This small, family-owned, boutique winery might not make the top destinations on your next Central California Coast wine tasting tour except for the fact that Alex and Monica Villicana have also turned their barn-enclosed tasting room into Paso Robles’ first distillery, where they turn saignée juice, which is bled from the must to make more concentrated red wine and would otherwise be thrown out, into a delicious neutral spirit that is sold on site as brandy. In reality, though, the clear liquid is more like a vodka and their botanical version more like a gin. Try them both just feet from the still that makes them and then pick up a grappa or a bottle of the Estate Winemaker’s Cuveé to take home.
Villicana Winery and RE:Find Distillery
2725 Adelaida Road.
Paso Robles, CA, USA
(805) 239-9456
http://www.villicanawinery.com
http://www.refinddistillery.com
