At 1,100 feet on the rolling hills of the Geneseo District, the ground under Dresser Winery is laced with the same limestone and calcareous soils that feed Bordeaux and the Rhone Valley. Kory and Catherine Burke could have stayed in their old careers, architecture and sports marketing, but the pull of this hillside won, and in 2020 they left it all to make wine here full time.

Starting from scratch

The Dresser estate began with vines planted in 2000, four varietals to start: Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Zinfandel, with Tempranillo, Malbec, and Sangiovese added in 2014. What it needed was someone to pour their lives into it, and that turned out to be Kory and Catherine Burke. Catherine came from architecture and Kory from sports marketing and technology, with no wine-industry background between them, only a growing certainty that this was what they wanted to do.

In 2020 they left their day jobs to build Dresser Winery in earnest, turning an established vineyard into a hands-on family estate. Their lack of industry pedigree became part of the charm, a story of starting from scratch and learning the land row by row. Today the estate also includes a 6,300-square-foot Estate House, a luxury vacation rental that sleeps ten, for guests who want to wake up in the middle of the vineyard.

The estate sits on limestone and calcareous soils, the same ground that feeds Bordeaux and the Rhone Valley.

Limestone in the Geneseo hills

Dresser sits at about 1,100 feet in the Geneseo District on the east side of Paso Robles, on rolling hills embedded with limestone and calcareous soils. That is a meaningful detail: the same kind of chalky, calcareous ground underlies the great vineyards of Bordeaux and the Rhone, and it tends to give wines a certain freshness and mineral lift even in a warm climate.

The district is warm, a Region III to IV, but the east side’s wide day-to-night temperature swing keeps the fruit honest. Hot afternoons build ripeness while cool nights restore acidity, and the limestone helps hold that balance. For an estate growing both Bordeaux and Rhone grapes plus Spanish and Italian varieties, this combination of warmth, elevation, and calcareous soil is a versatile foundation.

The wines

The estate’s seven varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Tempranillo, Malbec, and Sangiovese, give Dresser a wide palette to work from, and the wines lean into the structure those grapes provide. Petite Sirah and Cabernet anchor the bigger reds, Syrah brings the savory Rhone note, and the Spanish and Italian additions, Tempranillo and Sangiovese, add brighter, more food-friendly options.

Made in small lots from estate fruit, the wines reflect a hands-on, learn-by-doing approach and the calcareous hillside they come from. Expect ripe, warm-climate reds with good backbone and a freshness that the limestone soils help preserve, poured by the people who farmed them.

What to pour it with

Dresser’s estate Cabernet and Petite Sirah are big, structured reds that call for big, rich food. Braised short ribs, a peppered tri-tip, or a grilled ribeye all work, because the heavy tannins in these wines bind to the protein and fat in the meat and soften, while the meat in turn tastes cleaner and less rich. The more marbled the cut, the better the match.

The Syrah leans toward grilled, herb-rubbed lamb, its pepper echoing the char in a congruent pairing, while the brighter Sangiovese and Tempranillo are your wines for tomato-based pasta, pizza, or charcuterie, where higher acidity cuts the richness and resets the palate. Keep the tannic reds away from delicate white fish, which leaves the tannins nothing to soften against and turns the wine sharp.

Dresser Winery: common questions