Locatelli Vineyards & Winery

If you’re looking for a quaint, boutique winery where the owners are the entire tasting room staff, then Locatelli Vineyards & Winery is for you. Production is no more than 2500 cases annually. They do not boast an expansive tasting room or parties every Friday, but what they can give you is a very personal wine experience involving their premium Estate wines. The inside of their intimate tasting room is reminiscent of something you’d find in the hills of Italy with the aged walls & rustic wood trimmed windows. On Festival weekends added family is thrown into the mix to help out, including mothers, brothers, sisters, fathers & maybe a cousin or two. You’ll definitely realize this winery is all about family and friends.

The owners/operators of Locatelli Vineyards & Winery are Louis & Raynette Gregory. Both are former residents of Visalia which is in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley. Louis & Raynette owned & operated Applied Geometrix engineering business in Kingsburg. In 1996, they looked to the Central Coast to buy property wishing to switch occupations to the world of farming & enology. They found their 100 acre property just north of Paso Robles, nestled in the picturesque Santa Lucia foothills overlooking the beautiful Salinas River Valley and Old Mission San Miguel. With the help of Raynette’s father, Reuben Gruber, the property was transformed from cattle land to 40 acres of premium wine grapes. Reuben continued to manage & oversee the wine grapes until 2001 when Louis & Raynette, with their young family, moved permanently to Locatelli Vineyards.

That same year, 2001, Locatelli Vineyards became Locatelli Vineyards & Winery. The entire winemaking process from start to finish is accomplished by Louis Gregory with additional recruitments for crush and bottling. Raynette can usually be found in the office and tasting room managing the remaining duties of the business. Occasionally you’ll find her performing “cellar rat” chores in the winery (not too often she hopes). The vineyard varietals consist mainly of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petite Sirah with additional plantings to Petite Verdot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Zinfandel. This gives Louis the flexibility to develop new blends as well as some traditional ones. Their most popular wine is currently their Estate Petite Sirah. Before bottling, all the wines are aged for two to three years in French & American oak barrels allowing for a very enjoyable wine.

“Where did the name Locatelli come from?” The vineyards and winery are named after Louis’ Great Grandfather, Cesare Locatelli, as a tribute to him and our heritage, as well as others, who have come before us making the long journey to America. You can read more about Cesare’s life on Locatelli Winery’s website by clicking on the Heritage Page.   Also be sure not to miss their second label Old Mission San Miguel Arcangel which is a benefit wine where Locatelli Winery donates 25% of sales from this wine to help the original California Mission located not far from the winery.  Feel free to learn more on their website or hear about it first hand at the winery.