In 2020, with a newborn in the back seat and the world shutting down, Jeff and Dina Hevert left Los Angeles and pointed the car toward Paso Robles. They had spent years in creative industries in Miami, New York, and LA, the kind that rarely pause, and they wanted something with roots. What they built on 120 acres in the Geneseo District is part winery, part record shop, part campground, and entirely their own.

From creative industries to the vines

Jeff and Dina Hevert met the wine world the long way around, through years of living and working in creative industries across Miami, New York, and Los Angeles. In 2020, just as COVID arrived, they left LA with their newborn and chased a long-held dream to Paso Robles, establishing Vinyl Vineyards that same year on 120 acres in the Geneseo District.

The name is not an accident. Music runs through everything here. The signature Sip and Spin tasting invites guests to taste the small-batch wines while choosing the records that play, turning a flight into a soundtrack. And rather than build a conventional tasting room and go home, the Heverts turned the property into a place to stay, with six restored, music-themed vintage Airstream trailers, a vineyard farmhouse, and RV and tent sites. It is a winery built by people from creative worlds who wanted wine to feel like one.

They left LA in 2020 with a newborn and built a winery where every tasting plays to vinyl.

The Geneseo District ground

Vinyl farms 120 acres of rich, alluvial soils in the Geneseo District on the east side of Paso Robles, along Union Road. This is warm, upfaulted terrace country, gravelly Paso Robles Formation ground with the deep alluvial pockets that give a vineyard its vigor, in a Region III to IV climate that ripens both Rhone and Mediterranean grapes with ease.

As across the east side, the daily temperature swing is the quiet engine. Hot afternoons build ripeness and flavor while cool nights restore acidity and keep the wines lively, which is why a Geneseo red or a crisp white can be ripe and fresh at once. The size of the property, 120 acres, gives the Heverts room to grow a range of grapes and to spread out the glamping and gathering spaces that make a visit here more than a tasting.

The wines

Vinyl makes small-batch, award-winning wines that lean Mediterranean and Rhone, with a Bordeaux side too. The current lineup runs from a Rose and a crisp Vermentino through the Crossfade Rhone blend, the Jota Iberian blend, and a Self-Titled Bordeaux blend, names that keep the music theme going right onto the label. The wines are made from estate fruit and from prestigious local growers.

The style is contemporary and approachable, built for enjoyment rather than ceremony, which fits a winery where you pick the records. The Vermentino is a bright, coastal-leaning white made for warm afternoons, the Rhone and Iberian blends bring savory, spicy reds to the table, and the Bordeaux blend offers the structured option. It is a lineup with range, designed so there is a right bottle for whatever is spinning.

What to pour it with

Vinyl’s range makes the table easy, and the move is to match the wine to the moment. Open the Vermentino with grilled fish, oysters, or a citrusy salad on the patio, where its bright acidity cuts the richness and lifts the dish, the crisp-white trick that works like a squeeze of lemon. The Rose plays the same role with charcuterie and lighter fare.

The Crossfade Rhone blend wants the grill, a peppered lamb chop or a sausage, its savory, peppery character echoing the char in a congruent match while the tannins handle the fat. The Jota Iberian blend, leaning on Spanish grapes, loves smoky, paprika-spiced dishes and grilled meats, and the Self-Titled Bordeaux blend is your steak and short-rib wine, where firm tannins bind to the protein and fat and soften. Keep the bigger reds away from delicate fish, and let the white and rose handle that lighter end.

Vinyl Vineyards: common questions