Every Paso Robles producer Cruxvine scores on the westside, ranked. Median Crux Score 88, median bottle $89, median tasting room 87 — against 82, $60 and 79 on the eastside.
| Side | Districts | Producers | Median Crux | Median bottle | Median room |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westside | Adelaida, Templeton Gap, Willow Creek | 54 | 88 | $89 | 87 |
| South | Santa Margarita Ranch | 19 | 87 | $70 | 84 |
| Central | El Pomar, Paso Robles Geneseo | 27 | 86 | $63 | 82 |
| North | San Miguel | 17 | 85 | $56 | 81 |
| South-east | Creston | 17 | 83 | $64 | 81 |
| Eastside | Paso Robles Estrella, Paso Robles Highlands, San Juan Creek | 53 | 82 | $60 | 79 |
The gap is real and it is not the whole story: the westside is 6 points ahead on score and $29 more a bottle. Cruxvine publishes both numbers and leaves the trade to you.
A hundred for the wine and a hundred for the room, across nineteen bottlings and fourteen thousand cases — scale has cost this place nothing.
A Merlot built for its second decade in bottle, with a tasting room scoring 100 for the people who will not wait that long.
Consistency of 100 across ten vintages: eight wines, no misses, and a $105 ask that assumes you already knew.
Ninety-nine points on 55% estate fruit: Highland Cellars buys brilliantly and charges $113 for the result.
Walk in, pay fifteen dollars, and drink Mourvèdre from a house that scores 98 for both its room and its candour.
Willow Creek Picpoul with a transparency score of 99, which in a white this serious is rarer than the wine.
The only transparency score of 100 in Paso Robles, on seventeen wines from fourteen hundred cases of Adelaida Cabernet.
Picpoul Blanc at 98 for quality and 76 for value: the wine is not the problem, the $108 is.
| # | Producer & verdict | Crux | Avg | Value | Δ med 88 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Verrone Vista Templeton Gap District · Petit Verdot · Templeton A hundred for the wine and a hundred for the room, across nineteen bottlings and fourteen thousand cases — scale has cost this place nothing. | 96 | $106 | 88 | +8 | |
| =1 | Whitcomb & Naveau Templeton Gap District · Merlot · Templeton A Merlot built for its second decade in bottle, with a tasting room scoring 100 for the people who will not wait that long. | 96 | $101 | 86 | +8 | |
| 4 | Kestrel & Quint Adelaida District · Petit Verdot · Paso Robles Consistency of 100 across ten vintages: eight wines, no misses, and a $105 ask that assumes you already knew. | 95 | $105 | 79 | +7 | |
| =5 | Highland Cellars Willow Creek District · Merlot · Paso Robles Ninety-nine points on 55% estate fruit: Highland Cellars buys brilliantly and charges $113 for the result. | 94 | $113 | 79 | +6 | |
| =5 | Kiler Winery Templeton Gap District · Mourvèdre · Templeton Walk in, pay fifteen dollars, and drink Mourvèdre from a house that scores 98 for both its room and its candour. | 94 | $99 | 87 | +6 | |
| =9 | Alder Knoll Willow Creek District · Picpoul Blanc · Paso Robles Willow Creek Picpoul with a transparency score of 99, which in a white this serious is rarer than the wine. | 93 | $90 | 87 | +5 | |
| =9 | Amsel Hollow Adelaida District · Cabernet Sauvignon · Paso Robles The only transparency score of 100 in Paso Robles, on seventeen wines from fourteen hundred cases of Adelaida Cabernet. | 93 | $86 | 87 | +5 | |
| =9 | Huer Huero Winery Willow Creek District · Picpoul Blanc · Paso Robles Picpoul Blanc at 98 for quality and 76 for value: the wine is not the problem, the $108 is. | 93 | $108 | 76 | +5 | |
| =9 | Oyster Crossing Adelaida District · Merlot · Paso Robles Nine thousand cases and a quality score of 97: the wine has outgrown both the room and the pricing. | 93 | $94 | 80 | +5 | |
| =13 | Boye & Yarrow Adelaida District · Zinfandel · Paso Robles A hundred-point tasting room attached to fourteen hundred cases of estate Zinfandel; the hard part is getting the bottle, not the seat. | 92 | $102 | 80 | +4 | |
| =13 | Ridgemark & Nolby Templeton Gap District · Mourvèdre · Templeton Eighteen wines is too many; the ones that hold the 95 are the Mourvèdres, and 2024 is the vintage to buy. | 92 | $102 | 79 | +4 | |
| =13 | Summit Estate Adelaida District · Tempranillo · Paso Robles Adelaida Tempranillo from 96% estate fruit, seven wines deep, priced at $90 and worth the argument. | 92 | $90 | 87 | +4 | |
| =19 | Bramble Hill Templeton Gap District · Tempranillo · Templeton Fifty-four years in Templeton Gap on 55% estate fruit; the Tempranillo is consistent at 95 and the room has never been the point. | 91 | $85 | 88 | +3 | |
