Ecluse Wines

Had a great tasting, would absolutely recommend and come back! Met Steve, owner, while admiring the view from our parking spot and Anthony walked us through some of their great wines.
An understated winery made up of hidden gems, looking forward to visiting whenIm back in town!

We stayed in Paso for the weekend and this was by far our favorite winery. A little skeptical when we arrived based on how small it was, but we were blown away by their wines and customer service. The owners were extremely friendly and helpful, we even had 3 tastings straight from the barrel. This is a must visit when you are in the area.

Very out of the way vineyard with great wine. No charge for tasting and learned about the vineyard from the owner Steve! Really fun!

Well, the staff was extremely friendly, welcoming and the establishment was set up nicely. They offer Barrel tasting which is a nice bonus. Issues however deal with the wine itself. Too acidic and not very balanced in my opinion, as well as others in the group. Maybe an additional year on the shelf might have benefited the youthful varietals offered. Nice people in general and hate to give it 2 stars but we visited for the wine.

this is a tiny little place but such an amazing experience. The staff is beyond friendly and all of the wines on the tasting menu are pretty great. we didn’t have an appointment but were still able to do a barrel tasting … we were short on time so we didn’t get to stay as long as we would have liked — we’ll definitely visit again. we left with the 2013 Improv.

Small but a gem!
The staff were so welcoming and friendly. Best winery service I ever had.
Dog friendly!
Tasting is complementary. You get 5 tastings. I really enjoyed the right from the cask pour we tried. One of the best wines I have tried during any tasting.
A must stop in Pasa Robles!

Awesome wine tasting spot! By no means am I a wino, but the staff was very informed, and very happy to teach. Far less crowded than other wineries, best view we saw all day. The staff were well informed in both the wine and the process of making wine, and the relationship between the two. Very approachable staff, very good experience.

This place was a great stop if you’re looking for an unpretentious no frills but quality place. Delicious wine and grounded staff– that’s how it should be!

Great 2008 Cab!!!

This place is gorgeous! The people here were very knowledgable and friendly! The barrel samples were delicious! Definitely will be coming back here again! Took a few bottles home to enjoy as well!

Totally unpretentious winery with a steel shed tasting room. Don’t be put off. There is talent behind these wines. Starting with Blind Dog, their basic red table. An excellent and affordable wine and portion of proceeds goes to a blind canine rescue group.
Move up to the Improv and Ensemble, two GSMs that are delish. They’re located about 10 minutes from downtown Paso Robles. Spend 30 – 45 minutes here. Enjoy.

Steve and Pam are extremely talented and passionate wine makers and owners! They have worked hard and produce wines that are extremely approachable, yet amazing complex! They are two of the friendliest and nicest people Paso have to offer!
If you have not been here, GO! Also their Blind Dog Red is a must buy, hard to find quality like this in under $ 15 a bottle!

We give Ecluse five stars although we wish we could give them six stars!!! Phenomenal winery with incredible wines, year after year. Today we had the pleasure of wine tasting plus barrel samples with Steve, who gave us an amazing education on their wine making process, plus the differences of using French, Hungarian and American oak barrels.
Excellent art by Daniela, plus great service from Pam, who is a sweetheart! And did we mention the wine? Year after year it is stellar. We bought a bunch, suffice it to say! Yes we will be back next find we visit. Well worth the drive to get here. Highly recommend!!!

This is a gem of winery in paso. It’s just about 10 mins from downtown and sort of off the beaten path a little with no signage from the main cross street. We are so happy we found it
Right when we arrived we were already greeted in the parking lot. They are among a number of dog friendly wineries and my dogs had their back rub at the entrance together with treats later while we had crackers and wine.
They have a wonderful flight tasting and you can tell how everyone here takes the time and care for you to understand what they do and how they do it. In addition they offer a rare barrel tasting of their cab from 2 different barrels ! It is finished with a taste of the final cab from a bottle. Lastly they were also having a sale of some of their past barrels and I always wanted one. For under $ 100 it was in excellent condition for an 8 year old barrel and they even help you load it up. I will be back for sure

Very laid back atmosphere– but don’t let that fool you. Proprietor Steve Locke is a master winemaker and proves it in the wine.
Some reviewers have referred to some of the wine as table wine (perhaps the rose and others labeled as table wine) but everything we tasted was worthy of aging and serving to your guests. Mostly reds, just one white blend. Most grapes are grown on their dry farmed estate and they purchase others to make the right blends.
They do traditional Rhone blends, as well as eclectic blends, and straight varietals such as Zin and Cabernet Sauvigion. So there’s something for everyone!

