Arroyo Robles

To the man with a chip on his shoulder during the Winter Wine Stroll last Saturday evening … shame on you.
No idea what this guys name is, but he was «working» at the downtown tasting room Saturday evening; insulting customers who chose to pass on a water rinse for their wine glasses, rolling his eyes at customers, and generally being an absolute brat.
Every time customers declined a glass rinse he’d scoff and say with a dry monotone «Okay, you get the Poor Man’s Rose’ then».
Every time he skipped past someone while handing out the Hors D’oeuvres he’d respond with a sassy «you snooze, you lose»
A man on the other side of the counter mispronounced Chardonnay (Chard-​onee) while ordering, and this snippy little brat started in with «It’s Chardonnay! There’s nothing CHARD about it!»
I was only in the tasting room about 10 minutes around 630pm! I can only imagine how the rest of the night went!
I can honestly say that I have no idea what the wine or food tasted like that night. I don’t remember. All I remember is that man … I also know I will never come back.

Had so much fun here!
Jason has a really impressive knowledge of the Simpsons. Luckily, we happened to mention something from an episode at one point. I think he could probably recite the series from memory. He was that good. Oh yes, and we really enjoyed the wine too!
Good wine + entertainment = awesome afternoon

We were so excited to pop into this tasting room and buy a bottle to bring home. The man pouring the wines seemed not only to know very little about wines, but he seemed kind of mad at the wines in general. We asked for his recommendations and he shrugged. We asked about the chardonnay and he said he didn’t like chardonnay. We asked for a taste and the wine tasted like it had gone bad. When we finally got his attention to taste another wine (the place isn’t that big but we seemed kind of invisible to him), he poured the second wine into the first glass which already had chardonnay in it. I asked if it was possible to get a fresh glass so the two wines weren’t mixed.
We walked into this place fully prepared to lay down $ 30 or $ 40 for a bottle and every wine we sampled tasted rancid and undrinkable and the man behind the counter seemed like he really didn’t want to be there. Perhaps he was filling in for a friend (who hopefully does know something about wine).
We left with such a bad taste in our mouths (literally — from the wine) and spend our money elsewhere.

Absolutely amazing. My wife and I are members here and they treat everyone like a member! Each wine is great! I am new to wine and my wife is more experienced and we both love AR. You must try their ER and the almond sparkling wine. The almond champagne is so amazing that we served it at our wedding. You have to try this place!

The tap water I had was decent. The wines I sipped from my girlfriend’s tasting were solid. The company was great.
The lady behind the counter that night was adorbs city. She welcomed us with open arms and empty but soon to be filled glasses, chatted us up, and made us feel right at home. Then one of the regulars stopped by and I felt like I was watching a new episode of Cheers.
Not a bad thing at all.

While I wasn’t a huge fan of their wines (they had a Zinfandel I liked and their Sparkling wine was good as well) I had one of the best tasting experiences here.
The lady (I didn’t catch her name) who took care of us on a Sunday evening was both enthusiastic about the products and sweet as heck to boot.
The tasting room itself is quite small and can probably accommodate no more than 15 people at a time. The décor is rather nice and the vibe is very relaxing and homey.
Their tasting includes a hefty number of their products (around 3ish whites, 3ish reds & 2 sparkling) for $ 5 which is a bargain if you’re familiar with how much a typical tasting can cost you.
Check it out if you’re in the Town Center and be prepared to be wowed by the weekend staff!

We (4 of us) were all surprised by the negative reviews here about the funny and colorful person pouring at this lovely wine bar. If the others wanted anonymous wine pouring without comment or opinion they should have gone to a wine vending machine (Ii hear they have these in Japan). But this place is fun and tasty; It’s located right on the square with good views and even better wines. The gentleman who pours knows his wines and is a genuine local who adds to the experience.

We stopped in Paso Robles on a road trip from Arizona up through California to San Francisco in 2006, and we ate and drank at a lot of different places on the way. However, of the many, many wineries we did tastings in over those long weeks, only the empty bottle of Grand Cuvee from Arroyo Robles remains in our home on display. This wine (and the other four or so bottles we bought that day) was so divine and the people who we spoke with at the tasting so lovely and helpful that Arroyo Robles is also the only winery we recall instantly by name when people ask us about our favorite wines. We live in Manhattan and every time we find a new wine shop we always ask them if they carry this wine.

Love this wine!!! Especially the Chardonnay and the Tempranillo. Oh, and Russell was an amazing server! So much fun! We love coming up to Paso from SLO and he made our «date night» wonderful!!!

They closed early and I literally saw the girl inside hide from us when we got to the door. Unbelievable!

Loving the 2007 AR Tempranillo! One of the best wines I have had lately.

Excellent wines at a great downtown location. It is near the downtown Paso Robles park but far enough away that you can still get good parking. We wandered through the stores and tasted olive oils and really found some great stores near Arroyo Robles that made us come back on Saturday as well to wine taste and shop!

Had a great time! Russel was a lot of fun and gave us some great info and was really accommodating. Really enjoyed our time.
The wine itself was great as well, for $ 5 (which can go toward purchasing wine if you choose) there were about 6 – 7 wines. A good variety as well. We even stayed after the tasting to enjoy a bottle of wine from Arroyo Robles right away.
They are also open later than some of the other tasting rooms, which is a plus! Russell also gave us some great advice on where to go next.
I will definitely be back next time I’m in town.

A group of 9 of us found our way into the Arroyo Robles tasting room last Saturday after a late lunch and couldn’t have been happier about it. Russell was working behind the counter and was incredibly friendly and accommodating which was particularly impressive because we were not the calmest of groups. He was talkative with everyone and very informative. I think we would all return to the tasting room, just for the atmosphere he created.
The tasting was great and included about 6 – 7 wines. The price was $ 5.00 each but could be used as credit towards your purchase of a bottle of wine. I think we all walked out with at least one bottle each and enjoyed a couple of bottles while at tasting room as well.
We were all so happy to have stopped in! I would highly recommend it to everyone.

