Windward Vineyard

Best tasting experience in Paso Robles!!! Justin and Heidi are polite, knowledgeable and friendly. Windward is a Pinot only winery and when you take the time to specialize in one thing… well, the results are in your glass!!!

I had heard they only made Pinots and since I’m a fan of Pinots, I wanted to check this place out. Tasting fee was $ 10 per person for their vertical flight: 2010 – 2013 Monopole Pinot Noir. The son who helped us was friendly, but since we were the only ones there tasting, it was a little uncomfortable being so quiet. We did walk out with a bottle of the 2012, but I wasn’t overly impressed with the selection. They don’t comp any of the tastings either.

When we’d read that they only serve Pinot Noirs (a favorite varietal of ours), Winward was definitely on our list! Tasting fee: $ 10/​person for 4 tastes. While we found the service was friendly, the tasting room was attractive, and the experience was pleasant, we weren’t overly impressed with the selections. We left with their 2010 Pinot Noir @ $ 40.00.

Vertical flights of Pinot. They are redoing the tasting room. Despite the construction, we had a great experience. Loved their 2010 Pinot.

WIndward Vineyard is one of the first wineries on the Westside of Paso. This place is the real deal. 15 acres of one grape, pinot noir! They pour a vertical of 4 wines so you can learn about how a good wine mellows and refines over time. I am in love with the 2010.

Amazing pinot noir selection. They’re a local winery you shouldn’t miss! They’re retail direct only which makes it more special. 2012 is my new favorite. Can’t wait to age it for another five years in the cellar. It’s so smooth as it is, it’ll age perfectly! Great find!

Exclusively Monopole Pinot noir– today a 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010 today’s tasting. Great place to drop by and learn about wine. A family owned winery who do everything from growing, picking, & winemakers.

If you love Pinot Noir, you must visit this family owned winery. That’s all they do. Justin shared his family’s love for Pinot. Can’t wait to come back and visit again.

I highly recommend you stop and taste the best Pinot in Paso Robles. What a great find. I can’t wait to return and join the wine club. This wine is so gentle and full of flavor it left me wanting more. Cheers !

Great stuff! We were treated very well, and got a little tour of the barrel room. The pinots were all delicious, and the views were lovely.

I have been a wine club member of Windward since almost the beginning. All they do is Pinot Noir, but Marc does Pinot right. He does it in the french burgundy style not the fruit forward California style. So its Pinot done the way it was meant to be done. If you are in Paso and you like Pinot you owe it to yourself to find this place and try the wine.

Cool place to try some Pinot in Paso. Family owned and made, pretty cool. They had 2008 — 2011 so it was a great way to see how different vintages changed.

Paso Pinots… say it isn’t so.
Say that I did not bring my Pinot winemaking boyfriend with me to taste a vertical of 2008 to now… you know the guy who makes 4 year old faces when something is too tart or there is something wrong with it structurally.
The son of the winemaker walked us through the wines, and had nice conversations with the boyfriend while we enjoyed our time there.
Paso Pinots in general might make you cringe, but Mark’s wines are delish and remarkable considering where they are grown.
Very good wines, very nice place. We will be back.

Had a private and personalized tasting hosted by the owner and winemaker Marc Goldberg hast Sunday. We revisited the 2010 which has matured into a stellar product with all the fruit and minerality that a young Pinot should be showing. Than he dis a barrel tasting of the 2012. Whow Whow Whow never in my life has a wine been so beautiful in such a early age great fruit and showing even a youthful balance and finesse. Marc expressed that he expects his 2012 to be the best he has produced in his 20 years of being the «Wine Sheppard».

It was just okay.

When I was planning my trip to Paso Robles, I went back and forth about stopping here. Ultimately our stop here was a last minute decision. As others have said this is Pinot only winery, if you are looking for something else, then skip it. If you’re a Pinot fan however, this place is well worth a stop.
For the $ 10 tasting fee, you get 4 pours. We has a vertical tasting of their estate monopole (2008, 2009, and 2010) plus their barrel select. All the wines were good, but I felt he barrel select at $ 62 was a bit expensive, the monopoles at $ 38 were pretty fairly priced. In the end we took a bottle of the 2008 monopole. I liked the tasting room and the tasting enough I would return.

Elegant pinot noirs. A vertical type of tasting, small productions. Quaint.

Hello Pinot heaven!
The GF and I were told about this place by a guy we met at Laetitia Winery. He is a Pinot buff and recommended this place highly. I figure since I’m working on my Pinot palate, what a place to start.
Outside we noticed a nice patio are with an incredible hillside/​vineyard view. Really want to hit this place at the close of our next trip. Me and the GF can chill, drink some wine and enjoy the scene.
Inside there is a very cozy and quaint pouring room. Some merchandise for sale, but not on the Frass Canyon level. Nice music playing in sync with a TV doing a slide show.
Now on to the wines; They were all good! Not a bad one on the lot. My fav was the 05 Monopole and the 05 Gold Select. Very full and rich. Windward gave me the selection and the information to help work on my Pinot experience. Our pour was kind, courteous and very knowledgeable with the wine she was pouring. I even learn about «peacock feathers».
As soon as I have a chance, this is the next winery to join.

Since you can’t do zero stars on Unilocal,the one star is for the cool truck out front.
We have just started enjoying «good» Pinot’s and decided to try this place since that’s what it’s sole focus is. What a mistake! This is one of the few Paso wineries where we didn’t like the experience at all– from the man behind that bar who wasn’t talkative (or friendly) to the horrid chemical taste of each of the wines. The four of us dumped every taste and at $ 10×2 for 4 little tastes, it was like flushing a $ 20 bill down the toilet. I swear we were in there for 5 minutes. We just kept hoping that at least one of the four would be drinkable. Unfortunately all four missed the mark.
Please, do yourself a favor and avoid this place at all costs. I should have read the other Unilocal reviews before going here. If I had, I would have driven right past it. If you want a good Pinot, head further south and towards the coast.
Sorry Windward… your ship has sailed and it’s time to pack it in.
On a high note, YOU MUST go to Ecluse since it is really close. Now that’s what real Paso wine tasting should be like. (See my review.)

All they do is Pinot Noir. Don’t go expecting anything else. It’s amazing though, so don’t worry :)
Marc is a charming host (but maybe that’s because we were a group of four girls… haha). Honestly though, he was fun, passionate about wine, and a great teacher. He didn’t mind answering our silly questions about wine and wine making.