Welcome to 2026! If you’re wondering what’s new in Paso Robles wine country this year—or more importantly, what you absolutely shouldn’t miss—you’ve come to the right place.
This guide is specifically designed for those planning a return trip to Paso this year. Maybe you’ve done the classic winery tours and tasted the legendary Cab. Perhaps you’ve strolled downtown and hit a few tasting rooms. But have you slept in a shipping container among the vines? Explored world-class light art installations under the stars? Or discovered the boutique winery where the winemaker personally pours your glass?
For those who haven’t visited Paso Robles yet, we hope these eight experiences will change your mind about making 2026 the year you finally go. Because wine country has evolved far beyond traditional tastings—it’s become a destination where art, culinary innovation, and authentic hospitality come together in ways you won’t find anywhere else.
Stay on a Vineyard
Forget cookie cutter hotels—why not wake up right in the middle of the action? Sleeping among the vines transforms a wine trip from a vacation into a true immersion in wine country life.
The Geneseo Inn at CASS Winery has taken the concept of vineyard accommodations to a whole new level. Eight repurposed shipping containers—yes, you read that right—feature floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking 145 acres of vines. Rates start at $275 per night plus a $35 destination fee, and you’ll get breakfast delivered to your door each morning. The “Camp CASS” program lets you try your hand at archery, beekeeping, and horseback riding. With only eight rooms total, book well in advance.
For the ultimate luxury experience, the JUST Inn at JUSTIN Winery offers just four suites adjacent to their one-MICHELIN-starred restaurant. You’ll receive a complimentary bottle of JUSTIN wine, farm-to-table breakfast, and preferred dining reservations. It’s about 25 minutes from downtown, which only adds to the sense of peaceful escape.
If you’re looking for something with more history, The Farmhouse at Pelletiere Estate is an 1890s farmhouse beautifully restored with modern comforts. Sleeping four guests for around $500 per night, it’s just four miles from downtown and gives you intimate access to Pelletiere’s Italian varietal wines. They even offer optional bespoke yoga sessions if you’re feeling zen.
CaliPaso Winery & Villa features eight themed suites in an Italian-inspired estate ranging from $178 to $786 per night with continental breakfast and hot tub access. Just note that wine tastings happen at their downtown location rather than at the villa itself.
For larger groups, Dresser Winery Estate Villa sleeps 10-12 guests with a resort-style pool, hot tub, and private wine cellar tastings—contact owner Catherine directly for rates and group specials.
The most affordable option? Stay on the Vineyard offers private suites on a working Zinfandel vineyard for around $219 per night. Hosts Melanie and Jonathan Greer—recognized as “Top 10 Hosts in the World”—leverage their winery connections to arrange personalized experiences you won’t find anywhere else.
Find Your New Favorite Boutique Winery
If you think you’ve tried all the best wines in Paso, think again. These boutique producers craft exceptional wines you probably haven’t discovered yet, and the intimate tasting experiences are worlds away from the crowded big-name estates.
Start with Écluse Wines, open Thursday through Sunday from 11am to 4pm with $15 tastings waived with a bottle purchase. Their Westside estate near Kiler Canyon produces award-winning Rhône and Bordeaux blends, and the terrace overlooking their organically-farmed vines welcomes both you and your dog—indoors and outside.
At Bella Luna Estate Winery, you’ll taste wines from a producer who’s earned “Small Producer of the Year” honors. Their Estate Riserva Super Tuscan has received 98 points and Domestic Wine of the Year recognition three consecutive years. Open Thursday through Monday, this veteran-founded winery invites you into their dry-farmed, additive-free winemaking philosophy.
Grosso Kresser Vineyard just opened its tasting room in May 2024, though the vineyard’s story goes back to the 1970s when Gary Eberle—the “Godfather of Paso Robles”—originally planted 14 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon. What makes Grosso Kresser special is their aging regimen: each red wine spends at least three years in barrel plus another year in bottle before release. Open Thursday through Sunday from 11am to 5pm with $25 tastings, you can explore library flights featuring vintages dating back to 2012. Reservations are suggested, though walk-ins are welcome.
High Camp Wines gives you two ways to experience their estate. Visit their hilltop tasting room on Ranchita Canyon Road (Friday-Saturday 10:30am-5pm) for rustic vineyard views, or stop by their new downtown wine bar on Railroad Street (Friday-Saturday 12pm-6pm, Sunday 11am-5pm) for a more urban vibe. Either way, you’ll enjoy $25 tastings that run about 90 minutes and waive with a two-bottle purchase per person. Owners Megan and Spencer grow ten varietals at elevations between 1,100 and 1,400 feet, blending Old World techniques with modern style.
