Shale Oak Winery Named Winery of the Year at San Diego International Wine & Spirits Challenge

LEED Certified Shale Oak Winery

Paso Robles estate takes the competition's top overall honor and earns five medals, including a Platinum, 95-point score for its 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Every wine we poured this year came from fruit grown right here in the Willow Creek District, so this recognition really belongs to the land as much as anything we did in the cellar.”

— Curtis Hascall, Head Winemaker at Shale Oak Winery

PASO ROBLES, CA, UNITED STATES, August 2, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Shale Oak Winery has been named Winery of the Year at the San Diego International Wine & Spirits Challenge, one of the longest-running wine competitions in the country, after entering five wines and earning a medal for every one.

The results were announced following the competition's judging, held January 29-30, 2026, in San Diego. Now in its 44th year, the event draws entries from wineries across the United States and abroad and relies on a double-blind tasting format, meaning judges score each wine without knowing the producer, vineyard, or price. Panels are made up of winemakers, sommeliers, and other beverage industry professionals, and wines are awarded Silver, Gold, or Platinum medals based on their scores, with Winery of the Year reserved for the producer whose overall lineup impresses judges most.

Shale Oak's medal-winning wines from the competition include:

• 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon: Platinum, 95 points
• 2023 Albariño: Gold, 93 points
• 2023 Syrah: Gold, 92 points
• 2024 FU: Gold, 91 points
• 2023 KA: Gold, 90 points

FU and KA belong to Shale Oak's Element Series, a collection of wines named for Japanese words for elements found in nature. FU, meaning wind, is a Viognier known for its citrus and floral character. KA, meaning fire, is a blend of equal parts Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Syrah, and Zinfandel, prized for its spice and dark fruit intensity.

“Winning Winery of the Year against a field that size tells us the wines are showing exactly what we hoped they would,” said Curtis Hascall, head winemaker at Shale Oak. “Every wine we poured this year came from fruit grown right here in the Willow Creek District, so this recognition really belongs to the land as much as anything we did in the cellar.”

Shale Oak's tasting room, located at 3235 Oakdale Road in the Willow Creek District of Paso Robles, is open Thursday through Sunday. Walk-ins are welcome and reservations are accepted for guests who want to guarantee a table. The award-winning wines are available to taste on-site and to purchase through the winery's online shop.

About Shale Oak Winery

Shale Oak Winery is an estate winery in the Willow Creek District of Paso Robles, California, certified through SIP (Sustainability in Practice) and housed in a LEED Gold building powered in part by solar energy and built with reclaimed redwood. The estate also collects rainwater on-site as part of its sustainability program. Shale Oak's dog-friendly patio welcomes visiting pets with water bowls and shade, and the tasting room is open Thursday through Sunday for walk-ins and reservations alike. Learn more at www.shaleoakwinery.com.

Steve Burris
Shale Oak Winery
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