Open:Â Year Round
Overview and Mission
Alma Sol is a family-owned and operated, micro-boutique winery, sourcing premium fruit from top vineyard sites in California, with a special interest and focus on the beautiful Paso Robles appellation. From the very beginning, the mission has been to craft exceptional Bordeaux wines, both single varietals and special blends - though they will occasionally be inspired to produce limited releases of non-Bordeaux varietals as well. Â Alma Sol hand-picks their grapes in small lots, respect the fruit, guide its natural potential, and simply focus on hands-on, artisan winemaking.
It all began in 2002, during weekend trips to the family's vineyard in Paso Robles and spending more time with the family business. In Paso Robles, they found the winemakers and winery owners highly accessible and approachable - so much so, that they came to know the area and the industry extremely well in little time. It started with learning about vineyard practices, the kinds of varietals that grow well in the area, and then gradually extended into learning about the entire winemaking operation.Â
John and Lisa became officially licensed in 2011 under the name of Alma Sol, which brings together two critical elements needed to craft exceptional wines - "soul" and "sun". While Paso is well-known for its Zinfandel - and more recently, award-winning Rhone varietals and blends - John and Lisa decided that they wanted to make the best Cabernet Sauvignon they could by using Paso Robles fruit, to prove that a great Bordeaux could be realized in the Central Coast. Their first commercial vintage was in 2009. The inaugural releases received numerous accolades, including 90 Pts from Wine Enthusiast.Â
