Truly the hidden gem of Paso Robles. Their Syrah is the best in the region. It's a very humble little tasting room, not much to look at, but the wine is so fruity and delicious that's it worth a visit. It's located on hwy 46 on route to the Hearst Castle (from south). My girlfriend and I PPP in every time we are in the area. And best of all if the value. I bought a case of the Syrah for $20/bottle. It's impossible to find this quality wine for that price. Looking to forward to returning again. read more

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My husband and I decided to stop here, not really knowing this winery....let me just say we walked in expecting to just taste and leave, and we actually left after a couple of hours. The experience was us tasting some really great wine, talking motorcycles and cars new and old, along with other topics of Great conversation. The owner John made us feel welcomed and we enjoyed talking to him. If you are offended by cussing, are a sensitive person, can't laugh, or have a stick up your booty, then this might not be the winery for you!....otherwise this place is freaking awesome! We will return and will become club members. FYI we drink lots of wine and are club members at multiple wineries, and this winery is definitely one of our favorites. Good wine doesn't need a description...it's really a experience!! ...drink wine and have fun responsibly!!! read more

great winery - very hands on family style - the wines are priced at reasonable levels and are very good to terrific - despite being the last winery on the way out of town ,or the first I suppose if you are going the other way. plus winery comes with a terrific dog and the owner is charming and irascible GL read more

My Girlfriend and I spent a rainy weekend in the Cambria area. Due to the rain, we decided to take a drive and visit a few of the wineries recommended by the lodge. This was the first winery we stopped at and by far the worst. As soon as we entered the tasting room we found an older gentleman behind the counter with a seriously bad attitude. Admittedly we know just about nothing when it comes to wine. Instead of trying to help us, this guy was rude asking 'why are you here then?'. When we asked if he had a sweeter white wine, he said 'if you want white wines, go somewhere else where you can get any bubblegum, spearmint, or tutti frutti flavored wine you want'. He had several other snobbish and abrasive comments. The entire experience was uncomfortable and awkward. We quickly finished our small sample and got the hell out of there. We stopped at a few other wineries that day and found very enjoyable and very nice people willing to help obvious newbies with good tasting choices. Do yourself a favor and skip this place. read more

Wonderful surprise on our way to Cambria. Host was talkative and shared knowledge about the grapes, process and wines themselves. The tasting room is a charming and enjoyed hearing how the host & his son built the facility. Wines were good - all reds - Pinot was my favorite, flavorful without being heavy. Tasting is $10 (4 wines I think) and fee isn't waived unless 2 bottles are purchased which was surprising since many tasting rooms will waive fee with 1 bottle purchase. Nonetheless, great little stop, good wines and a beautiful setting. read more

Awesome experience at Rocky Creek Cellars. Great family winery with delicious aged red wines. Dusty Somogyi was extremely friendly and knowledgable in the tasting room and was also the winemaker. This was my kind of place. None of the frills. Just great wine. My sister and I had a blast and felt as if we were treated like friends or family instead of a customer. A must stop if you're in the Templeton Gap. read more

Horrible wines and staff. The guy behind the counter never told us what he was pouring. All he ever said was "it's 5$ for the wine tasting" he was very condescending and told someone in our party that he was, wrong about the flavor he was tasting. I don't recommend going here. The wines are very watery and weak. Don't waste your time or money here. read more

My friends and I walked into this place today expecting to be treated well as we had at other higher end wineries. We were literally the only ones there abnd the older guy, who I think was the owner, barely said hello to us, never explained the different wines we were drinking to us and made NO convrsation with us except to rudely correct one of my friends when he commented about one of the tastes he was getting from one of the wines he had poured. We will NEVER come back here. His wines really were not anything special and we could have overlooked that had he made an effort to make us feel welcome and engaged us with every wine. This is a man that needs to take a customer service and sales class. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME HERE! read more

Although I do most my wine tasting in Sonoma County, I am still loyal to the Paso Robles area. Being from Atascadero, I have a found a few wineries I enjoy. However, this is definitely not one of them! I brought my family, all the way from South Korea, and used a groupon that my mom had purchased. Not only did the owner refuse to honor it, but he treated us in a very rude, disrespectful, and almost racist way. As soon as we walked through the door, he had passed judgment on us. To this day, I can't believe how disrespectful and rude he was. Bad business. Funny thing is, NO ONE was there at the time. Place was EMPTY. This is a business that will not last because of terrible, terrible ownership and leadership. read more

