About ONX Wines
ONX, pronounced onyx after the onyx calcite threading the estate's soils, began in 2004 when developers Steve and Brenda Olson found an idyllic property in the Templeton Gap and started what grew into a 127-acre estate vineyard, first planted in 2005 with a Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre pilot block. The Templeton Gap site, eight miles from the ocean along Santa Rita Creek, delivers some of the most dramatic day-night temperature swings in the Paso Robles AVA, and eighteen varieties now climb its complex soils, joined by the 54-acre Kiler Canyon vineyard in the Willow Creek District.
Since the inaugural 2008 vintage the house has staked its identity on adventurous red blends, wines like Mad Crush, Reckoning and the Mourvedre-led Level 22, which regularly land scores in the 90s from Wine Enthusiast. Cal Poly graduate Drew Nenow rose from 2015 harvest intern to Director of Winemaking, and the estates are sustainably farmed with the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, with organic certification the stated next goal. Tastings pour daily at the Tin City winery on Limestone Way, while the Templeton estate hosts off-road vineyard tours, picnics in hidden oases and stays at the Briarwood Cottage.
