Our Story
Welcome to Écluse Wines and Lock Vineyard,the creation of Steve and Pam Lock! We are a small, family-owned boutique winery producing estate wines from our Lock Vineyard. We purchased 30 acres of gently rolling hillside terrain on the much-desired Westside of the Paso Robles in 1997. We are dedicated to producing limited production, handcrafted, award-winning wines.
“From the beginning our philosophy is that great fruit makes great wine. Having our own winery onsite gives us the added benefit of picking and crushing small lots throughout the vineyard when the fruit has reached its peak flavors. Having this control from the vineyard to the bottle ensures that Écluse wines remain the truly remarkable wine that it is today!”
The question most often asked us is the origin of our name, Écluse. Écluse is the French word for the locks on the canals that gently carve their way through the French countryside. We have enjoyed several beautiful barge trips in France ourselves, and since our last name is Lock, the name Écluse for our wines was born. Our label depicts an “Écluse” from a photo we took while we were in France traveling down the canals through an actual “Écluse”.
Ending up in Paso Robles was an interesting journey for us. As native Californians, wine was always an important component in our lives. After spending much of our lives in Southern California, life and other opportunities took us to Whidbey Island, Washington in 1980. Sixteen years later, we visited a close friend here in Paso Robles who was starting his own vineyard. We were so impressed with this beautiful place called the Central Coast, and when Steve helped him plant his vineyard, the seed so to speak was planted! We started seriously exploring the options of relocating here and our quest led us to 30 beautiful acres nestled in an almost hidden little canyon just west of downtown Paso Robles which we now call home.
Establishing the vineyard and tasting the wines that the area’s top winemakers were producing from our Lock Vineyard fruit led us to explore winemaking on our own. Working with some of Paso’s most acclaimed winemakers, it seemed a natural progression for Steve to go from grower to winemaker as we ventured into our own estate driven winemaking.
We started making wine in in 2001 and we introduced our wine club in 2002 with a total case production of only 175 cases and less than 50 Club Members. We look back on this time with a smile as we have an original member who loves to tell the story that we sent out our entire first club shipment out to our members with no upfront payment and an invoice enclosed asking them to return their check! However, we were not surprised when they all did! We are incredibly grateful for our wonderful wine club members and their continuous loyalty and support!
Our philosophy has always been to use sustained viticulture practices to protect the land and produce the very best wine from this special terroir at Lock Vineyard. Giving back is a very important aspect of who we are, which is why we support Dogs for Better Lives through our second label, Blind Dog, created in 2009 in honor of our former vineyard mascots, and blind dogs, Toby and Bingo.
It has been exciting to watch Lock Vineyard and Écluse Wines grow and flourish after all our hard work and dedication. To have the fruits of your labor so appreciated and enjoyed by people around the country is truly humbling and we cannot be more thankful for everyone's loyalty and support in this journey. We invite you to join us in our modest tasting room amongst the barrels to discover the Écluse experience! Come Savor the Wine that is truly Écluse!
Cheers!
Steve and Pam Lock
Proprietors