Dover Canyon Winery

We were members here for a few years and during our recent visit the owner was very snarky and rude. To be fair, she was very busy and could have used some help. Still, no excuse to be rude to customers who were just drinking wine and enjoying their trip. Membership canceled. Their zins are decent.

Love Cujo but not the owner! Not sure if it was because it was busy and under staffed but she was very rude to our entire party. Not sure if we will be back.

I wanted all six that we tried, but settled on four. Sweeter zins, small but charming little tasting room. I would come back here for sure!

One of the 3 great wineries we visited in the Paso Robles area!
Dover Canyon Winery offers a smallish tasting room inside a quaint blue house. You can really get some wonderful pictures around the property as it is beautiful, especially while the sun is setting. The outside ambiance of this winery was great, the grounds had a porch swing with freshly cut wood underneath a tree. Cool!
The woman who helped us with our wine tasting was wonderful and talked us though the wine selection and had a great personality. The standouts in my eyes was the Cujo Zinfandel (on a side note is Paso Robles known for Cabs and Zinfandels? Because we drank a lot of those) and the Zinfandel Port dessert wine. We ended up purchasing the port to diversify our selection from other wineries, but the Cujo is also worth buying.
There are also stray cats who wonder the grounds, some of which are friendly.
Overall, friendly service, laid back but beautiful environment, and great tasting wines make Dover Canyon Winery a great place to stop next time in Paso.

This winery is truly a gem! The wine is ALL amazing! Like seriously I do not think i can name another winery where I love ALL of their wines. Every single wine i try here I want more! The tasting room is small and cozy and the owners/​winemakers live on property. The grounds are beautiful and you can see the 2 cats hanging around and doing what cats do best, leading people on.
If you are in the Paso area definitely go here! Unless there is like 20 of you on a party bus, then you should go to Tobain James.

Great reds. Great, nice big reds. Friendly people, and a good wine club. Prices are very reasonable. This is an ‘always stop’ for my husband and I when visiting Paso.

We stopped here after visiting Daou after a recommendation from a guy on the shuttle from the parking lot. While Daou is a lovely spot, I much prefer the boutique wineries that are homey and welcoming. No shuttle needed here! Even more importantly, the wine was excellent and affordable, and much more to my taste. The pourer was super sweet and told us about a party of 20 that was angry because they expected to be accommodated without any notice. Not cool. This is a tiny tasting room (maybe 10) and there was 1 staff person, so plan accordingly if you come with a group and be respectful of small businesses. Enjoyed our time there and will definitely be back!

We stopped in for the first time and are so glad that we did. A smaller winery which is what we like and the zins were incredible.

The worst experience I’ve ever had at a winery. We had a large party and they turned us away because apparently you need a reservation even though there was only three people in the tasting room. It was part of our yearly wine tour trip and now it’s off our list permanently. If I could give them no stars I would. Absolutely appalling customer service. Best part of the winery was sitting on the swing outside which apparently you can’t anymore.

HEY Rigo… sorry you were disappointed. Wines are awesome and worth the stop. 18 people showing up without a reservation is arrogant ESPECIALLY small wineries.
All the wines at Dover Canyon are well suited for any pallet. Always stopping there when we are in the area.

Stopped here because of a couple of othe Unilocal reviews and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Pouring for us was one of owners, I believe her name was Glenda. On the tasting list was the following:
2012 White Bone — Viognier/​Chardonnay blend
2010 Che Vita Da Cane — Sangiovese/​/​Syrah blend
2010 Bone Lore — Grenache/​Syrah Blend
2012 Osso Seccho — Zinfandel
2012 Cujo Zinfandel
2012 Thunder Zinfandel — 20% Tannat
2010 Zinfandel Port
The white was nothing special, but then again I don’t drink a lot of white. The Che Vita… Was interesting, only because I’m don’t drink a lot off Sangiovese. Not something that ‘wowed’ me but it might others. Same thing with the Bone Lore.
The Osso Seccho is where things got interesting, but then again, I am a Zinfandel fan. As its name indicates, this is a dry Zinfandel, very dry. But I will say I liked it. Compared to the Osso Seccho, the Cujo tasted jammy, but then again most anything would have in that situation. It was not overly jammy, just different from the Osso Seccho. Again, I liked this Zinfandel. The Thunder was the most balanced of the 3 Zinfandels, and probably my favorite. The Zinfandel Port was nice but I wasn’t swayed to buy a bottle.
I had decided I like the Zinfandels enough that I was going to buy 2. It was definitely the Thunder, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted the Cujo or the Osso Seccho. In the decision making process I was talking Zinfandel with Glenda, and the subject of the Dusi vineyard came up and I commented that I’ve always like Zinfandel from the Dusi vineyard, and she tells me they make a Dusi! She told me it had not been released yet (I think she said the next day or next weekend it would be released), but that she would sell me one.
Cool! I like the Zinfandels here enough that I am willing to buy a bottle without tasting it first. So I ended up with a bottle of Thunder and a bottle of 2013 Dusi Zinfandel. Oh, and a glass because my wife liked the winery logo.
The Zinfandels here are very nice and most of them are at a great price point (under $ 30). The Thunder was $ 36. If you like Zinfandel this place is worh a stop.

