“A $50 fee from a house founded in 2015 with ten wines and 74% estate fruit; the Grenache is worth $64, the fee is not.”
= shared rank: 10 producers score 82
Thistle Fork is a Grenache producer in the San Juan Creek of the Paso Robles AVA, California. Cruxvine scores it 82 out of 100 — 3 points below the Paso Robles median of 85 — ranking it =137 of 187 producers in the appellation (tied with 9 other producers). Its strongest category is transparency (88); its weakest is tasting room (76). The average bottle costs $64, against a regional median of $69. Tasting: 1826 Cripple Creek Rd, Shandon · Sat–Sun 10:00–16:00 · appointment required · $50 tasting, waived on purchase. Cruxvine has no financial relationship with Thistle Fork; bottles were purchased at retail.
How the Crux Score works · All 21 producers in San Juan Creek · All 187 in Paso Robles
Crux Score 82 is these five weighted, not their average. The weighting is published.
1826 Cripple Creek Rd
Shandon, CA · San Juan Creek
Sat–Sun 10:00–16:00
By appointment
$50 per person
Waived on purchase
No dogs · No food service
Tasting room scored 76
2020 carries smoke exposure from the August complex fires. We score bottles, not intentions.
Every producer in the appellation is scored for each of these years. See the whole Paso Robles vintage record, or what 2020 cost every producer here.
Thistle Fork is not a Cruxvine customer. Bottles purchased at retail.
10 wines assessed. Not all pours were blind; the score is capped accordingly.
Independent · family-held since 2015. Reports 74% estate-grown fruit.
Discloses fining and filtration only. Transparency scored 88.
Cruxvine scores Thistle Fork's tasting room 76 out of 100 and the winery 82 overall, ranking it =137 of 187 in Paso Robles. Its tasting room score is below the Paso Robles median of 83. A $50 fee from a house founded in 2015 with ten wines and 74% estate fruit; the Grenache is worth $64, the fee is not.
Tasting at Thistle Fork costs $50 per person, waived with a bottle purchase.
Yes — Thistle Fork is by appointment only. It is open Sat–Sun, 10:00–16:00.
Thistle Fork is a Grenache specialist. Cruxvine assessed 10 of its wines, and its best-scoring vintage on record is 2018 at 86 points.
The 2021 bottling drinks from 2022 and is at peak between 2025 and 2028, holding to about 2033.