Revisit one our favorite wineries. Michael and family poured their amazing wine. Tasty Chardonay and pinot from Monterey and delicious Estate sangoivese , syrah and Cabs . Awesome owners established 26 years family owned by appt. Must visit for delightful tasting experience. read more

See all

Best winery in Paso Robles, Rhone style wines. Love Mike and Jon Money, we've been members since they opened.

Every thing went well! Jon is the best. Expect the best of the best. You always get the VIP treatment when you visit Château Margene. Michael wasn't available, but he is always very welcoming and amazing as well! We went away with quite a bit of wine and especially two bottles of steel Chardonnay and we ended up at the sea chest in Cambria. read more

After coming to Paso Robles for so many years, I am surprised that I never knew this place existed! So glad I gave it a try and of course became a member! read more

Chateau Margene - Wine Tasting Room Near Me - Creston, California

Beautiful and delicious Cabernet and great to been member. Enjoy every bottle of Chateau Margene cab. We'll be there for tasting in September 19 or 20th read more

Chateau Margene - What a great place for fabulous wine from Château Margene, to pickup orders, great valuables winery where we treasure... - Wine Tasting Room Near Me - Creston, California

See all

Chateau Margene is 100% the best winery in Paso Robles. Everything blew us away - right from the sparkling wine to the whites to the reds. The owner had the attitude of someone who knows he's amazing at what he does and honestly that added to the charm of the place lol. Stop by here next time you're in the area and you will definitely be happy you did. Oh and they have 2 pups! read more

Chateau Margene - Every wine was incredible - Wine Tasting Room Near Me - Creston, California

My husband and I came here on the recommendation of an acquaintance who's also a club member. About a half hour from where we were staying in Paso, it was definitely worth the trek. The road in (at least the route we took) is windy and scenic, and the estate is peaceful - the perfect place to enjoy delicious wine even on a cool, misty day. Small production, organic farming, family owned and operated. Advance reservations are required and easy to make online. Tastings are intimate, and our host and winemaker, Michael, shared interesting details about their practices and processes. Every pour was generous, and everything we tasted was outstanding. We came away with three favorites in tow and were told we'd be credited for one of our tastings as a result. Will definitely add Chateau Margene into our regular rotation when we're in the area again! read more

I was in town for the weekend and stumbled upon this place and it was nice and quite. I would definitely be back to visit, they also have another location in Morrow Bay that I have been to and love equally! read more

See all

They are back open! It's a hidden Gem, the best Cab! But honestly I haven't had a wine I don't like here. The sparkling, the Pinot.... all amazing! It's a mistake not to stop here, the staff is friendly and the atmosphere is great. They deserve all five stars. read more

Chateau Margene - Wine Tasting Room Near Me - Creston, California

OK, I'm NOT a "wine snob". I do however know what I like. This winery was recommended to my wife and I by a neighbor who's daughter was married on the grounds and they enjoyed the wine as well. My wife and I were in the Paso Robles area and we decided to make a reservation for a tasting and tour. I really can not convey to you how much we; 1) LOVED the wine. 2) Appreciated the staff 3) LOVE the outdoor tasting area. Let's start with the reservation process. Like so very many businesses, tremendous strides have been made in relation to modernization and making things more "web accessible". Simply put, the reservation process is simple and efficient. The only comment (does not detract from anything), we were the first guests of the day and we were never informed in advance of the gate code...problem solved by a quick phone call and conversation with the host. Winery grounds are beautiful and very relaxed. Guests can easily have conversations and not worry about being overheard by other guests. Tasting experience! AHHH! THIS is why you're here! Just like many wineries, you start with one wine and move along to other varieties. We received generous pours and this allowed us to really sample and enjoy what was poured. For an additional cost, you can purchase a cheese / bread plate...DO IT! WOW! Fantastic choices and it's AMAZING how the perceived flavors of the wine change. EXCELLENT! I must say that I never felt pressured into purchasing anything or joining any "wine club". Simply put, there's no need. The high quality product that they are making sells itself! Now let's talk about the tour. OK, to say it was a small group would be an understatement. The only people on the tour was my wife and I. The grounds are compact and everything is done within the grounds of the winery. The passion and knowledge that was conveyed was fantastic! Because we were such a small group and we really connected with the staff, we were asked if we would be interested in doing a barrel tasting. ARE YOU KIDDING? AB-SO-LUTELY! What an amazing experience! I'll be completely honest, my wife and I did decide to purchase some wine and we left with a mixed case. This experience was in late April 2021 (we have a reservation to return in late June 2021). In summary, this winery is slightly off the main road but I would HIGHLY recommend it (so long as you leave some wine for me when I need it). read more

