DAVID CARACCIO, MARCH 13, 2024
When Silicon Valley workers Vicky and Pedro Vargas — owners of Vino Vargas winery in Paso Robles — started looking at vineyard properties to buy, they kept coming back to a few adages.
“One was, ‘If you want to do a high-tech startup, go to Silicon Valley,” and ‘If you want to start a wine brand and winery, go to Paso Robles wine country,’” Pedro Vargas told McClatchy Newspapers in an email.
Their 17-acre wine country estate in San Luis Obispo County is available to buy off market. In addition to its lush vines, the property features fruit and olive trees. There is also a 3,456-square-foot two-story craftsman home with “270 degrees of vineyard views, amazing sunrises, sunsets and star gazing,” according to Pedro Vargas.
“There is a sense of tranquility that is worth the trip,” he said.
The estate is expected to hit the market in late March for about $1.995 million, according to a representative.
The fully operating winery produces 2,500 cases and is licensed to make up to 10,000. The property is producing vines on three acres, fruit and olives on two acres, and eight more acres are zoned as “plantable land zoned agriculture with a minor use permit for a winery with tastings and events,” according to the property listing. The place is a licensed vacation rental, too.
“Our property has been carefully curated to provide an amazing wine-country lifestyle, including tranquility, vineyard views and a connection to nature,” Pedro Vargas said. “That alone would make an amazing reason to purchase it. For someone who is interested in getting their foot into the rapidly evolving Paso Robles wine country, the property is easily the best deal in town.”
Pedro Vargas is owner and winemaker with a certificate of winemaking from the School of Oenology at UC Davis. Vicky Vargas is a level 2 wine sommelier, certified by the Guild of Master Sommeliers.
After working at some of the best-known companies in Silicon Valley — Intel, Yahoo, Sun, Cisco, SanDisk — and starting a music and digital media business, they left their jobs in the tech world to start a winery.
“We started dabbling in wine production mainly as a hobby while we were still employed in Silicon Valley,” Pedro Vargas said. “We loved it so much that I completed the UC Davis wine-making certificate.”
The boutique winery was soon collecting awards for their wines. Vino Vargas varietals include zinfandel, pinot noir, tempranillo, sangiovese and red wine blends of cabernet sauvignon, mourvedre, syrah and grenache. The winery also makes rosé and white wines with chardonnay and albariño grapes.
“When we purchased our property, it was a blank slate in terms of vineyard, landscaping, and winery building — there was none,” Pedro Vargas said. “We have invested heavily, and the property is now a fully developed destination point not just for us as owners but for our loyal club members and customers.”
The Vargases are selling because they said it’s time for a new chapter in their lives.
“We have reached a point in our life where it is time to focus on the things that we love to do but have not been able to because of the business, like visiting family, traveling abroad, art and reading. Or, just sitting around and enjoying each other. It is time to pass the baton and let another owner take the property to the next level and enjoy it a much as we have,” Pedro Vargas said.
An ideal buyer might be someone who is interested in “getting their foot into the rapidly evolving Paso Robles wine country,” he added. “The property is easily the best deal in town.”
The winery is located at 950 Indian Dunes Road in San Miguel and sits two miles off Highway 101, on the west side of the Paso Robles American Viticulture Area, in a quiet, rustic setting.
Founded in 2011, the winery was constructed in 2015.
View property photos and virtual tour HERE. Represented by Lindsey Harn.
Article originally published by The Tribune.