Our Story
Ruby cellars is a family run business whose members include five Kirkpatrick’s, David, Mike, Jody, Nicole and Ryan. Together we started making wine in 2010 as a hobby and became so fond of the process that we decided, after winning many gold and silver ribbons as amateurs, that we would attempt to bond our wine making facility and go commercial. The 2013 vintage represents the introduction of our wines to the market.
The name Ruby Cellars pays homage to a matriarch of our family, Ruby Adam, who was Mike’s grandmother. Mike and Jody now own the forty acres upon which Ruby was born. The land, purchased by Mike’s great grandfather in 1880 from the state of California for $50, was reacquired by the family and has been dubbed the Ruby “A” Ranch. The ranch is located in the Bryson/Hesperia area north-west of Paso Robles. I think Ruby, who was a teetotaler that never allowed a drop of liquor to pass her lips, none the less, would be proud of what our family has accomplished in her name.
We knew from our amateur efforts that we made good wine, but if we were to succeed in the market, we would need some outside confirmation that our wine was good. In 2016 we decided to enter four of our wines into some major blind tastings and prestigious wine competitions. We were able to secure two gold medals (both rated 93 points) and two silver medals in our first outing as commercial wine makers. Through 2016, our little winery had never won less than a silver or gold medal for any wine that we entered into competition, both as amateurs and as professionals. In 2017 we won two more silver medals and two more gold medals, one of which was “best in class”. We also just recently added two silver medals and a bronze medal from the 2018 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. These modest wins motivated us to open the Ruby Cellars Tasting Room in Atascadero and share our love of good wine with the rest of the world.
Although one day it is our dream to plant grapes at the Ruby A Ranch, we currently do not own a vineyard but instead acquire our grapes from the best vineyards we can find in California. We source grapes from as far north as Napa and as far south as Santa Barbara County. A good portion of our grapes come from the central coast and include some prestigious vineyards such as Caliza, Kokopeli, Colson Canyon, Glen Rose & Stillwaters.
We treat each barrel like the precious commodity that it is and use a combination of different yeasts and Oak influences to craft wines that we believe are a true expression of the grape varietals and vineyards we employ. We invite you to try our award winning wines and perhaps take home a little taste of the Central Coasts most notable AVAs. It is our wish that you will enjoy one of natures most wonderful gifts. Wine!
Our Awards
- 2015 Viognier, Gold Medal, 93 pt. (2016 CCWC)
- 2013 Zinfandel, Gold Medal 93 pt. (2016 CCWC)
- 2013 Grenache, Silver Medal (2016 CCWC)
- 2013 Syrah, Silver Medal (2016 MIWC)
- Syrah/Petite Sirah Blend, Gold Medal, Best in Class (2017 CCWC)
- 2014 Grenache, Gold Medal (2017 CCWC)
- 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, Silver Medal (2017 CCWC)
- 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, Silver Medal (2018 SFCWC)
- 2014 Merlot, Silver Medal (2018 SFCWC)
- 2015 Barbera, Silver Medal (2019 SFCWC)
- 2017 Roussanne, Silver Medal (2019 SFCWC)
- 2017 Orange Viognier, Silver Medal (2019 SFCWC)
- Neutral Brandy, Gold Medal (2019 SFCWC)
Our Wines
At Ruby Cellars we make both white and red wines of distinction. Our red wines spend two years in the barrel and one year in the bottle before we release them. We do not fine or filter our red wines. We prefer french oak with a medium plus toast for most of our red wines. It is incredible how yeast can influence the flavor of wine and for this reason, even for single varietals, we will split the lot of grapes and ferment those lots with different yeast. We barrel age the wines separately and then blend to taste. We believe this adds more character and complexity to the wine.
For our white wines we utilize both stainless steel and oak barrels, depending on the varietal and what we are trying to achieve. One of our more unique white wines is considered to be an "orange" wine. While all white wines are made by pressing the grapes immediately after harvest and fermenting just the juice, an orange wine is made like a red wine and the juice is allowed to ferment with the skins and seeds. This gives the wine more tannins and flavors that you might not expect from a white wine.