Definitely the most friendliest winery I've been to in Paso Robles. The owner is incredible. He takes the time to get to know the customers and you can tell that he is extremely passionate about what he does! Two of the stand-outs for me are his Pinot Noir and Cab Sauv. The prices are reasonable and the wines are delicious. The tasting room is small but quaint and beautifully designed. They're located in the back roads, known as Creston. I would highly recommend this winery! read more

Chateau Margene - Wine Tasting Room Near Me - Creston, California

Excellent wines. You may think it is expensive, and it's not inexpensive, but you can easily spend that much or more on lesser Napa wines. I cannot remember the name of it, but their crafted chardonnay was crisp, clean, delicate, and very drinkable chardonnay. There was one BIG problem with CM; they were the first winery we visited in Paso, on our tasting tour, and their wines set such a high bar for us, it was kind of downhill for us from there. Don't misunderstand that though, there were other very very good wines from other vineyards, but Mooney obviously has a passion, and a knack for the craft of winemaking. We had Mike Mooney to ourselves for at least an hour, for the duration of our tasting experience here, and it was an amazing experience for us. We did not join their wine club, nor did we buy a wine here, but we wish we had. I guarantee the next time we're in Paso Robles, we will visit Chateau Margene once again, and at the very least, take home a bottle of wine or two. Come here, but I suggest making this your last stop of your wine tasting trip, because you'll want to end it with the best! read more

I went to Chateau Margene this week and it was the most delightful experience! They were accommodating, generous, took the time to answer all of our questions, and just absolutely lovely. Their love of wine shines through when talking about their history, their vines, and each bottle they present. The wines were wonderful and if I had a larger wine budget I definitely would have purchased more! I'm looking forward to visiting again. read more

Chateau Margene - a glass of wine on a table outside - Wine Tasting Room Near Me - Creston, California

Agree that Chateau Margene is the best winery in Paso Robles. The experience is like being at a friend's house in Provence. And I left my sunglasses and they sent them. That's how cool they are. read more

Chateau Margene has become our favorite winery in Paso Robles. We discovered them when they purchased Roxo a couple of years ago, and we have been consistently impressed with the passion, care and expertise they bring to their winemaking. We were nervous when Roxo was purchased that it would be "ruined." To our relief, the quality of the port has actually improved! Additionally, all of Chateau Margene's excellent wines have now been added to our repertoire. To my palate, they consistently rank among the best I've had, anywhere. Warm, funny, authentic, unpretentious, and charming, John, Michael and Cate have treated us again and again to incredible tasting experiences, along with real hospitality. read more

Tasted Mooney Family Blanc de Noirs Sparkling Chateau Margene 2012 Cielo Rosso Chateau Margene 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Mooney Family 2014 Pinot Noir - Boekenoogen Vineyard Paid $20 for the tasting. The fee can be applied towards a TWO bottle purchase, per tasting fee. Pretentious environment with wines overpriced between $52 and $74 per bottle, for average wines, what is not to like? Everything. read more

The wine here is exceptional! Beautiful property and great service! A must try! Walked away with a bottle of their pino noir and I'm usually a cab drinker. read more

I just spent a weekend in Paso with girlfriends and we ended up at this winery after another winery suggested we make a stop there. We were just about done tasting but decided to go ahead and do just one more. I'm so glad we did. The grounds are beautiful and they have a lovely patio with chairs and sofas and since we were the only ones there at the time, we lounged outside and Michael Mooney, the owner, brought the tastings out to us. He spent time chatting with us, telling us about his family and the history of the winery. He was so nice and passionate and we really enjoyed his company while also enjoying his wines! I'm a white wine fan drinker but the girls were raving about how great their big reds were. In a moment of irresponsibility (perhaps I was too relaxed from the wine and the lovely surroundings?), I left my camera there and didn't realize I had done it until after I made my way back to SF. I called the winery and the owner had my camera and was nice enough to ship it back to me immediately. I was so grateful! I would absolutely recommend this place to wine lovers who also have an appreciation for wonderful family-run businesses. read more

The wines may win a lot of awards, but it's the amazing warm welcome that wins me over. Love the gorgeously complex structure and layered flavors in the Pinots and the Cabernet Sauvignon read more

Chateau Margene - Beautiful day, beautiful wines - Wine Tasting Room Near Me - Creston, California

Probably our best wine tasting/winery experience! John was an awesome host explaining the wines, vineyards, and barrel room practices! Highly recommended if you like excellent wines from a family owned establishment along with great customer service. They were pouring a blanc noir, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese blend, reserve Cab, Cab Franc and Mourvèdre. We joined the wine club! Looking forward to trying the ports upon our next visit. read more

