Castoro Cellars Vineyards & Winery — Restaurant in Templeton

A weird and awkward experience that may or may not have involved retail theft, but leaves an awful taste in your mouth no amount of water or oyster crackers will cover.

We went on an off day and was hosted by an older lady at the bar. She regaled us with various stories, some half believable (like a perk of the job including taking 6 or 7 bottles a night to drink, and being a former medical director), some not so much (like being able to smell snakes).

At the end, we closed out just to at least cover the tasting fees, and she convinced us to round up to 6 bottles for a 10% discount. She made an overt showing of presenting all the bottles on the counter prior to packing and made sure to fold in the top of the box in on itself. Of course we didn't bother to check or with a receipt and drove home the next day, only then to realize we were missing one of the most expensive bottles.

The winery has no way of finding our receipt to refund the missing item, in this modern day I find that hard to believe. So that's it, this review and the loss of a future customer is all that amounts to. We're not going to bother throwing a real Karen fit over a random bottle of Paso wine and would normally give something like this a pass, but that overt showing of the bottles and careful packaging does make one's mind wander. Like is this a habitual tactic of the winery or its sale staff?

Either way, maybe you'll find this story an interesting read, and remember to check your box and...

Most road trips in our fam include a stop at either a winery, brewery or a frisbee golf course. I setup a trip here as a surprise to my wife. Being an established winery in one of the top regions of CA I did have high expectations for the wine. But, I didnt really care how good the course would be(was just excited a place like this actually exsisted).

To my surprise the course was great! Fairly challenging with elevation changes, trees and obstacles. Being next to and throwing over the vines is a surreal feeling. And the entire property is just beautiful!

Their wines were excellent as well and to make it even better the price was right. Most bottles ranged $25-35 and were better than many in the area at $50+. The tasting was $5 and included 7 tastes and a round of frisbee golf!

This place was for sure the highlight of an excellent central coast road trip. We will be visiting...

Castoro maybe my absolute favorite Winery I've ever been to. Not only is it fairly priced ($5 for 7 tasters and the tasters get waived after you buy a bottle (+-$30 for most)) but they usually have 14+ different wines that are well-made and can please almost any palette. Castoro is also a great place to visit and spend most of your day. They have wonderful grounds to enjoy a bottle, some cheese and crackers. If you feel like getting a little more exercise they have a fairly well maintained 18-hole disc golf course. Hole 6 is worth playing this course alone, but the other 17 holes tend to reward the player who has more accuracy than power. Like most wineries and most places you'd expect service, I suggested going to Castoro on a slower day. However, Castoro might be the best equipped to keep you entertained on a busy day as well; just buy a bottle, find a...