Tackitt Family Vineyards offers something truly unique: genuine military-family hospitality combined with exceptional wine and an unbeatable $10 tasting fee. Retired Navy EOD technician Leon Tackitt and his wife Cindy grow estate Gewürztraminer cloned from Leon’s grandfather’s 1970s German vines, plus Petite Sirah. Open Friday through Sunday from noon to 5pm (Monday and Thursday by appointment), their philanthropic EOD Cellars line donates 100% of proceeds to the EOD Warrior Foundation supporting wounded warriors. Expect award-winning “Best of Class” Cabernet Sauvignon, in-house Méthode Champenoise sparklers, and a relaxed country setting with a pizza oven, bonfire area, and friendly resident dogs.
Finally, don’t miss Brecon Estate, where Welsh winemaker Damian Grindley crafts small-batch wines that have earned over 90 gold medals and a “Winery of the Year” title. Open daily from 11am to 5pm with $30 tastings (refundable with a two-bottle purchase), you’ll taste under shady oaks beside gnarly old Cabernet vines in their naturally landscaped oasis. Their Cabernet Franc and Albariño have earned them their first 100-point score and recognition as one of Forbes’ Top 25 Wines in the World.
Get Artsy at Sensorio or Sculpterra’s Sculpture Garden
Sensorio now features seven distinct light installations across 35 acres. The newest, FOSO (Fiber Optic Symphonic Orchestra), launched in April 2025 with 32 synchronized light columns and an Emmy-winning original score. Bruce Munro’s iconic Field of Light—100,000 illuminated spheres creating a glowing landscape—remains the centerpiece, joined by his 69 wine-bottle Light Towers and HYBYCOZO’s geometric DIMENSIONS installation.
The venue operates year-round with hours tied to sunset, so winter evenings typically run 5pm to 8pm while summer expands later. Pro tip: purchase tickets exclusively through TIXR—third-party sites often inflate prices.
For a daytime art experience, Sculpterra Winery & Sculpture Garden displays monumental bronzes across 1.5 acres. Open daily from 10am to 5pm, the garden features works by the late John Jagger, including a 10-foot Mermaid fountain and 20,000-pound granite Puma, plus ongoing sculptures by resident artist Dale Evers. Garden access is free, and wine tastings cost just $20 for six wines with a 10% bottle discount. Weekend visitors enjoy live music and food trucks, while families appreciate the bocce court, ping pong tables, and chalk activities for kids.
Stay Out Late in Downtown Paso
These six venues in Downtown Paso Robles are concentrated within easy walking distance of the central park offer and everything from wine flights to craft cocktails—so park the car and enjoy the evening on foot.
Serial Wines occupies the historic Odd Fellows Building with 1930s elegance, firepits, and wines exploring all 11 Paso Robles AVA districts. Open until midnight Thursday through Saturday, it offers curated flights alongside local charcuterie and hosts regular salsa lessons and silent disco nights.
Around the corner, CaliPaso Tasting Room at 809 13th Street provides a more casual vibe with a charming patio and $20 tastings. Live music runs Friday and Saturday from 6 to 9pm, while Thursday evenings feature paint-and-sip and cooking classes. The indoor bar with a 75-inch TV attracts sports fans looking for a laid-back atmosphere.
Hayseed & Housdon operates Paso’s only “wine tasting garage,” producing sustainable “clean wines” with minimal sulfites. Owner-winemaker Ted Ross often greets guests personally, and their Rhone Rodeo GSM and Metronome Brut showcase approachable, food-friendly styles.
For something more mysterious, find the hidden doorbell at Eleven Twenty-Two Speakeasy, accessible through Pappy McGregor’s back patio. This Top 50 Hidden Bar in the World requires you to surrender your phone at entry—they’re serious about the speakeasy vibe. Classic cocktails and over 100 whiskeys await in the candlelit, 30-seat space. Walk-ins are encouraged Friday and Saturday, while reservations are available Sunday through Thursday. The $50 Back Door Pass skips lines and removes time limits.
Pappy McGregor’s itself has won “Best Bar” for eleven consecutive years. The Irish gastropub opens until 2am Friday and Saturday with DJ dancing, award-winning Bloody Marys, and a full gastro menu featuring lobster mac and cheese and wagyu burgers. And if you’re craving a tropical escape, Cane Tiki Room transports you with palapa ceilings, fire features, and hand-curated rum from around the world. The Pu Pu plates—pork potstickers, ahi tacos, Spam musubi—complement signature Mai Tais and flaming Scorpion cocktails perfectly.