While we were in Paso with my folks, we enjoyed a bottle of their cab at dinner at Artisan and my dad loved it enough that he insisted upon us stopping by the winery the next day. I wasn't quite as enthused, but was pleasantly surprised. Let me warn you, you have to go out in search of this winery and there aren't a whole lot of others nearby (although there was one that we passed with Italian flags out front that looked like we ought to try). The winery itself is fairly new (I think they said that they started their wine making in 1997 and had opened the tasting room in 2006). It's a pretty nice facility and is set up well with a good amount of parking, lots of counter space, and several different outdoor seating areas for enjoying a picnic or glass of wine. The wine was mostly bordeaux-inspired, although the two sons have started making wine and are making Rhone blends. My dad loved the Bordeaux styles quite a bit, while my fiance and I weren't quite as impressed with them (probably a result of the Merlot blending). The Rhone blends that the sons are making appealed to my palate much more and I highly recommend them. All of the wines are pretty hot (high alcohol content) which I enjoy and is hard to get away from in Paso. The wine was expensive, which is why I was dancing back and forth between a three and four star rating. I just don't think that they are making wine that is worth the $35 to $80 that they are charging (and I've paid that much and more for great wine before, so it's not that I'm being cheap). The other fun thing about this winery was the drive that we took back down HWY 229 to get to Santa Margarita...not that Chateau Margene had anything to do with it...but San Luis Obispo County does a great job maintaining their (really fun) winding country roads! read more

5 star worthy in every way!! In our book as a favorite Winery! Everyone must experience this for themselves. Enough said.

A bit more expensive than other wineries with a $12 tasting fee, however the wine was good and the tasting included bread and walnut oil to dip it in as well as some delicous candied/chocolate-covered walnuts! All the wines were reds which was fine by me :) read more

Just got back from Paso...and went to Ch. Margene. We have been to their tasting room previously, but they NOW HAVE ONE RIGHT OFF THE 46 West...on Vineyard Road! Spent over an hour with John Mooney---and their cabernets (especially their two elite ones) will match up with the best out of Napa. Pricey...depends on what you call pricey. Yes...they are....but for a Napa cab of the same quality..you'll pay @X or more. And....they sure don't have the Napa attitude! We have now had the opportunity to spend quality time with both Mike (father) and John (son)...and they are wonderful..knowledgeable..passionate----and produce killer cabernet. read more

Great wine!! ALL of their wines are outstanding! My favorites are ANY of the Cabs, and I also like their Pinot Noir! Also Cielo Rosso...Great, fun place to wine taste!! read more

This is by far my favorite winery in paso. We did the private tour again and it was so informative and interesting. I have such a respect for the drive, passion, and hard work that goes into making this wine. We will be club members forever. read more

As Don S says... pricey??? Not compared to Napa.... While out in California over XMAS we were fortunate enough to enjoy a 2000 Heitz Martha's Vineyard...... Now the proud owner of some 2000 Margene and it blows the Heitz away... Friday night we attended the South Beach Wine and Food Fest "Best of the Best" event... Best cab by far was the 2007 Joseph Phelps INSIGNIA... and that was a distant second to the 2007 Stanger (another Central Coast gem) that we brought back with us... And none of the top Napa producers came close to the 2005 Margene that we have... Bottom line, if you don't need the Napa "cache" or a 90 point wine spectator rating to enjoy wine, there are amazing values in Central Coast, and at that top end of the chain, a $50 Central Coast cab can easily stand up to 3 figure Napa cabs... In fact, I'll easily take the Margene over some Napa Cabs 5x the price.... Another Central Coast recommendation... Parrish Vineyards... started to collect the 2009's for later and that also beat any 2009 out of Napa or Sonoma that I've tasted to date... read more

I normally look to Yelp for reviews, but don't often write my own, but we had such a good experience here I felt I had to. My husband and I went up to Paso Robles for our anniversary. We stayed on Camp 8 Rd; and were trying to stay away from downtown. We literally roamed into Chateau Margene (thanks to Yelp), not knowing they were appointment only, but were greeted by Michael (owner) who once he got over strangers wandering onto his property was extremely welcoming and was able to squeeze us in for a tasting. We explained we are fairly new to the wine life, and he found a way describe his wine so we understood, and enjoyed it. We found the wine to be AMAZING. I read a previous review here of someone being appalled their tasting fee wasn't waived; uhm we didn't even have to ask we bought a couple of bottles and the fee was definitely waived. Even if it wasn't; we enjoyed the wine so much that we'd have still bought the bottles and paid the fee if need be. Wonderful experience! Go here if you can!! read more

Love the Bordeaux style wine, bought a magnum of Cabernet! Patio, shared room with Roxy port. We got great service, even outside on the patio. read more

