WINERY PROFILES

Berardo Vineyards and Winery » Profile

Formally AJB Vineyards. Tasting room is open on weekends and holidays. Taste hand-crafted estate grown and produced Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Syrah and Viognier. Visit our beautiful westside winery and vineyards. Stay in one of our guest houses(Vineyard Suite or The Cottage) or a guest room at Villa San Giovanni. Family owned and operated. Exit Oakdale Road from Highway 46 West. 3280 Township Road, Paso Robles,
CA 93446. 805.239.9432. Fax: 805.239.1931.Reservations: 805.239.1495 E-mail: BerardoVineyardsandWinery@msn.com. www.BerardoVineyardsandWinery.com

For A. John Berardo, growing grapes and making wine are a celebration of his Italian heritage. He has fond childhood memories of his father and uncles making wine and storing barrels under his family's home. He hopes to continue the richness of that family tradition with AJB Vineyards.

The winery and vineyard are located on Township Road just five miles west of Highway 101. The property has a rich local history as part of the Mennonite community that had settled there over a century ago. The original house still exists and all of the new structures are built to reflect the original farm-style.

The original vineyard site, a 16.5-acre parcel, was chosen for its gently rolling, south-facing slopes, its westside microclimate, and its lovely historic buildings with the promise of country living. Unbeknownst at the time, the property is also blessed with one of the world's best soil types " limestone " capable of producing the world's best winegrapes.

The first blocks of AJB Vineyards were planted in 1993 and consisted of Viognier and Syrah. The remaining acreage was planted from 1994 to 1996 and include Nebbiolo, Sangiovese and Zinfandel.

The winery opened in October 1999. Beginning with the 1999 harvest, all of AJB Vineyards' wines will be estate grown and produced.

In the summer of 1999 the Berardos purchased an adjacent 23.5 acres, which gives them a total of 40 acres. This will allow them to reach their ultimate goal of a 5,000 case winery where the wines are completely estate grown and produced.

Currently, John is working to craft full-bodied, premium wines that realize the full potential of the Paso Robles area. Like most Italians, John enjoys wine with food, and hopes to produce wines that can either be drunk with tonight's dinner or cellared for that extra special occasion.

They have 3 vacation rentals available at this time. "The Vineyard Suite", "The Cottage" and "The Farm House".
"Villa San Giovanni" is a 3 room Bed and Breakfast with swimming pool and jacuzzi.

Chef dinners for special events are held in their all purpose confrence room at the Hilltop Hacienda, over looking AJB Vineyards and surrounding Santa Lucia Moutain Range.

Contact the winery to be placed on the AJB Vineyards email or mailing list for future events.