Booker Vineyard — Attraction in Templeton

I’ve been tomany wineries and tasting rooms and I’ve always had good experiences. However, our experience at Booker was well below average. especially for the price We had a 3 PM reservation. We have arrived a few minutes early. We seated at the bar inside. The guy who was in charge of our tasting said that he had just gotten back to work after being off for a while. We did the $50 tasting and ordered a dip appetizer at 3:00 Our host was also working a large table outside and would come back occasionally to pour another tasting, but didn’t really engage with us or tell us anything about what we were drinking Every time he came back to pour another tasting, he did not bring our appetizer He said the kitchen was backed up. It’s dip and vegetables. How long can it take??! The most disappointing part was, he did not apologize, did not try to make it right, I would’ve expected him to give us a break on the tasting or bring us the appetizer half price he was clueless about how to remedy the situation At 3:50, we still did not have our appetizer we finished our tasting, paid & left. So for $50 per person, we had four tastings poor service no appetizer. While the taste room was beautiful, I’ve had much better experiences and I would not...

Booker is magical! The tasting room is perched up on a hill with expansive views of vineyards. It is modern, open to the environment and shall I say chic. Our wine educator for this visit was Jenna. Jenna provided us with several wines to sample as well as crackers to cleanse the palate and water to keep us hydrated. The wines at Booker are some of the best found in Paso Robles. I especially took a liking to their GSM. It exhibited Paso in a way not many other wineries could. The fruit at Booker is some of the best in the area. It shows in the wines they produce. We were fortunate to visit on a day the sheep were mowing the vineyard. This provided us with much entertainment and we learned a friend had a special attraction to sheep, LOL. Booker has a special VIP area to taste as well as a tasting room in their cave. Yes, Booker has a cave, complete with elevator to the entrance. Tastings are not rushed, so allow yourself time between them and your next tasting appointment. All-in-all, our visit to Booker Vineyard was world class. We have tasted at so many vineyards we have lost count and Booker must be in the top 5. Worth a visit? It is 5+...

Known for their Syrah, not their service! 😆

PROS: -Gorgeous everything! Architecture, interior design, the landscaping, the views of the vineyard. It was all beautiful. -Wine was phenomenal 👍 a bunch of blends with gradually increasing amounts of syrah. -The servers did all seem very knowledgeable about the wine.

$50 for tastings, and it's 4 wines. Small pours, BUT they were happy to pour more if you asked! PRO TIP 😁 -Honestly we should have gotten 1 tasting and bought a bottle or 3 for the group to share, bc the wine was so good.

CONS: -Service was lacking from one of the staff, mediocre from another (BUT exceptional from one of the guys!) Energy and attitude play a big part in how service is perceived. -Inside of the building all smelled like mildew. Apparently this happens after it rains there? Seems like something I'd want to fix I'm such a gorgeous property when smell is such a big part of wine tasting. (Definitely get a seat outside because they have fires...