We walked in to Arroyo Robles after 5:00 pm on a Thursday night wondering if they’d be closing soon, as most downtown tasting rooms close at 5:00 pm. AR was open for business and happy to see us! Russell was pouring behind the counter and was nice as could be. Not sure who people are encountering as being rude and such, but it wasn’t this guy. He was fun, chatty and knowledgeable. There were some characters tasting that evening and he was just playing along and making everyone feel accepted, as he should. We had a guy from Pennsylvania who kept fake calling Tony Soprano on his cell phone to a girl who kept yelling «shitballs» and «holy jesus» during her time there. Hubby and I were just tasting and taking it all in… enjoying the colorful personalities and the yummy wines.
We asked about the sparkling wines and Russell said he wasn’t pouring them that evening, but would let us taste since we seemed nice and were just going with the flow. We enjoyed all of the wines he poured that night and took home 5 bottles! That’s the most I’ve even bought at one time. My faves included the Almond Sparkling Wine and the Emergency Relief blend and I’m looking forward to enjoying them here at home. We’ll definitely make this tasting room again when we come back in the spring!

Arroyo Robles was one of our favorite places from our whirlwind Paso tour. The almond cuvee (sparkling) was really interesting and different — and yes we took home a bottle. We also snagged an Emergency Relief (red blend).
The tasting room is nice with a little shop that’s a couple steps down from the horseshoe bar. The shape of the bar is conducive to starting conversations with your neighbors — which turned out especially useful since our server seemed to be in an odd mood. Ever feel like a server is making fun of you in their head the whole time?
Regardless of the weird vibes from the server, we’ll be back any time we’re in downtown Paso.

The pancake breakfast/​wine tasting we went to over a year ago was awesome and enough to get us to join the wine club. I recently quit the club because the value just wasn’t there.
Of the four shipments I received, three of them contained a bottle of the «dog» wine, which is definitely a dog in their lineup. It’s too sweet and tastes like what’s leftover from all of the barrels. They also sent me a bottle of 4 or 5 year old rose. It seemed like they were never sending the good stuff to the club members (or at least to this club member), just the inventory they couldn’t unload. I did receive a couple of bottles of great syrah and an excellent mourvedre, but for the most part it would have been cheaper for me to buy those bottles without being in the club.
They were having a winemaker dinner at a restaurant in Dana Point that just happened to be on our anniversary, so I thought that would be fun and signed us up. They cancelled the dinner shortly prior to the date which left me scrambling. I understand it’s not their fault that they didn’t have enough respondents. However, when they cancelled the dinner, they offered me an additional discount on my next club shipment that they subsequently did not honor.
These guys have some very good wines and some that at least to me are not so great. They need to improve their customer service.
BTW, the sparkling wine is custom-​labeled Woodbridge. Check out the label.

Another instance where I wish Unilocal gave half stars, as this would be 3.5. One of the few places I went to in Paso that had sparkling wines, a grand cuvee and a sparkling wine with almond flavor. It was the first time I had almond flavored sparkling wine, and it was surprisingly good. Refreshing on a hot day with a cherry aftertaste. It is sweet, almost like a carbonated dessert wine. Probably really good with chocolate and strawberries.
I didn’t have any problem with the tasting room staff (as other Unilocalers have noted), and everyone was friendly and informative. The tasting room is a U-​shaped bar with a separate nook for additional seating (they also serve food). It’s one of the larger tasting rooms downtown so I definitely recommended Arroyo Robles for groups.
Other than the sparkling wines, they make serveral whites, reds, sparkling and dessert wines. A standout for us was the Emma and Riley Emergency Relief, of which $ 1 of every bottle goes to the local humane society. It’s a good red table wine for a good cause.
It’s not a must for every Paso trip, but worth the time if you’re downtown or love sparkling wines. The tastings are extensive, over 10 wines, and the $ 10 fee is waived with bottle purchase. Added plus is that the tasting room is open til 7 p.m.

Our limo driver dropped us off here last because he knew we love sweet and bubbly. Unfortunately the guy behind the counter was a useless POS. His attitude was incredibly negative it is saddening for whoever owns this establishment. We mentioned this to our driver and he told me that unfortunately that wasn’t the first time he heard that. According to him the guy is the son of the owner. Too bad.
When we asked the guy about the Vietnamese restaurant a few doors down he pretty much spit on them. We were shocked. This guy is such an asshole he should be fired. I won’t go into details about what he said but wow.
We ended up buying a few bottles of the Almond Champagne because it’s delicious but we will never return to this place. This place would only get one star if it wasn’t for the Almond bubbly.
Note to the owner: That chubby lazy guy behind the counter on the computer really needs to be fired. He is hurting your business and tainting your winery name.
*Awesome Almond Champagne but Horrible Customer Service

LESS IS MORE
I’m usually not a fan of downtown tasting rooms as I prefer to actually visit the vineyard. That said, having so many tasting rooms in one area enables you to be quite efficient and cuts down on driving.
Arroyo Robles was the first tasting room I visited in Paso and I was shocked to see that there were about 10 wines on the tasting menu. Since you have to pay a tasting fee here (boo!), this may seem like you’re getting the most bang for your buck especially when some other vineyards charge $ 10 and only let you sample 4 wines.
After everything was said and done, none of the wines really blew me away. The chardonnays were… chardonnays, the syrah lacked the pepper and spice notes that I typically love, and the sparkling almond wine was like drinking almond flavored corn syrup.