| =19 | Huer Huero Hill Willow Creek District · Tempranillo · Paso Robles The Tempranillo is 95-point wine; at $108 with value at 74, it is the weakest bargain in Willow Creek. | 91 | $108 | 74 | +3 | |
| =19 | Wexler Crossing Adelaida District · Tempranillo · Paso Robles Nineteen wines, a 97-point room, and a value score of 73: Wexler Crossing sells the visit as much as the bottle. | 91 | $108 | 73 | +3 | |
| =19 | Wexler Draw Adelaida District · Mourvèdre · Paso Robles All estate fruit, $75, and a perfect value score — the 81 for the tasting room is the price of that. | 91 | $75 | 100 | +3 | |
| =30 | Dry Creek Gate Willow Creek District · Petite Sirah · Paso Robles Fourteen thousand cases of Petite Sirah at $65 that hold 93 for quality — volume without visible compromise. | 90 | $65 | 89 | +2 | |
| =30 | Hemsley & Ulmer Adelaida District · Zinfandel · Paso Robles Eight hundred cases, 40% estate, $104: you are paying for scarcity and for somebody else's vineyard. | 90 | $104 | 81 | +2 | |
| =30 | Jarrow Ranch Adelaida District · Viognier · Paso Robles Adelaida Viognier at $109 with a value score of 77 — a serious white asking a red's price. | 90 | $109 | 77 | +2 | |
| =37 | Cordell Fork Templeton Gap District · Zinfandel · Templeton A 95-point room in front of Zinfandel whose vintages run from 82 to 93 — the welcome is steadier than the wine. | 89 | $62 | 91 | +1 | |
| =37 | Dellamo Hollow Willow Creek District · Mourvèdre · Paso Robles A 93 for value on 40% estate fruit: Dellamo Hollow is buying well and passing some of it on. | 89 | $78 | 93 | +1 | |
| =37 | Draycott Trail Templeton Gap District · Merlot · Templeton Four wines, one of them the Merlot that earns the 93, and a $50 fee that Templeton Gap increasingly assumes you will pay. | 89 | $94 | 78 | +1 | |
| =37 | Hemsley Trail Willow Creek District · Zinfandel · Paso Robles Pays Cruxvine $149 a month for a claimed listing and scores 89 anyway, which is what a claimed listing is worth. | 89 | $98 | 78 | +1 | |
| =37 | Limestone Winery Adelaida District · Counoise · Paso Robles Counoise, free to taste, no appointment, 96% estate — the most generous door in Adelaida attached to a grape nobody markets. | 89 | $76 | 91 | +1 | |
| =37 | Shell Vineyards Adelaida District · Roussanne · Paso Robles Nineteen Adelaida wines with a Roussanne at their centre, full additions published, and a value score of 78 that says so. | 89 | $104 | 78 | +1 | |
| =37 | Tarrant & Marchetti Templeton Gap District · Cabernet Sauvignon · Templeton A hundred per cent estate Cabernet at $90, and a tasting room at 81 that has not caught up with the vineyard. | 89 | $90 | 90 | +1 | |
| =51 | Ashby Hill Templeton Gap District · Picpoul Blanc · Templeton A 96-point room and a value score of 70: Ashby Hill charges $108 for Picpoul grown 60% somewhere else. | 88 | $108 | 70 | ±0 | |
| =51 | Ellery Field Templeton Gap District · Cabernet Sauvignon · Templeton The Cabernet earns 92 and the tasting room earns 78 — buy the bottle somewhere else and drink it at home. | 88 | $80 | 85 | ±0 | |
| =51 | Stapleton Ridge Willow Creek District · Counoise · Paso Robles Eighteen wines is a lot of Counoise to get through in a room scoring 79; the wine itself is the reason to try. | 88 | $83 | 84 | ±0 | |
| =57 | Foxglen Mesa Willow Creek District · Merlot · Paso Robles Publishes everything it adds and grows 55% of what it presses — Foxglen Mesa is a Willow Creek négociant that tells you so. | 87 | $75 | 80 | −1 | |
| =57 | Jessup Ranch Adelaida District · Mourvèdre · Paso Robles Publishes its full additions list on a hundred per cent estate fruit at $61 — the numbers here all point the same way. | 87 | $61 | 80 | −1 | |
| =57 | Limestone Bend Adelaida District · Albariño · Paso Robles Albariño out of Adelaida limestone, eight hundred cases, fourteen wines — ambitious, and stretched thin because of it. | 87 | $87 | 79 | −1 | |
| =57 | Linne Field Willow Creek District · Tempranillo · Paso Robles A 94-point room, a $50 fee and a Tempranillo that scores 86: Linne Field sells the afternoon. | 87 | $92 | 75 | −1 | |
| =57 | Rhodes & Corliss Willow Creek District · Grenache · Paso Robles Publishes its full additions list and pours without appointment; the Grenache is 91-point wine at a 75-point price. | 87 | $91 | 75 | −1 | |
| =57 | Stapleton Wash Willow Creek District · Grenache · Paso Robles All estate Willow Creek Grenache at $95 with value at 75 — the vineyard is paying for itself and you are not. | 87 | $95 | 75 | −1 | |
