This past Saturday we made our first trip to Vines On the Marycrest, a long overdue visit. Although we have had some of their wines before at events like the Garagiste Festival and many years ago when they did a tasting at Pony Club in downtown Paso…we had yet to go through a full lineup.
They are a small production family owned and operated winery that began in 2005. If you want to know the story behind the name and how they began you should really go in and ask them (like they haven’t told it thousands of times), it’s extremely unique, rather fun and whimsical, but you won’t find that story on their website…so you have to find our directly from them.
So I will break it down like this:
The wine:
2012 Viognier (100%)
2011 At Last (45% Viognier, 35% Roussanne, 20% Grenache Blanc)
2009 Heart of Glass (59% Grenache, 29% Syrah, 12% Mourvedre)
2010 Heart of Glass (63% Grenache, 22% Syrah, 15% Mourvedre)
2009 Satin Doll (62%Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 8% Syrah)
2010 My Generation (51% Zinfandel, 23% Syrah, 14% Mourvedre, 12% Petite Sirah)
2011 Zinfandel (100%)
2010 Buck’s Boogie (100% Late Harvest Syrah)
We actually did enjoy all the wines but walked away with the Viognier, the white blend, and both of the Heart of Glass blends. Really interesting wines and you can tell that Victor and Jennifer (owners) love what they’re doing.
The tasting room:
I dig the tasting room. It’s nice but not overdone. It’s kind of modern, funky, and fun…cool place to hang out I’m sure. They do a lot of live music there so be sure to check the schedule and try to get out there and catch that some time. It’s located at 5076 Mustard Creek Rd. across from Chronic Cellars.
The people:
Victor and Jennifer were in there pouring wines when we were there and they are super cool people to chat with. As I said, they really do seem to enjoy what they do and I loved hearing their stories…how they met, how they started all this, and so on. As you know though, I really think that life (all aspects of it from enjoying it to work to selling wine) is all about the stories. It’s great to hear them and when the opportunity is right to tell our own. Bottom line, awesome people just doing their thing…very cool.
Customer service:
It was a great experience. Although we have known Jennifer for some time and chatted with her a lot before, it was fun to be more one on one with her and finally be able to chat with Victor. As I have said before about Paso Robles, these experiences are awesome because you get to be in there with the owners/ winemakers and just talk like you’re sitting around your dining room table.
All that said, I’m glad we finally made it in there and I’m glad we have some of their wine in our wine rack. Cheers!
My family and I will be up for Harvest the weekend of the 18th. this will be one of our stops!
Cindy, have you been before???
not yet. after reading your guest-contributors’ posts about their 2 favorites, this one seemed to come up more than once. and we are visiting Adelaida, Daou, and others in that back-roads area I love so much. Their syrah/zinfandel blend sounds interesting.
Awesome, Cindy. Let me know what you think!!!
Thanks for the reminder about this winery. The last time we were there, we loved it! We haven’t been able to get back for a few years now and it’s definitely time for a re-visit! Cheers!
Dine, you’re welcome and yes, if you haven’t been for a while it is time for a revisit. 🙂
Yay! Im glad you went and had a good time! They are such great people and it really shows their drive and passion with the wines they produce.
=0)
Sean, for sure. We need to come see you soon, we only went to one winery on Saturday…you are on the list my friend.