Ridge Vineyards Opens New Tasting Room in Paso Robles, Adding to Region's Organic Allure
Exciting! And tastings are only $25!
From Ridge Wine’s website:
Templeton Gap, Paso Robles
We are excited to announce the opening of our new tasting room in Paso Robles on Thursday, June 26th—bringing one of California’s most historic wineries to one of its most exciting wine regions. While the tasting room is new, RIDGE’s roots in Paso Robles run deep. RIDGE first made Zinfandel from the Dusi Ranch vineyard in Paso Robles in 1967 and was the first winery to list “Paso Robles” as a designated region on a wine label with its 1976 release. More than 50 vintages later, RIDGE continues to craft a single-vineyard zinfandel from the Dusi Ranch that highlights the distinctive character of the region’s old vines and warm climate.
[Boldings mine]
Ridge has been a stalwart in organically grown wines from its own estates – Monte Bello and Lytton Springs – where it has long had tasting rooms. All of the wines from these estates are from certified organic grapes, and offer some of the best the US has to offer.
It’s also protecting many of our old vine vineyards from being torn out.
Its Geyserville old vines field blend is a great example of preserving vines, some as old as 100+ years. And the wine is $56 - a shining example of an excellent price/quality ratio. I have even seen on the shelf of some Whole Foods stores.
In the Paso area, it owns no vineyards but sources fruit from locals, including the historic Dusi vineyards. (Organic status unknown to me right now but I am researching it - I think it is organic farming without certification.)
Ridge’s entry into the tasting experiences available in Paso is a big leap forward. Now you can go to both Turley Vineyards (historically more intertwined in the region, also organic certified on the vineyards it owns, including the one the tasting room/winery sits on ) as well as Ridge, which can tip the scales in getting you to journey to the area.
Other notable organic producers in the area include:
Adelaida
Booker Vineyards
Castoro Cellars (the largest organic grower in the area by far)
DAOU (only the wines from its Paso estates are organically farmed, which is a very tiny percentage of the label’s wines, so pay attention to its labels and enjoy the estate wines)
Halter Ranch (100% organically farmed)
Jada
Law
Tablas Creek (the Patelin wines there are not organically farmed but all the estate wines are)
Villa Creek/MAHA and a few others.
See my map for details and consult the Slow Wine USA guide book (a mere $25) for more info and wine reviews.
Some producers, like Robert Hall, have gone all in on regenerative organic certification, but have not yet released those wines (except for one sparkling white which is definitely worth seeking out). (Their ROC red wines are due out in spring of 2026.)
You can also check out my 2022 blog post on the organic wave’s newest converts in Paso here.