Address: 38060 Paraiso Springs Rd., Soledad, CA 93960
Phone: 831-678-0300
Website: www.paraisovineyards.com
Open Monday to Friday noon to 4, Saturday & Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Paraiso Tasting Room is perched high on the Santa Lucia Bench, above the Salinas River Valley. From this beautiful overlook, vineyards trail off into the distance and solitary hawks slowly circle on the valley breezes. In addition to daily complimentary sampling, our Hospitality Center also boasts a stunning Home Décor & Gift Boutique.

Rich and Claudia Smith arrived in Monterey County in 1973, their children and belongings in the car. Fresh out of college, the young couple was searching for the perfect locale to try out their newly-minted U.C. Davis training. Thirty years later, the Smith Family is one of the most influential and respected growers on California’s Central Coast. The Smith family has been instrumental in Monterey’s rise to prominence as a world class winegrowing region. Today Rich and his son Jason oversee 3,000 acres of grapes throughout Monterey County, providing fruit to many famous producers. In 1988, the Smiths began producing very limited, much sought-after wines under their own Paraiso banner.
 
The Smith Family has earned its reputation through constant innovation, both in the vineyard and in the cellar. The wines of Paraiso all benefit from the Santa Lucia Highlands’ unique climate and soils. Hand-crafted in limited releases, they beautifully express the flavor, style and terroir of this special place. The rugged Santa Lucia Mountains frame Monterey’s County’s fertile Salinas Valley on the west, separating it from the Pacific Ocean. The vines of this unique hillside district enjoy cooling ocean breezes and fog from nearby Monterey Bay. The resulting slow, gentle ripening contributes to California’s longest “hang time” — creating exceptional intensity, complexity, and balance in the grapes.

Paraiso anchors the southern end of the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation. Rich Smith began planting the 400-acre Paraiso Springs property in 1973. Today, almost 150,000 vines occupy the sixteen different vineyard blocks, situated in the hills and canyons of the estate’s rough terrain. The vineyards, with their varying soils, elevations, and microclimates, produce grapes uniquely expressive of their site. Taken together, they offer the winemaker a painter’s palette of complex, flavorful hues from which to choose.