| =76 | Fairbourne Bend Adelaida District · Merlot · Paso Robles Adelaida's oldest house, founded 1972, asking $101 for Merlot that scores 89 — value at 70 says the seniority is priced in. | 86 | $101 | 70 | −2 | |
| =76 | Oyster Furrow Willow Creek District · Grenache · Paso Robles Transparency at 95 and consistency at 80: Oyster Furrow tells you everything, including that the vintages vary. | 86 | $73 | 92 | −2 | |
| =76 | Salinas Rise Adelaida District · Tempranillo · Paso Robles Fifty-two years old, $61, $15 to taste and additions published — Salinas Rise has never made the visit expensive. | 86 | $61 | 89 | −2 | |
| =76 | Thorne Bench Willow Creek District · Grenache · Paso Robles Seven wines, 89 for consistency, and a Grenache priced at $85 that the 75 for value quietly disputes. | 86 | $85 | 75 | −2 | |
| =88 | Garvey Hollow Willow Creek District · Grenache · Paso Robles Four wines and a 90-point room from a house that grows only 55% of its own fruit; the hospitality is the product. | 85 | $76 | 79 | −3 | |
| =88 | Hemsley Grade Adelaida District · Counoise · Paso Robles Seventeen wines, no vineyard, no additions list — Hemsley Grade is a brand before it is a farm. | 85 | $65 | 84 | −3 | |
| =88 | Jarrow Grove Adelaida District · Cabernet Sauvignon · Paso Robles Eighteen wines from eight hundred cases at $47, walk-in, full additions published; consistency at 77 is the cost of that range. | 85 | $47 | 91 | −3 | |
| =88 | Lindqvist & Merriam Adelaida District · Grenache · Paso Robles Ninety-one for the wine, nothing disclosed, no estate fruit and $50 to taste: Adelaida Grenache on trust alone. | 85 | $89 | 76 | −3 | |
| =88 | Oakhurst Bend Adelaida District · Counoise · Paso Robles Four wines, free to taste, and a Counoise that has not moved much since 2004 — for better and for worse. | 85 | $66 | 80 | −3 | |
| =88 | Stapleton Knoll Templeton Gap District · Syrah · Templeton Nine thousand cases of Templeton Gap Syrah at $53 that never quite excel and never disappoint. | 85 | $53 | 82 | −3 | |
| =104 | Marrow Cellars Adelaida District · Zinfandel · Paso Robles Fifty-one years old, eight hundred cases, thirteen wines and a room at 89; the Zinfandel is the least interesting thing here. | 84 | $83 | 72 | −4 | |
| =104 | Steelhead Bench Adelaida District · Cabernet Sauvignon · Paso Robles A paying customer with a transparency score of 69, no estate fruit and no additions list — the score is 84 and the billing changed none of it. | 84 | $57 | 88 | −4 | |
| =118 | Cripple Cellars Adelaida District · Petite Sirah · Paso Robles A hundred and four dollars, value at 64, transparency at 68 and no estate fruit: the worst ratio in Adelaida. | 83 | $104 | 64 | −5 | |
| =118 | Kestrel & Amsel Willow Creek District · Grenache · Paso Robles Quality of 80 and value of 89 at $51: you are buying the price, and Kestrel & Amsel is fine with that. | 83 | $51 | 89 | −5 | |
| =118 | Lindqvist & Quint Templeton Gap District · Petite Sirah · Templeton Consistency of 90 on four wines nobody grew, at $106, with value at 66 — reliably expensive. | 83 | $106 | 66 | −5 | |
| =118 | Naveau & Corliss Adelaida District · Counoise · Paso Robles A $50 fee for Counoise from a house with no vineyard and no additions list; value at 91 is the only defence offered. | 83 | $55 | 91 | −5 | |
| =147 | Tarrant & Kell Templeton Gap District · Syrah · Templeton A hundred per cent estate Syrah at $83, seventeen wines deep, with value at 71 — the estate is real, the price is ambitious. | 81 | $83 | 71 | −7 | |
| =159 | Calder Gate Templeton Gap District · Petite Sirah · Templeton Eleven wines with no sub-score above 82: Calder Gate is the definition of the middle of this list. | 80 | $71 | 76 | −8 | |
| =179 | Kell Grove Adelaida District · Viognier · Paso Robles Fourteen thousand cases of Viognier from a 65-point room; 2024 is the best vintage, which is not saying a great deal. | 76 | $50 | 77 | −12 |
Measured across the 107 producers Cruxvine scores on the two sides: the westside median Crux Score is 88 against 82 on the east, and the westside median bottle is $89 against $60. The west also scores higher for the tasting room, 87 against 79. The west is limestone hills and marine influence; the east is the warmer, flatter valley floor.
On the scores, yes. The westside median is 88 against 82 on the eastside, a gap of 6 points, and it costs $89 a bottle against $60. Whether that gap is worth $29 is the reader's call; Cruxvine's job is to publish both numbers.
Verrone Vista, at 96. Cruxvine scores 54 producers on the westside across three sub-districts: Adelaida District, Templeton Gap District, Willow Creek District.