Wilson Family Vineyards
Get the Dirt from owner Kevin Wilson
“Wilson is the family name, so it was easy to settle on “Wilson Family Vineyard” and we are proud to put our name on these wines. ”
What was your first vintage year? 2014
How many cases do you make per vintage? About 500-600.
Do you have a Tasting Room? Not at this time.
Who is your winemaker? Joseph Farley who previously worked as a winemaker at Tobin James. We acquired the vineyard property located in Templeton, California in 2012 after he learned of its availability and suggested a visit.
What wine made you want to become a winemaker/start your own winery?
Our family had the good fortune of meeting the Farley family on summer vacations in San Diego back in the 1970s. A lifelong friendship was formed between the two families over early morning surf sessions. In the early 1980s, Joe’s father Al bought a vineyard property in Paso Robles to fulfill his dream of becoming a winemaker. This allowed Joe to gain hands on experience cultivating grapes and producing wine from a young age. Fast forward to 2012, Joe called to tell the us of a small but beautiful vineyard property in Paso Robles that had been neglected and taken back by the bank. We fell in love with the stunning property and jumped at the opportunity to bring it back to great condition.
What varietals do you work with?
Our legacy vines are Petite Sirah and Syrah and we planted Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache since acquiring the property. Petite Sirah does exceptionally well at our location and is reliably fantastic every harvest.
What vineyards do you source from?
We are all estate. Our vineyard is located in the sub-AVA of Paso Robles known as the “Templeton Gap”, and is a hillside vineyard with stunning views, a westward facing slope, ample well water supply and rich calcerous soil. In 2016 the vineyard released its first bottling production of 2014 Petite Sirah, Syrah, Epic Red (Cabernet Sauvignon-Petite Sirah Blend) and Vino Rosso (Zinfandel-Petite Sirah Blend). We continue to produce all four varieties. In 2019 vineyard space was cleared and prepared for new plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache vines on the property which were planted in the Spring of 2020.
What type of oak treatment do you use?
We use almost exclusively French Oak from the Suary cooperage and we like the larger 265 liter barrels.
What do you love about your winemaking region? What makes it different special?
Paso Robles is hard to beat. It is the largest AVA in California with upwards of 200 wineries, so a visit to the region provides so much variety, and it is a beautiful place. Due to the warm climate here, full bodied red wines tend to do better than white wine varieties. Rhone varieties do especially well in the region.
What’s the story behind your winery name / label?
Wilson is the family name, so it was easy to settle on “Wilson Family Vineyard” and we are proud to put our name on these wines.
Most importantly, what's so great about being small? What can you do as a small winemaker, that wouldn't be possible for larger wineries?
Being small allows greater quality control and attention to detail than the much larger operations.
How do you view the future in the wine industry for small-lot winemakers?
I consider it a labor of love as it is not easy to break even on the cost of farming and producing wines on a smaller scale. What makes it work for us is that our vineyard main house and guest houses get rented out so frequently throughout the year such that the rental income allows us to do the winery part of the business as well.
If you could choose another wine region to work in what would it be?
Probably somewhere in France or Italy!
For more information about Wilson Family Vineyard, please visit their website or follow them on Instagram.