Thank you for visiting our website! However you may have found us, we are so glad you are here. We feel so fortunate to have a lot of rich stories to tell at Epoch, so we hope you take the time to peruse some of these pages, or better yet, come see the story in action atop York Mountain. In the meantime, here is a quick summary of who we are and how we came to be…
When setting out on our “crazy” quest to make wine, we did not have our sights set on any particular wine region. However, we knew two things for sure: we loved wines made from Rhone varieties, and being geologists, we understood the importance terroir plays in the making of world-class wines. Upon extensive research and travel, we kept coming back to Paso Robles for the weather, unique soils, hilliness, and extreme temperature swings that are known to this region and are found within each of our vineyard sites – Paderewski, Catapult, and York Mountain. The cowboy culture, entrepreneurial spirit, and unmistakable beauty were just added bonuses!
Our own epoch officially began in 2004 with the purchase of our Paderewski Vineyard (there is a REALLY cool story behind this property and its name, but in an attempt to not be too long-winded here and now, check out this story for all of the details). This chapter became so fruitful (pun intended) that we spread our roots to Catapult Vineyard in 2008 and then the historic York Mountain Winery two years later…
Today we are beyond blessed to be stewards of these lands, and we are honored to carry on the legacies of York Mountain and Ignacy Paderewski through our wines. Wines that are carefully crafted from Rhone, Zinfandel, and Tempranillo varieties. Like we said, there are a multitude of stories begging to be told within this short summary, so we hope you take some time to read more about us and eventually come see us in person! …
Thank you for your interest and support. We look forward to sharing this Epoch journey with y’all!
– Liz and Bill Armstrong, Owners
Through carefully managed, non-invasive farming, we aim to bring the complex character of our vineyards and their terroir into each bottle of Epoch Estate Wine. All of our fruit is estate, coming from two specific and unique sites which we purchased and planted: Paderewski Vineyard, Catapult Vineyard and York Mountain Vineyard.
Over the past few years, we have remodeled a charming 1898 farmhouse, built a horse barn that rivals the best in Texas (proudly sporting a “Big Ass Fan” no less), updated a quaint cottage, constructed the winery of our dreams, and transformed the historic, but condemned, York Mountain Winery, built in 1882, into our permanent Tasting Room. We would love for you to come see what we have done in person!
We have a great respect for history and the lives that preceded ours – those who left the labours of their love for generations to come. As stewards of this land and legacy, we are proud and excited about preserving the past, while adding our own twist to these historic lands as the past meets the future atop York Mountain.