Excellent winery. This deserves a repeat visit if I'm ever back in the area. No frills, just good wine made by a small family operation. The tasting room is beautifully but simply set up by the owner with furniture that he built. All the usual extra for sale were much more forgivable when I found out they were produced by his neighbors (ceramics for example). Their wines easily beat many of the similarly priced wineries in the area in quality and even compete favorably over some of their higher priced neighbors. We tried: Petite Sirah 2005 ($24): A nice pleasant fruity PS. A nice solid medium bodied wine, nicely balanced and well rounded. Had a bit of a sulphur thing going on, but it was subtle enough not to throw me off. Perhaps a bit left over from the bottling. A good example of why not to use screw tops on everything, since if this was the source of the slight sulphur smell, a screw top would have made it much worse. Maybe worth the high teens. Syrah 2002 ($20): Slightly fuller bodied, but not heavy. Lots of nice plum flavors, nice pepper, spicy finish. I really liked this. I was surprised to see quite a bit of sediment in the bottle. I always like this because it screams small production art wine, not all wine needs to be heavily filtered. Worth the 20 bucks I thought. Merlot 2002 ($20): If you are a fan of a bit more toasty oak in your wines, this tasting is for you. It was a bit hot flavored with less fruit than the previous two, a bit more of the slightly harsh oak tannins. If you like this type of wine, which many do, this is an excellent choice. At 20 bucks, I thought it was a bargain if this is the style of wine you like. Cab Sauv 2003 ($20): Whoa, where is the watermelon flavor I'm getting coming from? I won't question it though, because I liked it. Next time I eat a watermelon, I'm going to try throwing some pepper on it, because those two flavors sure went well in this wine. A bit fuller bodied than the previous pouring. I liked it. Another good value at their asking price. Zin 2004 ($22): A very nice mild example of a zin that still had plenty of flavors. Definitely a very solid effort on the winemaker's part. Perfect bottle to buy if you want a California zin that actually has some restraint, picked at ripeness rather than over ripeness. At what I deemed a very good deal of $22, I had to pick up a bottle, much to the chagrin of my overflowing wine closet. This bottle was very refreshing after the overblown obviously mass produced zins we were trying the day before at their neighbor down the street, who will not be named (unless you click on my profile and find my other winery reviews from one day before this review...). read more

Spent an hour or so here on a wickedly beautiful day in May. The owner was extraordinary--he chatted with us about racing dirt bikes, his dream retirement job (the winery), making good wine in small batches, and Clint Eastwood, whom he'd once worked for. His easy-going nature, the beautiful landscaping on the small front lot, the vintage blue truck, and the delicious wine made for a great time. Bought a bottle each of PInot Noir and Petite Syrah and they were just as delicious back home. read more

Our friend took us out here on a whim today. The family who owns this place is super friendly. I think we met the father and son today. Very very approachable people. Stayed for a tasting and had some funny chit chat with them. They have a really awesome dog too and they were showing us some old family photos of the dogs too. I love this type of friendly service. The wine was also good. A+! read more

Some friends and I went to this winery as our last stop of the day. We met John (one of the owners), who was the only one working at the table. We paid for a tasting of 5 wines, which we enjoyed (although we aren't wine connoisseurs by any means). John said they naturally age the wines rather than adding chemicals to speed up the process. The owner was very talkative and friendly with us, so we all agreed we enjoyed the very lively conversation we had with him. We talked about baseball, cars, wine-making, table tennis, etc. We definitely felt that we ended our day of wine-tasting on a high note! read more

I had an excellent experience at this winery! A lot of the 46 wineriers made me feel rushed and the staff was impersonal. The owner at rocky creek was very nice and explained all of the wines to myself and friends. His daughter also came over to our group and was very sociable. The wines were great! I recommend the Syrah to anyone tasting at the rocky creek winery!! read more

We should have taken the hint from the couple that was leaving as we were entering. "He's all yours!" said the man. It didn't take us long to get what he was talking about. Behind the counter was one of the nastiest human beings we've ever encountered. This curmudgeon used every pour as an opportunity to be rude, condescending and to attack any taste or preference we dared to have. The inside of the building is a dumpy little room. The outside looks like a trailer park. The wine was nothing special. The only thing we got out of the experience was laughing as we drove away at someone who could be that miserable in that line of work. If you go to this hole in the ground go there planning to record this guy on your phone. It will be worth the laughs you can share with friends later. read more

Cool little place, there was a live band when I stopped on the holiday weekend. Great people who truly seem to love what they do. I overheard that the winemaker manually removes all the stems from each batch, which is why the wine is so unique. This place is homey, friendly, and overall just relaxing. Make sure to mellow out by the fishpond on your next wine trip down the 46. read more

