open on weekends 11-5 or by appointment

Turnbull Wine Cellars

red wine pouring into glass - Pixabay

his is the perfect small-scale vineyard with just the right amount of unique character that makes wine tasting so charming and fun. Art, history, and vino. This is a triple threat of a vineyard. The tasting room is very simple but certainly warm and welcoming with lovely artwork on the walls and big french doors opening onto the winery with rows of grapes as far as you can see. The moment you pull in, you face a huge, regal barn and immediately feel welcomed by the beautiful grounds. Rob and Amanda led our tasting and both were very friendly and down to earth. Rob was very generous with his pours, giving a taste of the Cabernet Franc to both of us at the mere mention of the wine - the Cab Franc was a wine on the reserve tasting list, which was not the list we were tasting from.

Back Patio Cellars

Artwork by Wine Artist Agata Zaborowski – Agata Art Gallery   Gallery | Agata Art Gallery

Back Patio Cellars got it's start on the patio. It was a lot of work to process those first grapes into wine. This husband and wife team are passionate about wine. Starting out as a hobby it was soon a matter of "Go Big or Go Home." Fank and Jen believe that wine always tastes better when you are with friends and family, so you will feel the relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere at Back Patio Cellars

Hours:

Fri         4:00pm to 7:00pm      Or By Appointment
Sat        1:00pm to 7:00pm
Sun       1:00pm to 5:00pm

    

Ojai Vineyard

grape cluster

The Ojai Vineyard, owned by Adam and Helen Tolmach, works closely with a dozen different vineyards on the Central Coast of California and produces wines from syrah, grenache, mourvedre, pinot noir, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and viognier. About 6000 cases are produced each year, divided between 15 bottlings, most of which are vineyard designated wines.

Read more about other Ojai Wineries and Vineyards.

Chateau Souverain

wine splashing in the wine glass - Pixabay

At Souverain the goal is to make authentic wines that are the best expression of each varietal and Alexander Valley. Souverain believes that consumers deserve to drink great wine every night. Souverain love affair with producing wines has stretched back over 60 years and during that time they have produced award winning wines, have received numerous accolades and praise from the wine press.

Morse Wines

clusters of wine grapes

Unconventional by Nature - Winemaker Robert Morse

Terroir is everything, but so as they say is location, and sometimes those aren’t the same place. We have chosen to stay at our vineyard, winery and estate tasting room to allow our customers to experience our unigue terroir. Opposed to what might seem apparent by the concentration of valley wineries, the best vineyard sites are not necessarily alongside the pre-existing major thoroughfares.

In the Foothills, we can grow any warm climate varietals but focus on those that perform at their best in granitic soils. Italian and Rhone varietals benefit from our consistently ideal climate. Our vineyard and winery’s location straddles ridgelines above an elevation of 2000 ft, benefitting from cooling afternoon breezes, abundant sunshine and low yielding rocky soils resulting in our unique terroir.

The Il Gioiello, “the jewel,” name comes from the final home of famed astronomer and scientist Galileo Galilei. Our 2 Roads brand name was inspired by my favorite Robert Frost poem and Morse is my name and most importantly the name of my parents. All three have inspired a slightly different approach to my choices and my respect for integrity, honesty and hard work.

Our wines and winery reflect these values; unpretentious, no concentrates or additives, just wine grapes and great value wines. In my life, the right wine has always been the wingman of a good meal, not the star of the meal. I recall great meals far better than other pleasures and that is why we make “food wines”.

As the French proverb says, “to have a great meal, one requires great hunger”. Having 17 unique estate varietals and clones allow us to create complexity and balance in our wines difficult to achieve with single varietals.

When asked about my favorite wine, the answer is always the same, “what are we eating”. If I’m having a glass of wine without the benefit of food, our 2 Roads blends Crossroad and La Strada are soft, fruity and complex.

photo - courtesy photographer Randy Caparoso

Odonata Wines Salinas

Denis, Claire and others at Odanata Winery

Winemaker Denis Hoey released his first commercial vintage at the age of 21. He now blends old-world methods with new-world techniques to create nouveau-style wines. His goal is to produce wines that are rich, textured, and balanced, while respecting both terroir and varietal character. Hoey's success stems from meticulous attention to detail and the purposeful application of each step in the winemaking process, including grape sourcing, fermentation techniques, pressing regimens, barrel selection, and aging programs. The result is a line of clean, focused wines.

A native of Sacramento, Hoey grew up in a family that appreciated fine wines, exposing him to a diverse range of quality selections that helped refine his palate. In 2004, he graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a degree in Business Management. Shortly after, he met Jeff Emery, the owner and winemaker at Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard. This relationship quickly evolved into an Old World apprenticeship for Hoey, who eventually became the production manager at SCMV before founding Odonata Wines in Santa Cruz in 2005.

Hoey honed many of his cellar practices at Bison Organic Brewery in Berkeley, where he worked with a more perishable product. This experience emphasized the importance of careful attention to spoilage organisms. He continues his education by following current trends in winemaking research from major universities and has traveled to Italy and France multiple times to gain a broader perspective on European winemaking techniques and varietal fidelity. His commitment to quality is evident in his practice of tasting frequently to maintain a sharp palate for the nuances of wine. He consistently challenges himself to improve by learning from the successes and missteps of others in the industry.

In 2014, Hoey and his wife, Claire, relocated to the Santa Lucia Highlands, where they are raising their family and operating Odonata Winery. Their property features a 2-acre vineyard, a production facility, a tasting room, and a welcoming patio where visitors can enjoy their unique wines.

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