Villa Creek Cellars

One of the most beautiful (almost cozy) tasting rooms, a really good lineup of wines starting with the white blend. This was the first 100% Carignan that I could finish the glass on, and even ordered a glass of it (earlier vintage) later at VC restaurant. Willow Creek Cuvee was super smooth with High Road being a big wine that I think will be great in 5 – 10 years. The Cab Sauv was AWESOME! I’m not a fan of their «allocation» approach, but that’s their call…

First time visiting The Creek and the wines were all fantastic. Grenache was amazing, the Cuvee’ was equally amazing (2013). Would love to join the wine club but it may be out of my league.
This is way off the beaten path, in the Far Out Wineries (I guess) or Westside Paso Robles off of Peachy Canyon Road. Probably not the safest road to travel with a fleet of other people tasting wine in 100 degree weather but I recommend pacing yourself accordingly and maybe hit two or three wineries in this area by appointment so you are not rushed and fighting the drunk fest crowd.
Sitting down and talking to people that really appreciate the wine is more fun and educational.
Did I mention I teach for a living?

I’ll start off by saying I did tip over a stool and it hit the owner’s wife’s toe. Boy did I pay for that. In my defense their stools are more narrow at the base of the stool than the top. They are ready to tip with a slight nudge. I must have apologized at least 9 times to her. Never did she ever accept my apology or stop talking about how much it hurt. Kind of interesting when she walked around on it fine and had no problem smiling or entertaining the other customers. I felt very bad about it and other customers who were tasting by us assured me that she was acting pretty lame.
If you’re looking for a good time with friendly service don’t waste your time here. Too many other good wineries in Paso to enjoy.

Loved this place, nice property, easy same day reservation set up and personal attention. Décor was lovely with oak walls. Garnacha was very very good. We were lucky to meet the owner for our tasting, Cris has a great deal of passion for wine and great recommendations on where to stay.

All of the wines were excellent. Mostly GSM’s. There’s one that is Aged for four years in Oak. If you like a big wine, with lots of Tamins, and a long finish these were fantastic. Celler ‘em. The two women that helped were wonderful. One complaint would be some chairs and tables to relax in front of the winery.

The best wine in the Paso region. Would recommend a mid-​week appointment to taste their super wine. A great experience and certainly worth joing the wine club.

Absolutely wonderful wine! The wine room manager Tamara was an absolute joy! She was very knowledgable and gave us great information about the vineyard, area, and each wine we tasted.
It was so delicious, I decided to buy a bottle or two. This is definitely a spot for anyone looking to tour Paso Robles wineries.

The food is decent, but I find the place to be over priced. Every time I go there I wonder why I went. The wait staff act like they are doing you a HUGE favor waiting on you and has been this way for years. Serious lack of hospitality and training.

The wine is excellent. Really special. But the tasting room and winery leave something to be desired. If you are looking to hit a bunch of wineries just off 46, don’t bother going to VC. It is WAY up Peachy Canyon. Very good wine, but there are many more impressive wineries that are much easier to get to.

All the wines here are good, but a bit overpriced. There was a $ 100 bottle that was a little older (I think an ’07) that had no business being priced that high. However, they also had a $ 40 rhone style wine with grapes sourced from the Denner vineyard called La Boda, which was one of the very best paso wines I’ve tasted in a while. It was exceptional.
The staff was friendly, tasting room had a nice vibe. The place had a family owned feel to it with a modesting building and tasting room. I liked the experience, I just think for the money there are a few better values to find in Paso.

I’m not a wine expert, but this place was great. The staff, two young women, were super friendly and inviting. And the wines were fantastic. I left with a bottle of the 2010 Garnacha.

Fun, small room right on site where the magic happens. Good Rhone varietal wines and friendly staff. A recommended stop on your Paso excursion.

Dog Friendly!
We called beforehand to make sure they were (I would have hated to have shown up to find out that they aren’t dog friendly). They were super nice and said that if our dog was ok with the wineries dogs they were fine with us bringing our dog. We didn’t end up seeing the winery dogs while we were there, but were greated warmly and Buster was invited into the tasting room with open arms.
I actually really like the non-​fancy tasting room, it’s more natural and like we’re invited into their winery to really try out their wines.
The wines were fantastic. My bf, who isn’t a huge wine fan, really loved the difference and the variety of blends that were presented to us. The bottles are more expensive than others we bought in the area but I think it’ll be worth it (saving the wine for a special occasion).
The drive up to this winery also is a big plus. The road we took was very scenic and we saw deer and wild turkeys running around. I would love to visit when the grapes are in bloom!

