Absolution Cellars — Restaurant in Morro Bay

Edit: shortly after this review we became wine club members. Now 2 years later we are still loving Dirks wines and loving the perks of being wine club members! We've loved the dinner pairings Dirk does at Somms kitchen in Paso Robles (discount 4 wine club members!), recently Dirk has done "Sundays with the winemaker " and this past Sunday we attended that event. It started with a fun PowerPoint education on a few of his wines while we sipped , then coffee and tea next door then a gorgeous drive to cambria and a beautiful walk in Fiscalini Preserve. Afterwards Dirk took us wine tasting at Cutruzzola vineyards, then lunch, then back to absolution for more wine. All for an unbelievable price and of course wine club members get discounts! We highly recommend these fun events Dirk and his gorgeous partner Tania put on throughout the year! Their tasting lounge is still $20 for 6 generous pours and dog and kid friendly! Dirk and Tania are so welcoming to everyone! So many times customers walk in and we all start talking. So the review from 2 years ago below is still true today! one of our favorite wine tastings ever! We loved every story that was shared about each wine we tried. Each wine has unique art for the label and the wine maker shares why he picked each piece for the bottle. We tried 6 wines for only $20 per person and every wine was delicious and flavorful! The wine maker never rushed us and allowed us to enjoy the flavors before coming out with our next wine to taste. Every glass of wine was presented with a story about the grapes used and flavor profile. We ended up buying 3 bottles and were shocked at how inexpensive the bottles were for the quality of the wine. This wine maker has a true gift for making wine! We HIGHLY recommend...

Unfortunately we were refused service and treated pretty disrespectfully for having a larger party with 2 people who weren’t drinking (due to health issues). We really wanted to try it and we’re fine to work with the employee to make it work, but she was pretty condescending and asked us what we would do to make it worth her while from a business standpoint. She said we would be taking up her prime real estate that she could give to other paying customers. However there was absolutely no one in the wine bar - with about 20 seats inside and a 6 seats outside in the front - while the side had 8 seats for us total. We had walked past the place a few times over the course of an hour and a half and saw no one there - which is why we felt fine asking for a larger table. If it were busy we would have avoided bringing our whole group. It would have been fine and we would have made something work, but the way she spoke to us made us feel really uncomfortable. I hope she could learn from this, and treat the next...

Wine tasting on the harbor? How cool is that? Well worth a stop in during a walk along the Embarcadero. Very nice decor inside with unique art work. The art work is also displayed on the wine bottle labels and these have to be the most beautiful bottles labels I have ever seen! The art work also tells a story and the hostess took the time to tell the story as she poured the wine samples. She was very knowledgeable about the wines and the story of the winery. Wine tasting along the harbor has a unique ambiance all it's own. There is plenty of seating and choice of sitting inside or outside. All the wines are very good. I have been here several times, before the expansion and recently after. The place is always a delight to stop...