Thibido Winery and Ecluse – Two Brands Under One Roof

An aging red barn sits on the sloping vineyard drive from Kiler Canyon Road to the Ecluse winery. As a kid, Josh Beckett grew up around that red barn. “There were no vineyards then, just the barn,” he recalled. “That’s where we made our wine before we moved to Peachy Canyon.”

Josh was referring to his parents, Doug and Nancy Beckett, the Paso pioneers who founded Peachy Canyon Winery in 1988. He mentioned this only days after Josh and his wife Gibsey acquired the Willow Creek District property, including that red barn.

We are seated on Ecluse’s scenic terrace, looking out on rows of manicured vineyards hugging undulated hillsides. In the distance, Josh can point to the couple’s Thibido Vineyards, founded in 2018. For the Becketts, it’s serendipitous that they would add Ecluse winery to their portfolio: the two properties face each other, separated by the winding Kiler Canyon.

Josh’s dad owned a liquor store in San Diego before he moved his family to Paso Robles’ Peachy Canyon area in the early 1980s. They grew walnuts. Through a friend, Doug met Pat Wheeler, who made his Tobias wines in the red barn.

“My dad fell in love with this property,” he explained. In early 1980s, Doug joined forces with Pat in what Josh called “hippie guerrilla style winemaking. We would come here and help with bottling.” The two partners opened a tasting room in Cayucos. “There were no tourists here in Paso. This was a gas station town.”

Burnt out from winemaking, Pat sold the ranch and moved to Oregon while Doug relocated winemaking to his home on Peachy Canyon Road and released its first wine under Peachy Canyon label in 1988.  The winery moved to its present location in 1999.

Over the years the red barn and the ranch cycled through a few owners until Steve and Pam Lock purchased the 30-acre ranch in 1997, planted Lock Vineyards and established Ecluse Winery. 

Josh, who grew up in the wine business, honed his skills working throughout California and Australia before returning to Peachy Canyon Winery as head winemaker.  Then he and his brother Jake launched Chronic Cellars with their hip unconventional approach to winemaking — no vineyard, no winery but eye-popping label art.

“That was awesome, super fun,” said Josh. “We came up with the concept in 2004, had our first small release in 2006 and sold it in 2014,” recalled Josh of the brand that was sold for big bucks to WX Brands. Josh remained its brand consultant for six years.

Josh and Gibsey then turned their windfall from the Chronic Cellars sale into dirt.“The sale of Chronic allowed us to do that,” said Gibsey. “We thought we’ll just plant the vineyard — three blocks of Zinfandel —sell to Peachy Canyon Winery and be part of the family story, which we still are.”

“It was just raw dirt across from Ecluse,” explained Josh. “I designed and laid down all the varieties and put in the new vineyard.” The 11-acre Thibido vineyard is planted to Rhône varieties along with two Zinfandel clones.

The couple acquired the 21-acre property in 2018 and planted the Thibido vineyard in 2019. Soon, however, they were selling their fruit to other notable wineries in Paso along with their family’s winery.

The quality of fruit from their Thibido vineyard so impressed Josh that he decided to bottle some. “I was so excited to see and taste it. I couldn’t not do it.” Gibsey added: “And I stupidly said, ‘Sure, why not? We’ll make 50 cases.”  Thibido currently makes 500 cases of Rhóne-style blends. 

Josh and Gibsey are committed to conscientious land management. They are adding regenerative farming to their certified organic vineyard with a philosophy that is terroir driven.“There’s an enthusiasm behind the wine,” Josh stated passionately. “In the energy they carry, there’s a sense of place through all of them, an energy you can taste — the soil the site. It’s all there.”

The wines show an enticing freshness and a hint of Paso’s chaparral, with well-integrated tannins framing the wines.The current portfolio includes 2024 vintages of zesty Best Day, a Rosé of Grenache; The Only, a creamy textured Roussanne sourced from Bien Nacido Vineyards in Santa Maria Valley; and Second Date, a minerally Vermentino from Loma Seca Vineyard in Paso’s Adelaida District. Among the 2023 red Rhône blends are Future Crossings, a GSM with a splash of Zinfandel redolent of red cherries, and Carnala, GSM with a good dose of Carignan, bursting with cranberries and hint of spice. 

Thibido, which does not have a wine tasting room, will now join Ecluse’s tasting room and winery. The couple will also move their production there from Peachy Canyon. Josh will work alongside Ecluse winemaker Anthony La Duca but the two wine labels will maintain their individuality. 

“It’s very important that we do each differently and keep each one’s identity, such as non-intervention versus intervention,” Josh explained. For example, at Ecluse De Luca uses cultured yeast whereas at Thibido the yeasts are native. There will be other tweaks, such as barrel size and cooperage programs. “Anthony is excited,” Josh commented. “He has someone to collaborate with.”

Ecluse’s 22-acre vineyard is planted to Rhône and Bordeaux varieties along with Zinfandel. The current production of 4,000 cases will remain the same.While operating Thibido, Josh also worked at Peachy Canyon alongside his brother Jake. Now owning Thibido and Ecluse, Josh has stepped away from Peachy Canyon. “Today was my last day,” he said when we met in early May.

Josh and Gibsey met at the University of San Diego. They not only had the same major, English, but Gibsey grew up in Paso. “This was a familiar territory for me to come back to,” she reflected. They got married in 2001 and have two daughters.

Back in Paso, Gibsey began teaching but soon jumped ship. “When we had the opportunity to go to Australia, I left teaching.” She has worked alongside Josh full-time in hospitality and administration. “It’s been a huge learning curve.” And that English degree comes in handy “with writing labels and other wine jargon.”

Plans include some growth. Between the two wineries, the Becketts wish to stay around the 5,000 annual-case-production mark. While both Thibido and Ecluse are estate wines supported by sourced fruit, Josh is aiming for 75% estate fruit between the two vineyards which total 33 acres.

Both are honored to carry Steve and Pam Lock’s vision forward. The former owners will continue to live on the property and consult as ambassadors regularly as Josh and Gibsey merge their history with that of the old red barn, a reminder of the Beckett family’s winemaking origin. 

PASO ROBLES PRESS MAGAZINE

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