Elevate Your Tastings at These Winery Restaurants
Some of Paso’s best dining experiences happen right at the wineries themselves, where “farm-to-table” isn’t just marketing speak—it’s literally from their farms to your table.
The Restaurant at JUSTIN holds the region’s only MICHELIN Star and Green Star, making it the sole U.S. winery with both distinctions. The $160 four-course dinner runs Thursday through Sunday evenings, showcasing hyper-seasonal ingredients from JUSTIN’s 26-acre estate garden. Add classic wine pairings at $55 or premium selections at $95. You’ll need to book weeks in advance through Tock—this is that special.
Restaurant Alice at Halter Ranch serves daily lunch from 11am to 3:30pm featuring ingredients from their 2,700-acre organic estate, including beef butchered on property and honey from estate hives. Tasting flights run $35-$50, and their Wine Cave Dinners and Train Experiences create memorable special occasions.
Niner Wine Estates earned USA Today’s #1 Best Winery Restaurant recognition and continues to deliver with seasonal farm-to-table lunches from 10am to 5pm daily. The open-kitchen concept emphasizes sourcing transparency—you can literally watch them prepare your meal. January’s Restaurant Month prix fixe costs $60 for three paired courses.
At Copia Vineyards, the Wine & Culinary Pairing Experience elevates tasting to an art form. Available Friday through Sunday at 11am and 1pm, the $60 experience ($30 for wine club members) features four distinct seasonal bites expertly paired with Paso Robles Rhône and Bordeaux wines in their indoor tasting space. Vegetarian and gluten-free accommodations are available with 72 hours’ notice, though vegan and dairy-free substitutions aren’t offered. If you prefer something simpler, standard $25 tastings (waived with three-bottle purchases) run daily.
CASS Winery Café welcomes families with wood-fired pizzas, elk sausage with apple butter, and blue crab cakes in a Spanish hacienda setting. Open daily from 11am to 5pm with $25 tastings waived with purchases, the venue has won Central Coast Winery of the Year three times—and the food is a big reason why.
Want to know all the finest winery restaurants in Paso Robles?
This guide tells you everything you need to know about all 24 winery restaurants in Paso Robles, categorized to suit every taste and budget. We dig into the must-try dishes and wines specialities for perfect pairings at each venue.
Spend a Day in Tin City
Think of Tin City as Paso’s answer to Portland’s artisan scene, but with better weather. This industrial makers’ district packs 40+ producers into four walkable streets, creating California’s most concentrated craft beverage corridor outside of major cities. Here’s how to make the most of a full day exploring this creative hub.
Start with wine at ONX Wines (pronounced “onyx”), where founders Steve and Brenda Olson have created a bold, rule-breaking urban tasting room. Their wines come from a 127-acre estate vineyard in the Templeton Gap District, crafting distinctive blends from 20 different historic varietals. Try their signature “Mad Crush” Rhône blend or the 100% estate Tempranillo “Indie Rosé.” What’s unique about ONX is that they offer three distinct experiences: this urban Tin City tasting room, off-road Estate Vineyard Tours, and on-site lodging at their vineyard (the five-bedroom Clark House sleeps up to 12 guests, while the English-inspired Briarwood Cottage offers a cozier option).
Just down the way, Ella’s Vineyard brings Italian winemaking traditions to California in their Tin City Annex location. Open daily from 11am to 7pm, the tasting room features reclaimed wooden beams from an 1866 Indiana barn—a fitting backdrop for their Italian varietals like Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Primitivo, and Montepulciano. They often blend these with Italian clones of Bordeaux varietals to create Super Tuscan wines that marry Old World tradition with Central Coast innovation.
Field Recordings takes a completely different approach, producing minimal-intervention wines including California’s largest pét-nat portfolio. Their $25 tasting explores skin-contact orange wines, chilled reds, and sparklers in a newly expanded space with patio seating. Walk-ins are welcome and it’s pet-friendly, making it one of the most laid-back tasting experiences in the district.
When you need a break from wine, BarrelHouse Brewing Co. anchors the district as the Central Coast’s largest family-owned craft brewery. Open until 9pm Sunday through Thursday and 10pm Friday and Saturday, their half-acre beer garden hosts concerts on two outdoor stages while DeBilz Kitchen serves food daily. A massive new “Hangar” production facility is under construction, but the Tin City taproom will remain and receive upgrades—it’s not going anywhere.
