Explore the Urban Wine Trail and experience serious wines in chic urban settings.
Taste wine in unexpected locations around San Luis Obispo, like the cool, new Duncan Alley, to an industrial-chic warehouse, to the vibrant downtown SLO area. Enjoy a varied selection of traditional Burgundian and Rhône-style wines and Spanish varieties on this trail: Couch, Croma Vera, Stephen Ross, Timbre.
Total drive time is just 15 minutes per day, leaving you plenty of time to stop for lunch at one of SLO’s many restaurants highlighting SLO Coast wines.
Couch Family Wines
Couch Family Wines is a boutique, family-owned winery initially planted in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It is a tribute to their Italian heritage. They produce wines from estate fruit as well as sourced from Arroyo Grande Valley, and they planted Italian varieties on the backside of Madonna Mountain in SLO. They make Cabernet Sauvignon, Rosé and several SLO Coast Burgundian-style wines.
The Woz Chardonnay is a special tribute to personal computer pioneer and friend, Steve Wozniak. The Pinot Noir is a special tribute to singer-songwriter, musician, author, and friend, Jewel. Try these wines and more at their tasting room in Downtown SLO.
Croma Vera
About Croma Vera = True Colors (loose Latin translation)—a tiny (but mighty) winery making damn good wine. Croma Vera specializes in Spanish grapes like Tempranillo, Albariño and Garnacha which flourish here on the Central Coast of California. They are wildly meticulous about the quality and sourcing of every single grape, and they never craft more than 150 crates of any one small-batch wine label.
Croma Vera has wines for tasting at Region wine bar in Hotel San Luis Obispo, as well as their fresh tasting room in Duncan Alley in SLO.
Stephen Ross Wine Cellars
At Stephen Ross Wine Cellars, they believe elegant wines start in the vineyard and are guided into perfection by a skilled, passionate and committed winemaking team.
Stephen Ross was founded on the principles of working with quality vineyards and hand-crafting the best wines possible from the grapes they yield. The winery started small, grew as financial resources allowed, and they stuck to our principles in winemaking and business – great, small production wines, solid business practices, and a nice, engaging place to work for the crew.
Stephen Ross Wine Cellars has wines for tasting at Region wine bar in Hotel San Luis Obispo, as well as their tasting room in the Beverage District of SLO.
TIMBRE Winery
TIMBRE has a new winery/tasting room in San Luis Obispo’s LoBro area. It is located at 770 Capitolio Way, near near Lower Broad St. In music, Timbre is what makes two voices sound different, even when singing the same song. It’s why two winemakers, working with the same vineyards, make unique wine. “The goal of our winemaking at TIMBRE Winery is to express a snapshot of a place (the vineyard) and time (the vintage) that will never occur again,” says winemaker Josh Klapper. “As a terroir-driven winery, we make wines expressive of the places and times from which they came.” His goal is achieved through enhancing and showcasing the integrity of the land and vineyards.
“We strive to produce wines of balance, which serve to convey not any one element – aroma, sweetness, acidity, alcohol, minerality, earth, complexity – but all of the elements in the wine in perfect harmony.” To that end, the fruit is handled gently in the winery using minimally invasive techniques and sustainable practices. You’ll find Rosé, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and even a hard cider. TIMBRE also offers special events throughout the year to taste their limited production wines.
Contact the tasting room at Timbre.