Great wine but a not too friendly wine club policy for out of state shipping. I have to carry their wine back in my luggage. I keep going back because their Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the best in the area. read more

We landed here as our last winery stop for the day! Very small tasting unpretentious tasting room (no views to speak of) but the wines and John (younger apprentice son!) made this place worthwhile the long drive to it! The pinot noir is one to salivate after! So was the cabernet and the new addition of port! The whole experience was worth it thanks to John himself, since we were the last party had the place to ourselves and he took very good care of us with some generous pours and discussions! Happy bellies, empty wallets - worth it! read more

Family operated winery making very good wine. This was our second time visiting this winery. The first time, a couple years ago, the winemaker's son served us and it was a very enjoyable and delightful experience. This time, it was a pleasure to meet the winemaker himself, and he overall provided every single detail about everything. However, things changed when by the end of the tasting I humbly asked if they would waive the tasting fee for X bottles purchase. It's something that sometimes wineries do or don't, and we usually ask. But we don't usually get the reaction we experienced here. I am guessing this question arouse a sensitive topic for the winemaker, who after that became quite pushy about joining the wine club, and literally stating their wines are worth the tasting fee which also covers the time he had spent with us (we did not request a personalized tour experience). He did not need to waive any tasting fee because he has a big wine club, and they want people interested in joining their wine club. A few other things, along with those, were totally unnecessary and out of line from our standpoint. The best wine here was a 2013 Cab outrageously priced at around $110. As a wine connoisseur I was not impressed, but they for sure craft good quality wine, just overpriced for those not interested in committing to a wine club. My wife still bought a bottle a Port but we left with a bittersweet aftertaste overall. read more

Went to a wedding here and it was absolutely beautiful. The wines at cocktail hour were really good, and fun to experience them in the tasting room. The setting and sunset were really memorable. read more

This place is a real treat if you love good wine! We met the owner and he was truly a jack of all trades! My favorites were the pricey Mourvèdre and the delectable Pinot Noir! I can't wait to go back! read more

Best wine in Paso Robles. The wine was so good I had to get a membership. We visited 11 wineries and this is far the the best wines we tasted. The owner made us feel very welcome. He puts a lot of effort into making great wine. read more

Visited Chateau Margene over the Labor Day weekend. The owner Michael Mooney gave us a tour of the winery as well as did our tasting. Very friendly guy and passionate about his wines. I ended up joining the wine club after enjoying some of his great wines. I always thought Napa was the place to go for Cabs, but Michael definitely change my mind! Chateau Margene makes some really nice Cab blends. A real gem in the Paso Area. read more

This is probably my favorite winery in Paso. They have good cabs here! The Sparking Pinot "Blanc de Noirs" was a very good sparkling wine. Very refreshing. I probably should have bought one. The 2013 Grenache Blanc very refreshing although quite sweet. It had a strong green apple taste almost like a cider. The 2011 Meritage we liked. It had a bell pepper taste. The 2010 gsm was too fruit forward for me. The 2006 Cab (with some cab franc and merlot) smelled nice although not a giant nose. It was a very nice full body dry red. The 2009 Cab (88 Cab, 12 Merlot) smelled of more fruit than the above. ALso tasted a little more fruit forward but still tasted really nice -more medium dry. The 09 rounded out a bit better than the 06. Both spent about 28 months in the barrel. The 2012 Cask 4 (100 cab) spent 18 months in the barrel in New French Oak. It was only bottled in March 14'. It tasted surprisingly nice compared to the smell. It can certainly use more time in the bottle. I am sure it will be great in a few years. Cate who was serving us was great. She was very pleasant and informative about the wines. We really liked her! read more

What an awesome place! We got to meet the wine maker/owner Mike Mooney two years in a row--a super nice guy who makes great wines! Loved everything we tasted! Cask 4, Mooney Cab and Pinots! You can't go wrong with anything you buy. The most fun--the meritage in the bag! We come back every year! read more

Mike and Margene Mooney have the absolutely best wines in Paso Robles/Creston area. Everytime we come to the area to taste wines, we plan on stopping. Mike has created some fantastic cabs, red blends and pinot noirs...They were great 3 years ago and they just get better! We were lucky to buy a couple of '07 cabs previously (mike generously sold them from his collection!) and they were the hit of our Christmas party; plus we now have neighbors that have gone to visit as well! One of the hidden gems of this place as well is that they have a cottage on property to rent (and they now own the property next door, so there's a larger ranch house to stay at as well). Very quaint and well-decorated...a pleasure to stay at! Walk the grounds after hours-so peaceful and beautiful! Yes, it's not close to the normal Paso Robles Wine tour area (it is on the Creston Wine Trail), but well worth the effort to visit! read more