For lunch, Etto Pasta Bar is where Tin City gets serious about Italian food. Co-founded by viticulturist Stephanie Terrizzi (from Giornata wines) and her husband Brian, this Italian eatery and marketplace specializes in fresh, handmade pasta using classic techniques and ingredients sourced from over a dozen local farms and ranches. The menu changes monthly, but you’ll always find classics like Cacio e Pepe alongside seasonal creations. Watch the pasta-making process through the open kitchen, or grab a table on the dog-friendly patio. The adjacent Italian marketplace sells their handcrafted dry pastas and imported specialty ingredients if you want to take the experience home.
If you’re planning something extra special, Six Test Kitchen offers an intimate, MICHELIN-starred experience with only twelve seats surrounding Chef Ricky Odbert’s open kitchen. This is daring dining theater at its finest—a 12-to-14 course tasting menu that transforms Central Coast ingredients into edible works of art. Dishes like wild black cod from Monterey Bay, dill meringue with trout roe, and bay leaf and sesame caramel showcase what’s possible when culinary creativity meets exceptional local ingredients. The curated wine list focuses exclusively on boutique producers with rare bottles from Mt. Etna and Burgundy. Fair warning: reservations release on the first of each month at 9am and typically sell out within minutes.
Want the full guided experience? The Taste of Tin City Walking Tour from Toast Tours is the only way to see the district with an expert leading the way. For $120, you get three hours including tastings at three wineries, family-style lunch at Etto Pasta Bar, and a spirited finish at Tin City Distillery. It runs Saturdays only at 10am, with private tours available for groups.
Don’t Miss the Olive Oil Farms
Paso Robles produces some of California’s finest olive oils, and these three producers welcome visitors to taste the “liquid gold” and learn about the artisanal process.
Pasolivo Olive Oil Ranch cultivates 12 olive varietals across 130+ acres, milling fruit within hours of harvest to preserve peak freshness. $15 signature tastings include oils, vinegars, and fresh bread, with fees waived on $100 purchases. The scenic ranch operates daily from 11am to 5pm, welcoming picnickers and dogs to explore the property.
Kiler Ridge Olive Farm grows 2,700 Italian olive trees on 57 acres—the whole place was inspired by the owners’ Tuscan bicycle tour. Their $15 weekend tours explore the orchards and production facility, while Thursday through Monday tastings occur in a straw-bale building designed for natural temperature regulation. Note: they’re closed January 6-14, 2026 for winter break.
After fire destroyed their original tasting room, Olivas de Oro now operates from Tin City, offering complimentary guided tastings of award-winning oils cold-pressed from century-old trees. Their Bacon Chipotle Jam and Jalapeño Garlic oil rank among bestsellers, and “Sip & Savor” events on Tuesday and Wednesday pair wines with tasting boards for a fun twist.
Pamper Yourself
After all that wine tasting and exploring, you’ve earned some serious relaxation. Paso offers wellness experiences ranging from natural hot springs to sound healing.
River Oaks Hot Springs Spa taps true artesian mineral springs emerging at 117°F—they’re not artificially heated like most “hot springs” spas. Their $65 “Sip & Soak” pairs vineyard-view tubs with local wine flights, while basic one-hour private soaks start at $28. As the county’s largest spa with over 20 therapists, they offer packages combining massages, soaks, and wine experiences daily from 9am to 9pm.
For luxury spa treatments, Spa Allegretto at Allegretto Vineyard Resort delivers AAA Four Diamond service in five chandelier-lit rooms. Swedish massages start at $150 for 60 minutes, while the $325 Signature Spa Day combines massage, facial, and Prosecco. Day visitors can book treatments even if you’re not staying at the resort, though pool and cabana access remains exclusive to hotel guests. Weekend yoga classes in The Abbey cost $15, and spa members receive 10 complimentary sessions annually.
Planning Your Visit
Best Times to Visit
Peak seasons run March through May for spring bloom and September through November for harvest. Summer brings temperatures exceeding 100°F but fewer crowds. Winter offers olive oil harvest experiences from November through February and the least crowded tasting rooms.
Making Reservations
Advance reservations are essential for JUSTIN restaurant (book weeks ahead), Sensorio (often sells out), Brecon Estate, Grosso Kresser, and vineyard accommodations (especially Geneseo Inn). Walk-in friendly options include Sculpterra, We Olive, High Camp Wines, Tackitt Family Vineyards, most Tin City venues, and River Oaks Hot Springs for treatments.
Getting Around
Downtown venues cluster within walking distance, but vineyard experiences require driving. California enforces strict DUI laws, so consider rideshare services or designate a non-drinking driver when visiting multiple tasting rooms.
Make Planning Effortless with These Four Paso Guides
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