Joyce Wine Company

Joyce Wine Company’s Carmel Valley, California, tasting room offers a taste of coastal Monterey County at 1 E Carmel Valley Road. This is the tasting-room stop, distinct from the production winery in Soledad’s Arroyo Seco American Viticultural Area (AVA). Owner and winemaker Russell Joyce focuses on cool-climate wines shaped by rocky soils, strong winds and marine influence, with organic farming practices and minimal cellar intervention central to the work.

The family story starts with five acres around the Joyce home in 1986. Russell’s connection to wine begins with vineyard chores, hand-terracing rows and pressing grapes on that small property. Today, his work extends to rebuilding the former Ventana Winery in Soledad, maintaining older vineyard blocks and developing new plantings of Gamay Noir and aromatic white varieties. Long-term fruit contracts stay close to that winery: neighboring family-owned vineyards within a 10-mile radius supply the grapes.

For travelers, the Carmel Valley location keeps the visit straightforward, with afternoon tastings from noon to 5:30 p.m. six days a week and a Tuesday closure. Same-day reservations go through the tasting room by phone at 831-659-2885; private tastings, events and groups of seven or more require an email inquiry to [email protected].