Stunning Rhone Varieties in Paso!

We popped a Villa Creek Rocks & Flowers last weekend and wow is it stunning. Purity of fruit, elegance mixed with power. The wine was turning a corner and is showing absolutely perfectly right now, even at the baby age of 4 years. Amazing wine. So why not talk a bit more about Villa Creek and why you need these wines in your cellar and glasses!

Cris Cherry knows everyone in Paso. Or seems to. Cris and his wife JoAnn moved to Paso Robles in 1996 to open their farm-to-table restaurant called Villa Creek. Inspired by the burgeoning Paso wine scene, the Cherry’s decided to try their hands at winemaking. In 2001, they produced their first vintage under the same name, Villa Creek Cellars. Over the years Cris has honed his craft: earlier harvests, more stem inclusion, and less oak usage. He and JoAnn are hands on with every aspect—a dedication of time and passion that ultimately led them to close their restaurant in 2017. The result is a flight of wines that present structure and depth, plus lip-smacking deliciousness. These are wines with muscle and class—bodybuilders who can ballroom dance.

The winery was erected in 2003 to house the production of roughly 3000 cases of wine each year. Monterey shale and siliceous shale provide an ideal foundation for the Rhone grape varieties planted in 2012 and 2013. Sustaining the vibrancy and the health of the land by farming the grapes under organic and biodynamic principles will, in turn, make vibrant wines. The soil is abundant in micro organisms and is the perfect host to the vines, the family and their flock of 30 Dorper sheep that graze the vineyard in the winter and spring. The energy of this site is palpable.