Zin lovers stop here!!! Fantastic selection of great zins. Tasting room is not fancy, but the wines more than make up for it. We tasted at least 10 different wines and were encouraged to re-​taste our favorites. Can’t wait to go back :)

We’ve enjoyed this winery in the past, but unfortunately the vibe of the place seems to have changed. Very disappointing.

Stopped in because it seemed dog friendly. (Dog picture on their label and other Unilocal tips) We had our dog with us.
We quickly found out that Thunder, the winery St Bernard, is territorial and that we should have called first to let them know we had a dog coming with us. Just FYI for all you dog people.
After Thunder was sequestered we were able to try the wines and it was really great. We were the only ones there at around 3:30 pm on a Friday.
We took home a bottle of tres noce and a bottle of the cujo.
Lovely small family run business. Cool old farmhouse from around the turn of the century.

My wife and I discovered Dover Canyon Winery several years ago after a long day of tasting. Although my palate was mostly fried by the time I got there, I could still tell from the first sip of their zinfandel that this was a special winery. If you won’t buy a wine unless an «expert» has given it a high rating or it has won ribbons at a county fair, don’t bother to stop here. However, if you know wine and are looking for big, rich wines at a realistic price, Dover Canyon is definitely worth a visit.
Farther up Vineyard Drive, you can spend a lot more money on wines that aren’t nearly as good. No pretense at Dover Canyon, this is family run by nice people who know how to make wine. I’m a huge zinfandel fan, and this is one of the only places where each zin is distinctive and reflects where it was made. Their Cujo is an absolute steal for the price, their old vines reserve is a rich, silky wine with a finish that goes on forever, and Thunder is as big as the dog it’s named for. Be sure to meet Thunder if you visit and don’t be overly concerned if their cat is playing in his mouth at the time.
Just wanted to leave a quick note on the service here. During our last visit, we bought a mixed case. When I got home, I found it included three bottles that we didn’t ask for and we were missing three bottles of Thunder. I called and was told to keep the three we hadn’t ordered and they immediately shipped us three more bottles of Thunder at no cost. These are great people, have never had a bad experience.

Cujo is legend. This Zin is one of my favorites and Dover Canyon is always a stop when in Paso. I remember the first time I tasted Cujo Zin and what a fruit bomb it was. I told myself as I approached the tasting room that my palate may have evolved past the appreciation for a jammy fruit bomb but when I put this wine to my lips I was instantly enamored. Cujo has evolved into a delicate well balanced wine.
The other highlight of the tasting was the Osso Secco Zin which is quite a departure from other Paso Zins as it reminds me of Thompson seedless grapes with a wonderful sweet and sour flavor. I look forward to see how this will evolve over the years.

This place is the frugal wine buyers heaven. All the wines here were good for the prices that they are set at. I think that is the major attraction here.
Don’t get me wrong, the wines are good, but not stellar. We did:
White bone
Renegade
Bone Lore — very good
Old Vine Zin
Osso Secco
Cujio — very, very good wine for the price, we got one and our friends got two.
Zin Port
I’m gonna keep my eye on this place, they are defiantly on the right path to putting some amazing stuff out.
Oh, there is a swing on a tree, it was hard to keep the GF away from it and the wine didn’t help.

Dover Canyon makes a few spectacular, jammy Zins, but many other wines lack refinement you’d find elsewhere. There is a small charming tasting room on a hill where you can taste all of their smallish pours if you so choose.
We found the tasting room manager to be rather aloof which also detracted from our experience; I like to learn as much as possible about what I’m tasting.

This is everything wine tasting should be like. Tasting is $ 5, not the overpriced $ 10 that most wineries are. You get to try a dozen wines, unlike the 4 – 6 that most wineries pour. Tasting is free with purchase. The wine is quite good and reasonably priced. I bought a bottle of the port. It was quite good, and DISGUSTINGLY under-​priced! I think a rating breakdown would say it best.
Service: ⁵⁄₅ stars
Knowledge: ⁵⁄₅ stars
Price: ⁵⁄₅ stars
Quantity: ⁵⁄₅ stars
Quality: ⁴⁄₅ stars
Value: ⁵⁄₅ stars
See my reviews of other Paso Wineries for a disappointing comparison.

Cute blue house with an extensive tasting list.
Cost to worth it rating: 3
Return worthiness: maybe
Highlights:
— Tasting list: page long list and can taste as many as want
— Beautiful property: blue house on the hill with a tree swing and all
— Fun wine names: cuju, thunder, etc.
— Dog: Thunder (with the wine names after him) just chills out by the barrels
Lowlights:
— Girl pouring seemed really bored
Mixed experience here so not sure will be back.