My personal favoret spot in Paso Robles Wine country. There wine are fantastic and aged to perfection. Try there 2004 Zin! Awsome small town feel and a great winery to meet the winemakers and grape growers. Takes about 5 minutes to get there from the HWY 46W and Vineyard junction. Definatly worth it! Can't wait to go back. read more

Really friendly, family owned winery. I learned a little something about the process called dry farming, which they use in their vineyard. Basically because of their location, the fog breaks over their vineyard and they never have to water their grapes. Its actually pretty fortunate for them since Paso is having a pretty big issue with drought right now. They don't have any white wines because of this, but they have quite a few nice reds. I didn't taste much variety in the different offerings, but they were all pretty good. read more

Rocky service is what you will get at this place ! When you get tired of having a good time and feel it is time to get disrespected and ignored, this would be a good option. read more

Johnny is a great character, and an even more amazing wine maker. Tons of cool stuff and you don't need to drink water in between tasting's because his wine is that good. A MUST stop for a great and unique wine tasting experience. "There are no answers. Only the search."..Grandma Ivy read more

We love Rocky Creek Cellars!! Best Syrah in the area by far and I also LOVE the Pinot noir. I'm impressed with their use of Hungarian oak barrels to age their wines for years & years. The tasting room has the feel of a wood cutters cottage or some place in the Shire;) they have the most affordable tasting fee of anywhere I've found. I support those who have served my country and the owner is a Vietnam veteran and hilarious & super friendly to my kids and pets. read more

Here's the deal: 1)The same yeast is used in all the wines and so they all taste pretty much the same. 2) His vintages are old - you see, most wine cellars don't release the next year's vintage until the oldest year sells out. So most wineries are at 2013/2014 right now as of this writing... Rocky Creek Cellars is still trying to sell 2006 bottles of wine... :/ 3) 6 bottles were on the tasting list but he only poured 5 and didn't want to open the 6th bottle... I have no idea why. 4) John badmouthed a lot of other wineries which IMHO is in bad form. Not a 1 star because John is a character to have a beer with, but not the guy you want pouring your wine. read more

We enjoyed our wine tasting here yesterday & bought a case of the Syrah + a bottle of port. Dusty, son of the owner, is a charming young man. Thanks for a fun time, Dusty...we will be back! read more

This is an awesome little gem. Don't come if you are pretentious of John will hand you your butt on a platter! Otherwise you will have a great time. The wines were some of the best we tried read more

We once again stopped at this friendly, wonderful winery. The father and son team are great. John and his son Dustin know how to get things done right. Their wines are great and full of flavors and aged beautifully. The buildings and premises are always kept in tip-top condition. John is a accomplished woodworker and has made all of the display cases and tasting counter from redwood that he has milled himself. As a woodworker, too, I appreciate his creativity and skills. This is one of our favorite spots in the Paso Robles Wine Country. Please stop by - you will be pleasantly pleased. read more

Seriously, we had the greatest last stop of the day with John. Great storytelling, fun, real kinda guy. My partner and I were mesmerized by this guy as he poured and told stories of travels and the people we encounter along the way. $5 tasting fee for red wines. It was like visiting my favorite uncle. Thank, John. read more

Excellent wine, excellent vibe. No pretension. John and son Dusty go back to the old school way of making wine & hot-damn are they succeeding. And finally!! A winemaker/pourer with a personality! I live on the central coast and try to visit a winery or two at least once a month. I came here based on multiple recommendations. All the wines are red and all are single varietals, unfiltered and low sulfites (aka messing with the wine less + adding less crap= fewer headaches & a more natural approach to making high quality wine). Their single varietals are just as complex as any blend I've tasted at any cash-cow, highfalutin, commercially driven Paso Robles winery. John and Dusty make wine they like to drink with intention and consciousness. Just talking with John at the tasting room proved to me that this wine is a labor of love, literally. John told us he hand hoes the vineyard rows! Upon walking into the tasting room I felt instantly at ease. Although the tasting counter itself isn't very long the room is very spacious and cozy. As soon as we started chatting with John and the couple already tasting we felt comfortable. John is a warm character with a funny personality. We felt we could laugh loudly and enjoy our time there without feeling self-conscious. Then, oh my goodness, we started tasting. I cannot tell you enough how much I enjoyed these wines. I could go into a crazy long explanation, but, I mean, wow! All were so pleasant to drink. This place is a must try. You will not pay any more than you would at any other high-quality winery in the Paso area. We will definitely be coming back to enjoy the Rocky Creek Cellars experience. read more

