Brady Ely was moving wine barrels at Grey Wolf Cellars on Tuesday when he felt a sudden jolt.
The winemaker looked around for the source of the commotion at the winery along Highway 46 West.
Maybe he crashed the forklift, he thought, or maybe the fruit press had fallen. But the ground kept shaking — and that’s when he realized it was an earthquake.
“It was very, very abrupt,” he said.
A 4.1-magnitude earthquake shook San Luis Obispo County near Paso Robles on Nov. 18, 2025. It was felt as far away as San Jose, Fresno and Santa Barbara. USGS
The 4.1-magnitude quake shook San Luis Obispo County at about 9:54 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Geographical Survey.
Its epicenter was 5 miles west of Templeton just north of Highway 46 West — very close to Grey Wolf Cellars, which is located at 2174 West Highway 46 in Paso Robles.
It was felt as far away as San Jose, Fresno and Santa Barbara.
Ely and his assistant waited outside the cellar during the earthquake, which lasted about 10 seconds, he said. They watched the plexiglass windows shake back and forth, while the trees shimmied and swayed.
This earthquake felt different from the last one he experienced in 2023, he said.
“Usually, they feel more like rolling,” he said. “This one was like two plates coming together quickly, and I think we were just so close — it must have been right underneath.”
When the shaking stopped, he walked through his lab to check the damage. Lab chemicals fell off the shelves and wine bottles and glassware littered the floor, but luckily, nothing had broken.
The tasting room, however, was another story.
Surveillance video from inside showed a sudden jolt rock the room, knocking glasses, bottles and other items off the shelves as light fixtures shook and water sloshed in a clear container.
“We had a bunch of broken glasses and bottles,” he said. “Things kind of flew all over the place.”
The earthquake had a 2.2-magnitude aftershock at 10:06 a.m. and a 2.0-aftershock at 3:44 p.m., according to the U.S. Geographical Survey. But Ely didn’t feel either of them.
Those were followed by two more aftershocks overnight, a 3.1 magnitude at 1 a.m. and a 2.0 magnitude at 3:44 a.m.
“It was an exciting day,” he said. “It’s an event that makes you feel alive.”
Barton Family Wines, the owners of Grey Wolf Cellars, will host a “shaken but not stirred” martini special at their distillery, Grain and Vine Craft Distillery, for the rest of the week in honor of the earthquake. The distillery is located at 2174 Highway 46 in Paso Robles.
This story was originally published November 19, 2025 at 5:39 PM.
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