McClain Cellars

McClain Cellars was only founded in 2016, but the brand has taken off in Southern California. And, once you learn a little more about founder Jason McClain’s background, you will understand why. 

Jason isn’t just a serial entrepreneur; he’s an eclectic entrepreneur. His career highlights include: founding The Christopher Group, one of the largest ministry marketing agencies in the world that, at its peak, served over 2,300 churches. His next notable venture was mydivorcepapers.com, which, according to his website, is an “online divorce technology that serves people looking to get a divorce, annulment or legal separation but do not have the money to hire an attorney.”

He has also created a Danish beauty company, an online marketing academy, mentors young entrepreneurs in the Orange County community, and he has written books on growing your own wealth.

As someone who loves wine, and the wine lifestyle, Jason wanted to put his entrepreneurial know-how to use in the wine industry. But, as anyone who knows and loves wine can attest, learning the ins and outs of this business has a steeper-than-usual learning curve. Jason and his wife, Sonia, recognized this, and once they decided to pivot from their digital marketing and tech endeavors, they sold most of their business assets and began a years-long road trip of sorts in search of the ideal place to learn about, source, and make wine.

After crisscrossing California, driving up to Washington, and even venturing into Colorado, they settled on the San Ynez Valley, a historic grape-growing region on California’s Central Coast. 

The McClain Cellars Laguna Beach Tasting Room

We really enjoyed the vibe of McClain Cellars’ Laguna Beach tasting room. Just like their website says, this isn’t your run-of-the-mill tasting room. The energy is relaxed, fun and welcoming. The McClain family has done a great job breaking down one of the key barriers that prevent some from even entering a wine-tasting room: the idea that they are stuffy, pretentious places where you need to be a wine expert in order to enjoy a glass with friends.

With McClain Cellars, Jason has built a great sensory experience for wine lovers. The tasting room has indoor and outdoor seating options, colorful paintings adorn the walls, and the venue features live music several times a week. Winemaker-owner Jason McClain has even been known to join the band for a few numbers.

McClain Cellars Wines

McClain Cellars is a smaller winery – they produce around 7,000 cases a year – but they work with a tremendous number of grapes, 31 at last count. A visit to a McClain Cellars tasting room may include a Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cab Franc, Merlot, Riesling, or an adventurous red blend.

When we had the pleasure of visiting the Laguna Canyon Road location, we sampled the Laguna Wine Flight, an all-white wine tasting, and the Owner’s Wine Flight, which is made up of reds, and hand selected by Jason.

Of the wines we sampled, the reds really stood out. Our favorite was the 2020 Risktaker Reserve, a McClain Cellars take on a Rhone Valley GSM made with Sangiovese rather than Syrah. Lots of dark berry fruit and dark pitted fruit in this sturdy wine.

The Promise Keeper Reserve, another interesting red blend (Barbera, Sangiovese, Mourvedre), is an easy drinking red with rich berry notes.

For our palates, the white wines didn’t hit as many high notes as the McClain Cellars’ red wines. There is a good deal of variety on the white wine tasting, with bottles like the 2021 White Sails Riesling – one of the better bottles of the bunch, a Rhone-inspired Roussanne-Grenache Blanc blend, and the 2020 Kiss of Life, which is a mix of Albarino, Grenache Blanc, Arneis, Vermentino.

It’s worth noting that the tasting room also offers a mixed flight of white and red wines, the Canyon Flight, and a second red wine tasting, called the Master’s Flight. If you’re in the mood to stop by McClain Cellars simply to enjoy a glass of wine and listen to some live music, you have that option as well. 

McClain Cellars Tasting Rooms

In the relatively short time that the McClain family has been making wine, their McClain Cellars tasting rooms have rapidly expanded, at least by wine industry standards. Not only does McClain have two tasting rooms in Laguna Beach, but they also have a space in Solvang, a new bistro and tasting room slated to open in 2023 in Coto de Caza, which is a veritable enclave of Orange County celebs, and have plans to expand to San Diego, Los Angeles, and Temecula.

If you need another incentive to try this local Laguna Beach winemaker’s wares, McClain offers an interesting ‘Lounge Card’ incentive program. For between $40-$55 per month (member pricing vs. non-member pricing), the McClain Cellars Lounge Card includes two glasses of wine per month and 50% off all additional glasses of wine.

Final Thoughts

We really enjoyed the vibe at McClain Cellars’ Laguna Canyon Rd. Tasting room. The staff was awesome (shout outs to Taylor Nelson & Juliana Goswick), the atmosphere is California cool, and the wines are interesting. If you’re looking for a reliable neighborhood wine-sipping spot, McClain Cellars fits the bill.