This year Windward Vineyard is celebrating its 21st birthday, and doing so in style. Its tasting room now features artisan cheeses, appetizer spreads, and paté paired with Windward Pinot Noirs by the glass or bottle. A vertical tasting of multiple estate vintages emphasizes the profile of the gout de terroir, and can be enjoyed inside or out near the petanque (French bocce ball) court. Guests like to linger here in the shady serenity of the lath house. It’s an ideal place to enjoy delightful hors d’oeuvres, elegant wines, and the magnificent beauty of the Templeton Gap, the superlative producer of Windward Vineyard’s classic Burgundian-style Pinot Noir.
Dedicated to expressing the distinct terroir of Paso Robles’ Westside through elegant Pinot Noir, family-owned Windward Vineyard was named for the Pacific Ocean breezes that cool its precious fruit. The estate’s 15-acre vineyard was planted in 1990 by its owners Marc Goldberg and Maggie D’Ambrosia. They were inspired by the legendary enologist André Tchelistcheff who, along with Dr. Stan Hoffman back in the 1960s, identified the ideal microclimate of Paso Robles’ Templeton Gap—with its calcareous soil, and daily 50 degree diurnal temperature swings—as possessing superlative conditions to grow Pinot Noir in the style of a great French Burgundy.
Marc’s philosophy as the vigneron/winemaker is classic Burgundian: only estate grapes should be used in order to truly capture the terroir. Marc considers himself to be a wine shepherd. He utilizes sustainable vineyard management and a minimalist approach to vinification of the grapes. Aged for over one year in Seguin Moreau Bourgogne Grand Cru cooperage, the wine is not fined or filtered. Since its first vintage in 1993, Windward Vineyard has been acknowledged annually with awards and accolades for its outstanding Pinot Noir. Marc and Maggie’s quest of producing a great American Burgundian Pinot Noir has certainly been realized.