Pipestone Vineyards

Fantastic find at the end of a secluded road. Delicious wines. Joined the club. Owner was so knowledgeable and friendly. All organic and biodynamic. 100% solar powered. Loved it!!!

The wines were decent and the story interesting. We enjoyed talking to the owner. She was very knowledgeable about wine making and growing organically. The low rating is mostly for the $ 10 tasting, which isn’t waived if you make a purchase. Our $ 32 bottle of wine was $ 42 if you include the tasting fee. I’ve had better bottles of wine at closer vineyards for the price. Not worth the price or the drive

Pipestone Vineyards is a true gem tucked away on a country road. The wine is wonderful and the winemakers are typically behind the counter pouring. They are happy to discuss the wine and their vineyard, which is laid out according to the Chinese principles of feng shui. The Pipestone welcoming party includes a senior dog and assorted felines along with a goat named Lucy who is happy to entertain children.

I would agree with a number of other people posting that you could probably pass on this winery. My experience was sub par and began with the owner’s greeting «You are getting started early» which came with a sarcastic under tone. At that point I should have made a u-​turn and left. Once my girl and I came in for a tasting the owner gave a brief on the different wines available and then continued to «lecture» about how much time he spends on tastings for customers and will only make $ 10 for the tasting unless we buy a bottle. I originally gave him the benefit of the doubt with his demeanor since there was a cold spell in the area and he probably suffered some frost damage. I am from the Central Valley and totally aware that this sometimes does happen and it is unfortunate but an act of nature. If this guy should had someone with sales, people and customer skills handle the tastings, his sales would probably double at the least. My girl and I visit the Paso area every few years and we will not go back to Pipestone. There are many other great wineries that treat potential customers with the proper respect. The wine quality was just ok as I remember, which is not that much, since the experience was so bad.

Although this place is way out into the woods, it is very worth it. This winery is very French in terms in fermenting wine. The wine here are earthy, dry, complex, and tasty, which you should expect. The chateaux de pipe is a very good californian Bordeaux blend and the granache is tasty. This family owned winery are very knowledgeable about wine. If you are not into French style of dry and earthy wine, Do not come here and give a crap review of this place.

A smile spread across my face immediately upon stepping out of the car. It’s like visiting a friend out in the country; we were greeted by a friendly dog; pens had geese, ducks, sheep, and a horse. The cat practically guided us to the tasting room.
Very friendly service, and helpful recommendations to other wineries and restaurants. Tasting fee: $ ¹⁰⁄₅ tastings, waived with purchase of 3 bottles.

$ 10 tasting fee per person for 5 – 6 not-​paticularly-​generous pours of mediocre wines at this out-​of-​the-​way winery. I only bought an overpriced bottle (they’re all overpriced) thinking I would avoid the tasting fee, but he still charged it, to both of us. It was posted on a small sign behind the bar, but most wineries around there charge less, and/​or will take one or both tasting fees off with a bottle purchase. Not this guy. When I expressed my surprise, he launched into a monologue in front of other customers about:
–how he had poured $ 10 worth of wine
–that he should be well-​compensated for the work that he does
–that he wouldn’t be making any money off of my one $ 28 bottle purchase
–and that he had a daughter that he needed to send to college!
He’s a real work. Wish I had read the reviews before I went. Worst place I visited on my entire Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo wine tour. I take that back — worst winery experience I’ve ever had anywhere, and I’ve been to a lot.

Arrived in tasting room and second sentence out of Jeff, the owner’s, mouth was, «Well we hope you will buy a bottle of our wine because, after all, we have kids to feed.» This was before we even started our tasting! Nevertheless, we stayed and decided to give the place a try. No one in our group liked the wine though, so when we were done we asked to settle our tasting fee. We had previously shown them a Groupon we had purchased for a complimentary tasting for 2. So we should have already been paid for 2 of us. But then the woman owner told us, «oh well it’s really buy one get one free.» So we had to pay again. All the while, Jeff is complaining to the other customers standing next to us about how he doesn’t like groupon. Overall, really unprofessional and disappointing experience. We won’t be going back there.