This was our first winery stop in Paso Robles. We were greeted by dogs laying around outside. They don’t have a fancy tasting room yet, but it seemed like they were looking into extending the place to make one.
We had 5 tastings for $ 10. We tried the White, which was a nice light blend. The reds were all new to me as they were blends with Grenache or Mourvedre. The Mas De Maha, Avenger, and Onda were all pretty good, but the one that stood out to me was the Avenger, which was 75% Syrah, 15% Mourvedre, and 10% Grenache. Had a slight chocolate taste.

This winery was one of my favorites of the trip. We had a brief discussion with the winemaker, Cris Cherry, and learned that he was trying different bottles closures to protect against cork taint and he was also trying aging in concrete. Due to the thermal mass, apparently concrete holds the cold, and allows for some oxygen transfer — without having to use wood. The two concrete casks we saw were 4 inches thick as compared to the few millimeters used in normal oak barrels.
I liked everything that was served in the tasting room and was itching to become a member: 08 «La Boda» of 50% Grenache and 50% Mourvedre, 08 «Garnacha» with 100% Grenache, 08 «Avenger» from 70% Syrah, 15% Grenache and 15% Mourvedre, 08 «Mas De Maha» with 60% Tempranillo, 20% Grenache, 10% Mourvedre and 10% Carignan, and finally an 08 «High Road» James Berry Vineyard with 50% Syrah, 30% Grenache and 20% Mourvedre.

At Villa Creek, there’s not so much as tasting room as a little table set up inside the winery, which I always find charming and encouraging (though on this particular trip, it was cold & pouring rain, so I enjoyed it maybe a little less than I would have otherwise). Like most other wineries in this part of Paso, they concentrate mostly on Rhone blends. The fee is $ 10, but you get to taste a fair number of things for it, and I hear that they occasionally serve little snacks as well.
The wine was not bad, and a couple were quite excellent. By and large, though, most of their offerings struck me as a little on the sweet side and less complex than I like, and most were a bit overpriced for what they were. I think our favorite (which I can’t find on their site now) was $ 50 or $ 60. For $ 30, we probably would’ve taken multiple bottles.
Not a bad stop, and everyone was very friendly, and I do like the charm of tasting in the wine-​making area, but we’ll probably skip it next time.

As chance would have it our day of tasting was scheduled for a Monday. After reading a number of great reviews about this place I was really looking forward to our visit. Unfortunately, the Villa Creek tasting room is closed on Mondays. However, I sent them an email and within minutes I received a response that they would be glad to set an appointment.
The place really isn’t all that out of the way, but it definitely is secluded. Thank goodness for GPS. When we arrived, I was really underwhelmed. The tasting room is literally a shed.
Most wineries have one or two good varietals and usually save those favorites for the last pours in flight. Here, the first taste from the first pour was EXCELLENT. I thought for sure we were tasting backwards. Fortunately, we were not. Things just kept getting better.
Every wine in the flight was fantastic. In fact, Villa Creek and Denner were hands down the best wines we tasted the whole week. It came as no surprise that Villa Creek buys a lot of their grapes from Denner.
All the couples in our group joined this wine club. Some of my friends are cheap and some are snobs, but as all of them joined, this should be a testament in itself.

Villa Creek is a must if traveling through Paso Robles. I agree that they are probably my favorite winery in Paso. They also own a damn fine restaurant in downtown Paso. As for the wine, their reds are quite phenomenal and produced using fruit from local vineyards such as Denner, James Berry, and Ohana. The only downside is that production is somewhat limited, and that some of their more exotic wines are saved for bottle sales. That being said, their wines are reasonably priced and only a few clicks away.
As for the location, VC is located on the most amazing road known to man. The winery is a fairly plain steel building housing little more than a small tasting room and a lot of wine. Being that it’s a winery, anything else would be for show.

I’m going to sum up this winery in one sophisticated word that I’m sure everyone is familiar with…
BOOOYA!
That’s what I think every single time I have a glass of The Badger, Vulture’s Post, and/​or Highroad. This is west-​side Paso Robles Wine at its finest. Big and beautiful fruit from the finest vineyards in the area. It’s an absolute treat to indulge in these wines, and you will love every last drop of goodness.
I will admit, I’m totally biased because I’ve helped these fine folks with harvest on occasion, but… don’t take my word for it: Go try these wines!
Once again… booya!

My absolute favorite winery in Paso. We found it in kind of a roundabout way (an employee at another vineyard recommended it), but it was so worth it! If you like Rhone style blends you’ll love this place.
Be sure to make an appointment ahead of time — but don’t be intimated by the idea of a private tasting. The owner Cris is so nice and the cellar atmosphere is very low-​key and low pressure (the vineyard dogs and cat are running around). He’s happy to educate and has the best wines I tasted in this region by far.
My personal favorite is their Grenache — I cannot believe what a STEAL this wine is!