Came here due to Unilocal reviews. It’s an unassuming place quite a ways down a windy road. Laid back. Not uppity like some wineries can tend to be. Staff was very friendly and put out a concerted effort to please.
Started out with the rose not on the menu and it was an easy drinking light rose that would be perfect before dinner.
The single white wine 2012 Prelude (41% Viognier, 40% Marsanne, 13% Grenache Blanc, 3% Picpoul Blanc, 3% Rousanne) was ok but nothing to write home about. The staff did point out it is not their specialty and was not offended at all that I passed on saying I really liked it.
The 2012 Zinfandel (100% Zinfandel) was very nice. Complex, but not overbearing like the one at Calcareous. It was kind of like the Zin at Grey Wolf & Barton but more complex and mature. I knew I was going to buy a bottle of it even though it wasn’t 100% their grapes due to low yield that year.
2012 Improv (27% Zinfandel, 27% Petite Syrah, 20% Mourvèdre, 20% Merlot, 6% Grenache) included some Merlot and Grenache which added enough either tannin or spice (honestly can’t exactly remember) that it just pushed it over the edge of my tannin and spice sensitive palate to not quite but a bottle. It would be great for pairing with a meal though.
The 2011 Cab (100% estate Cab, Lock Vineyard) was nothing like most of the Cabs I’ve tasted. It was a lot more of the fruit and seemed to be a lot less influenced by the barrels so quite spicy and bold. I think some would love this but it wasn’t something that I was going to buy since I was going for lone drinkers rather than something with a meal which this would be good for.
We then went for the French Oak Petite Sirah and Hungarian Oak Petite Sirah barrel tasting. Very raw and young and showed the big difference between the bolder Hungarian with looser grain (alcohol draws out qualities of wood faster) and the more mellow French with tighter grain. Interesting to see how the different wood types bring out different characteristics of the wine.
Finally we finished with the fully barrel matured and bottled 2012 Petite Sirah (100% Petite Sirah, Sereno Vista Vineyard) and I have never had a Petite Sirah that I’ve liked due to the puckery tannins but this one brought it up to that border but didn’t cross it and it was quite nice. I took the plunge on this one. Only 125 cases produced.
All in all this was a great experience and I liked all the wines. Some were not for the purpose of what I was buying but they all had good structure and would be good in their own purposes.
The two wines I liked most just so happened to be Gold medal winners at the SF Chronicle competition but I didn’t get them for that. I just so happened to like those best. I guess sometimes judges can be right!
Would definitely come back here.

I love traveling to Paso Robles for some of the best wines, best food and beautiful nature. This trip we stumbled upon Ecluse thanks to Unilocal reviews and it met all of our expectations.
The wine was rich and delicious, the staff knew what they were talking about and the view was amazing. Ecluse is perched on a hill and overlooks gorgeous mountains and vineyards.
The barrel tasting was very cool and very different. I would definitely recommend this winery!

My boyfriend and I were in a quest to try wineries we had never tried before and this was the first on our list. It’s tucked away on a quiet windy road, but when you find it you won’t be disappointed.
The tasting room is filled with wine barrels – many filled with their wine and many used as tables for individual tasting areas. On the wall nearest the grapes you can see an array of awards they’ve won for their wines.
What really won me over was the service. Rather than getting a pour and having the server tend to someone else; we had our own personal wine master chat with us through each taste. Mary (even though she’s a grad of my rival school), was awesome. She clearly has a passion for the wine, the winery, and customer service.
If you get the chance try (or buy! It’s affordable) their second label wine: blind dog. It’s a good table wine. I should have bought a bottle.

Friendly and knowledgeable staff.
Enjoyed the taste of the blind dog.
Enough parking.
Barrel tasting was an excellent, and no tasting fee like Napa.

My wife and I visited the tasting room last October. The tasting room is essentially a large warehouse or barrel storage facility. The nice thing about this is we got to taste a wine poured from the bottle, the walk over nd barrel taste the same wine (different vintage obviously) from the barrel.
A barrel tasting should always be viewed as a learning experience. It demonstrates what a young wine tastes like and how it develops over time, especially once it is bottled. It also shows what the winemaker starts with before blending to arrive at a final product.
We deviated from he scripted tastings a couple of times, and because it was the end of the day, near closing, they poured some wines that they may have offered to club members only. Two of them we ended up buying. The 2010 Lock Vineyard Zinfandel and the 2011 Improv, a Zinfandel-​Petite Sirah blend.
The Zinfandel we end up drinking around Christmas and I in particular loved it. The Improv, I opened a couple of weeks ago. I never tell or show my wife what I have opened, I let her taste it first. She swirled, took a sniff and said wow, that has a nice nose. She took a sip and her eyebrows went up, meaning she really liked it! This is a velvety smooth wine that I absolutely love too!
We enjoyed both wines so much, I emailed and signed up for the wine club the next day.
The staff both on the day we visited, and when I emailed (Kelly) we very nice and helpful. I can’t wait for our next Paso trip so we can visit again.