Jeff and Florence Pipestone are real people.
They have two kids, a family farm and a special relationship with grapes
Crafting amazing wines is there day to day activity
They do it organically, they do it with passion and we are the beneficiaries.
This afternoon I spent the bulk of my visit discussing the issues I have with my vines at home and Florence had lots of helpful advice. I have been battling powder mildew and she gave me a number of helpful hints as to how to deal with it. All along telling me not to get discouraged.

Our tasting highlights
Grenache — amazing spice, delicate body
Syrah — more akin to petite sirah with big dark berry character
Zinfandel — A new style for Pipestone compared to the 2003 I have at home. Light on the palate, muted fruit. delicate.
It has been 7 years since the last visit at Pipestone, I won’t make that mistake again.

tasting fee is $ 10
bottles start around $ 26 and go up from there
pros:
— family run business. so family run that the tastings are done by the farmer or his wife. the wife did our tasting and she was so kind and informative, recommending other places to try in the area
— sustainable run business
— wine: the chardonnay and the zin were my favorites
— animals: sweet large dog and very friendly feline on the grounds/​tasting room. there were also geese, ducks, sheep, horses
cons:
— way out in the woods. its a trek off the main road, and you have to go pretty slow. the road is only large enough for one car, and not the best paved road in the world. but i think its worth the drive
— tasting fee not waived with bottle purchase
would i come again? sure!

Great reds. Great scenery.

The visit was definitely a personal one where the owner and winemaker himself was there to pour our wine. The property was beautiful and frankly the story of the vineyard is a cool one.
This is my second revision to this posting. Normally I would never revise a posting but I have been very very impressed with the winemakers response to my previous issue. My concerns have been resolved in a manner which should be a tribute to all businesses. It is my sincerest hope that this vineyard prospers well into the future.
This place is a must visit.
Don’t forget to visit Dunning which was just a bit farther up the same road.

Ok, we REALLY like the values these people stand for. The site is nice and low-​key. There were in mid-​crush when we got there, which was cool. Very small tasting room and very unpretentious.
Then, it started. First, $ 10 to taste, and that is *not* refunded if you buy their wine (priced $ 32 – 48 ish/​bottle). I’m sorry, but only the highest end folks get away with this. Heck, most wineries charge less and then credit it toward purchase. Given their small status, we thought this to be excessive, to say the least.
Then, the wine. Viongner was OK. The 2007 Grenache was flat-​out terrible. Boring and flat, un-​interesting. Had a decent nose, a bit on the front, then… nothing. It just dies. They talked up this wine like crazy, which means either they’re trying to get rid of it, or they don’t know what they’re doing. I’ll go with the former.
They had a Rhone blend that was ok, though at $ 42/bottle…no way. Their best wind was a Mourvedre, which had some decent structure and acidity. It was $ 38/​bottle.
We didn’t buy anything. Maybe we were psychologically turned off by the $ 10 tasting. I’m no wine pro, but I *know* that ’07 Grenache was crap. The rest was probably just personal preference, but both my wife and I thought it was average, at best.
In that area for small wineries, try Dubost or Starr Ranch. Starr Ranch sells to a lot of local wineries but somewhat recently she started making her own juice.

It is a pleasure to see a family operation, and one where they take so much pride in their work. Also like many of the vineyards we visited you can have the opportunity to meet the winemaker, which is something you rarely get to do in other wine producing regions. The wines are great, and there are tables that provide for a great opportunity to have a picnic in the vineyard.
They also have some animals you can check out, not that is the sole reason to visit, but its a fun one.

Visiting Pipestone is a truly personal and unique experience. The winemaker himself will likely pour your wine — how cool is that? Certainly something you won’t find at some of the other wineries in the area.
What I love about this place is that it’s a real family farm — you can check out their livestock (draft horses, goats, chickens) and their well-​managed vines at the same time. Afterall, the vineyard is a certified wildlife habitate and is farmed using organic and sustainable practices. All this to make you a darn good glass of wine. Try my two faves: the estate syrah and the viognier.
And for goodness sakes it’s not that far out! it’s a really beautiful drive…

