Paso Robles Wine Country

Officially known as the Paso Robles American Viticulture Area (or AVA), the region was established in 1983, and is by far the largest of the four official AVAs in SLO County. By comparison, the Paso Robles AVA is almost three times the size of Napa Valley’s AVA, spanning from San Miguel in the north to Santa Margarita in the south, and from Shandon in the east to the Santa Lucia Mountains in the west.

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WINE TASTING IN PASO ROBLES WINE COUNTRY

Due to COVID-19, some wineries may not be open for tasting or have different hours than listed below. Given the rapidly changing landscape of rules and regulations, please contact wineries directly to ensure you are able to visit, and make reservations as necessary.

There are over 200 wineries in the Paso Robles’ Wine Country, and the vast majority have tasting rooms on their property that are open to the public.

To help you plan your next outing we’ve curated a list of all the wineries in Paso Robles’ Wine Country where you can visit their vineyards, and do some wine tasting while you’re there.

If you can’t make it to the vineyards for wine tasting, make sure to check out Paso Roble’s Food & Drink Page to find the wine bars, tasting rooms, and restaurants that feature the wines of Paso Robles Wine Country!

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TERROIR PROFILE

The Paso Robles AVA is only separated from the Pacific Ocean by a single mountain range, but it is those mountains that define the climate for the region.

The Santa Lucia Mountains not only protect the vineyards in Paso Robles’ Wine Country against major coastal weather fluctuations, they also allows cool air to flow through the gaps between its hills.

Although all of the vineyards in Paso’s Wine Country experience warm days and cool nights, the various districts see differences in highs and lows (and rainfall) given their geographic location within in the AVA.

The Santa Margarita Ranch District, for example, sees an average of 3.74″ of rain per year, and highs in the low 80s during their growing season. The Highlands District, by contrast, only sees 1.89″ of rain during their growing season, and highs easily in the high 80s to low 90s.

Below is a simple terroir snapshot for the entire Paso Robles AVA, but make sure to visit the individual districts to learn more about the nuances of Paso Robles Wine Country, and how to visit the wineries so you can taste and explore the differences for yourself.