Nenow Family Wines is a family affair in the truest sense. The winery was founded in 2017 by siblings Drew Nenow and Tracie Roesbery, together with their spouses Andie and Mike, and the cozy downtown tasting room on Railroad Street was designed to feel less like a retail counter and more like a living room. The wines are small-lot and Rhone-inspired, the welcome is genuinely warm, and the whole point is connection: an intimate place to taste limited-production wines and meet the people who made them.

A family, a second generation

Nenow Family Wines was born in 2017, but the family relationship with wine reaches back much further. The Nenows have a winemaking legacy dating to the early 1990s and 2000s in Napa Valley, which makes Drew Nenow and his sister Tracie Roesbery second-generation winemakers. When the siblings and their spouses, Andie and Mike, decided to start their own label, they were not beginning from scratch so much as continuing a family thread on new ground.

They chose Paso Robles, and Drew took on the winemaking, focusing on sourcing grapes from vineyards committed to quality and care so the true character of the fruit can shine. The wines have been small-lot and Rhone-inspired since the inaugural 2017 vintage, a deliberate choice to stay hands-on and personal rather than chase volume. Everything about the operation, from the family ownership to the intimate downtown room, is built around that idea of doing a little, very well, and sharing it directly.

Winemaking runs in the family. The Nenows trace their roots back to Napa Valley in the early 1990s, which makes this young Paso label a second-generation story.

Downtown Paso and the Rhone match

The Nenow tasting room sits at 1102 Railroad Street, in the heart of downtown Paso Robles, in the walkable wine district where dozens of producers share a few blocks around the town square. The space was intentionally designed to feel comfortable and cozy, an unhurried setting to explore limited-production wines and actually talk with the people behind them, which is exactly the kind of experience a small family label does best.

Rhone varieties are a smart bet in Paso Robles, and the reason is climate. The region hot days and cold nights, a daily temperature swing that can exceed thirty degrees, suit grapes like Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre that hail from the warm Rhone Valley of southern France. They ripen fully in the afternoon heat while keeping their acidity through the cold nights, which gives the wines both generosity and freshness. Sourcing from carefully chosen vineyards lets Drew Nenow capture that balance across the diversity of the Paso Robles AVA.

The wines: small-lot and Rhone-inspired

The Nenow lineup is Rhone-inspired and made in small lots, which means the focus is on Rhone Valley grapes, Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre and their companions, made in quantities small enough to keep the winemaking personal. Expect reds with the warm spice, dark and red fruit and savory edge those grapes give in a warm climate, alongside the whites and blends that round out a Rhone-focused range.

Because production is limited and the wines reflect specific sourced vineyards, the lineup rewards tasting through whatever is currently open and finding the bottle that speaks to you. This is a winery to visit for the conversation as much as the wine, where the people pouring are very often the family whose name is on the label, and the small scale means every bottle gets real attention.

What to pour it with

Rhone reds are some of the most food-friendly wines there are. Syrah, with its pepper and savory depth, was built for grilled lamb, sausage and anything with herbs and char, meeting the smoke of the grill on its own terms. Grenache, softer and brighter, loves roast chicken, pork and dishes with a little warm spice, its red fruit and gentle tannin keeping the match easy. A Rhone-style blend, often called a GSM for Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre, is a do-everything red for a hearty dinner.

If there are whites or a rose in the lineup, point them at the lighter table: the acidity in a Rhone white cuts through butter and cream, so grilled fish and roast chicken work well, while a rose is the easy match for salads, charcuterie and a warm afternoon. Across the range, these are wines that want food and company, which fits a tasting room built for lingering.

Nenow Family Wines: common questions