(Visited October 2008, Harvest Wine Weekend)
One of Pipestone Vineyard’s claims to fame is it’s staunch dedication to sustainable farming (Jeff told me their youtube video of horse plowing had to be edited as much due to his cursing as anything else), but there is more to this place. First off, don’t be misled by the oft-​used descriptions referring to Pipestone and Dunning as «out of the way» or «off the beaten path». If you’re in the Paso countryside doing wine tasting, then making 2 – 3 extra turns and driving five extra miles or so shouldn’t dissuade you from seeing something uncommon. I chuckle at some reviewers out there that call this area «out of the way» that also praise Justin, which is perhaps the most remote winery on the Westside there is. Fact is that this is two turns of 46, and the wineries up Niderer Road are actually something unique to Paso. First off, there were deer, everywhere. I mean I saw at least a score of them at different points from the turn onto Niderer up to the end of the road, and they would get damn close to people like me with obnoxiously large SLR cameras. I visited several wineries off Niderer, and while some had large, new buildings, most were very close to their roots, and you met the owner and/​or winemaker at every stop I made. Frankly, this quaint little area feels like it is its own separate region compared to much of Paso. But as to Pipestone in particular, I liked the fact right off that the vineyard was very welcoming. Not only were their no fences on the vines, but actually signs stating what grapes were being grown and some details about them. As simple as this may sound and look (see my pics), this small effort, along with the vineyard literally being the backyard of the owner’s home, who poured you the wine they made, made for a unique experience compared to the other Paso stops I had hit the previous day.
The wine was strong across the board, with the 06 grenache and 05 mourvedre and petite syrah being stand outs. That other reviewers mentioned the mouved makes me feel like I definitely have to go back this year, as often I’m the only person on a particular board to call that grape out. In any case, Jeff and Florence were great hosts and if you have the time, I would definitely recommend this as a stop either on its own, or on a trip through Poalillo on Willow Creek, Dunning further up Niderer Road, and here to see some of the smaller Paso wineries, and of course, to have some really solid wine.

What a delightful experience! Started with the Unilocal sticker on the door. :) This winery is 100% sustainable. Ran on solar energy, use their horses to plow the land, and live right next to the tasting room. Family run. I like everything we tried. I like the owner. He was kind and helpful. Hard working man. I am glad we took everyone’s advice and come out here. it was worth it. We left with a tasty Viognier.

I love this vineyard because they use sustainable farming method. The owner and his wife poured our flights. They were very friendly and knowledgeable and did a great job explaining many new things to us.
There is a very cool and old pizza oven outside the tasting room.
I loved the chardonnay here. But the other reds were good too.
$ 5 for 6 different pours.

The 2^nd stop on my Unilocal-​generated wine tour — this is where the GPS comes in handy! I walked up to the counter and met Jeff, the coolest winemaker ever, period. He asked me how I had found him and I pointed to the Unilocal sticker on his door. He replied with something to the likes of, «Oh yeah, they sent me that sticker — what the hell is Unilocal?»
Jeff’s hands were stained purple and his shirt was covered in grapes — by this, he gained my trust instantly. Before I even tasted the first wine he had us laughing with a tale of a person who came in a little intoxicated and refused to pay the tasting fee. He ended up chasing them down the driveway as they sped away down the dirt road at 55mph.
It’s just he and his family running the place and being a former environmental engineer, they have some fairly unique aspects to their operation. They use horses in the fields to keep diesel fumes away from the grapes and get a portion of their power from giant solar panels on the roof.
Did I mention that the wines are excellent as well? If you’re in Paso Robles, check this place out — I’m definitely going back the next time I’m in town.

I’m so glad we decided to stop by this winery, and I don’t even drink wine!
Upon entering the property, the short driveway passes by walnut trees, bee boxes, and the two draft horses. On one side of the parking area, vines are labeled with information about the types of grapes. On the other side, there are chickens and a goat.
The tasting room is filled with items to keep even the non-​drinkers happy (i.e. me). I picked up a bag of almonds and a bottle of honey, both produced on the property. But chatting with the owner was probably the best part — he was very friendly, opinionated, and entertaining. I enjoyed his stories about the draft horses and city-​slicker tourists, especially the one about his funny looking «dog.»