Stopped here with a voucher for wine tasting two weeks ago. Met John, the owner, who did the pouring. What a lovely and cozy winery, definitely can taste the difference in the way the wines are made. They are absolutely tasty and well worth every penny. Found John to be very amicable, shared a lot about his life and passions including his mother's love of gardening, his love of woodwork, and his adult children. Totally enjoyed the experience and plan to return and definitely purchase more wine. read more

We had the pleasure of running across a true Renaissance Man. He makes great wine, fabulous wood furniture and builds cars. We so enjoyed our conversation with him. Made visiting his winery a delight!! A must stop on your next trip to the wineries.... read more

Another great, small winery, with a friendly, hard working owner. We really enjoyed the wines, and they were a great value. Everyone in our group ended up buying bottles. read more

I love this winery. It's a family-run operation with excellent red wines. The tasting room's furniture is beautiful and rustic, made by John the owner, who is often the host. He will take his time to chat with you, and you'll soon realize just how much he cares about what he pours in your glass. John and his son Dusty do all the work (from hoeing to bottling), and it shows! The tasting fee is only $5, and you'll get a variety of reds to try (great Zin!). There's even a picnic table on the premises, so bring some food with you. Be sure to say hi to John's big dog--he's very sweet and mellow. read more

We came to this winery last Sunday around closing time from Fresno. John and Dusty were very friendly and knowledgeable. Glad it was our last stop on the way home because if we stopped here first I would have stayed here all day. This place is a great winery for ambience, fun, and good wine at a reasonable price. Rocky Creek Cellars is the perfect winery to experience delicious wines in a relaxed, casual environment. read more

The people at Pipestone & Rocky Creek WERE RUDE they signed up with groupon to offer coupons for wine tastings. Then they don't honor the coupon! I bought wine tasting for eight people. I had family and friends & was looking to show THE LOCAL HOSPITALITY what the area was all about. but these people ruined our day The first 3 wineries we went to were great (Wild Horse, L'Aventure & Poalillo) we bought 2+cases of wine & 2 club memberships we were loving it . Then we ran into these Jerks, don't go here! This guy is argumentative & unpleasant this is my impression after 3 minutes we didn't stay any longer than that. read more

Pulled up to Rocky Cellars and did not expect much from the outside view, but was pleasantly surprised mostly by the absolutely wonderful tastes of all the wines presented to us by Mr. Somagyi who by the way is a Vietnam veteran and has a right to voice his opinions....he was very engaging and pleasant along with his beautiful Akia dog.....a fourth generation to Johns's family.....As a farmer myself from the San Joaquin valley I had a great time visiting with this fine man. As for the Journalist who was offended by John....you offended me. read more

We were out photographing wildflowers toward the end of May in 2017. We stopped at Rocky Creek Cellars because we remembered fondly the two wineries that were formerly independent, and made fine products, and had more recently been purchased by Epoch. Rocky Creek was merely the closest winery that we saw that was independent. We both were favorably impressed by the detailed attention to the wines that they make; well made, sound, and, more to my taste than most of the wines of the region, which I believe are mostly picked too late, to become "fruit forward", too high in alcohol and too low in residual acidity, or, to my taste, unbalanced. The wines at Rocky Creek do not suffer from that misguided mandate to maximize hang time and become big wines. They tend to be very nice for drinking with dinner, and we just had a Sangiovese with our mostly fresh marinara sauce pasta that had Bruce Adelle's chicken meatballs and some of our garden herbs in it. Perfect, by my taste?....not quite, but close enough, and better than what some wineries that specialize in Italian varietals are pushing. Hell with the Super Tuscans that have replaced Chianti Classico! I do tend to like a brighter red with my pasta than do some folk, and also, it should be noted that we were drinking a California 2010 Sangiovese in 2017! Most of the California 2010 Sangiovese would now have been oxidized cooking wine, I suspect. This winery's product held up to the years. My wife loved it! read more

We stopped by this winery this past weekend and had a GREAT time. Small, yet very friendly and welcoming, people working there treated us like family. Evan Brown was performing and was terrific. We will definitely being going back. read more

I have searched high and low for what I consider "honest" wine. Like I drank in Spain and France. No heavy tannins, no artificial coloring or added enzymes. This is real wine. It is superb. Left with two cases. We belong to three very high en clubs and have a lot of good wine. This is now my favorite! John is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet on top of it all. What an enjoyable find!!!! read more

We stopped by this business as part of a day trip to Paso Robles. The owner was rude and due to small quantities produced, the wine was overpriced for the quality. With over 300 othe vieyards in the area, would definitely recommend you pass this one by and visit any other winery on 46W or more friendly staff and equally good wine. read more