Dirk and Tania Neuman, the owners of Absolution Cellars in Morro Bay
During 2026 this writer’s contribution to this column plans to showcase Estero Bay businesses and nonprofit activities that encourage a sense of belonging where all feel valued, respected, and included. These welcoming spaces offer more than friendliness. Whether a local or visitor, everyone deserves a warm, sensory-rich atmosphere that will encourage participation. For example, if you haven’t visited lately, drop by Morro Bay’s Absolution Cellars owned and operated by Dirk and Tania Neuman. They have expanded their gathering space at 845 Embarcadero.
Winemaker Dirk loves to talk about his wines, their signature artistic labels and Morro Bay. When he was eleven years old his dad took him on a cross-country road trip from Minneapolis to San Diego to Seattle and home again. “I remembered the ROCK!” he exclaims. His enthusiasm was, well, absolutely “absolute.”
Fast forward 30-years, he was working in South Florida’s corporate real estate marketplace. “I was so busy with work and parenting my two children I wasn’t taking my earned time off. Graciously my parents stepped in to help. I was able to plan side trips adjacent to my quarterly work trips.” His favorite place to go was always Morro Bay where he’d regularly base his stay while discovering other SLO County and California communities.
“I loved Morro Bay’s small coastal town feel even when it was foggy.” In 2013 “…with no plan, kids graduated and some consulting to finance his way, he packed up. Confidently, he thought, ‘I’ll figure it out!’” By 2014 he had connected with winemakers and assisted in some wine making. He was infatuated. He knew he wanted to belong to this supportive industry group of winemakers because those he had met would actually send him to their neighbors to try their wines.
Dirk and Tania have settled on vineyard acreage in Atascadero — just over the hill from Morro Bay. He continued to feed his winemaking hobby learning the industry by developing relationships with other growers. Once he realized he was ready to build his own business, he didn’t want to wait “…2-3 years for the journey it would take — from picking grapes to having a good red wine that is ready to drink.” And Dirk already knew where the best grapes were grown for each varietal he intended to produce so decided to purchase from the growers. He currently sources grapes from 11 growers throughout five Central Coast and Monterey Counties.
As a former marketing professional, Dirk also made some critical decisions. “I realized visitors didn’t come to Morro Bay for wine tasting, but I believed once here they would appreciate a place to enjoy and learn about Central Coast wines.”
At the time there were two other wineries in Morro Bay as opposed to 150 in the Paso Robles wine area. As luck would have it MCV Wines at 845 Embarcadero was moving to Pasa Robles, which meant Absolution Cellars and Chateau Margine would become neighbors. Dirk also enjoys reminding his patrons his favorite English Rock Band Muse made “Absolution” famous. All seemed destined to come together when he officially opened February 2020 — except it was 2020!
Dirk recalls, “While the state considered us an essential business and allowed us to produce and sell our product, we could not conduct tastings, so I would put the bottles out, hoping the artwork would attract people’s attention and at least tell them the story about the wine in the hopes they would take a bottle home. This lasted from mid-March through June, when outdoor tastings were allowed again.”
His strategy to showcase his unique artistic labels from the gallery collection of licensed artwork from Aja Trier of Sagittarius Gallery helped them survive their first year. Additionally, he continues to be grateful as “the Morro Bay Chamber was particularly helpful during this time.” The winemaker would also learn that talking about his wines was good for business, and the topics people preferred to hear about were the history of the grape, the vineyard where it grew, foods to partner with his wines – not necessarily what flavors the winemaker expected his guest should be tasting as they sipped.
“By 2021 when onsite winemaker tastings were able to resume sales and wine club memberships grew.” Chamber events like Shop, Sip & Stroll were also a boost. “When invited to host the wine at the Chamber’s annual Gala it was easy for us to give back for all they had done for us.” And although he felt the business was a couple years away from doubling their space when Chateau Margine moved on, he knew streetside presence would be key to a stronger future.
Dirk enjoys giving Absolution club members and visitors unique experiences. He likes to collaborate with neighboring businesses to create offsite adventures. For example, Winemaker Sundays combines a leisurely walk to learn more about Morro Bay, lunch at a bayside restaurant plus time learning about Absolution wines and winemaking. Dirk also partners with Dane Jacobs, owner of Lost Isle Adventures, for Rare Library Wines Tasting Cruises on the Tiki boat. And on March 3, First Tuesday Sip & Shuck returns offering Winemaker tastings and Grassy Bar Oysters prepared by Margot. Check for more opportunities at www.absolutioncellars.com and reserve space.
Absolution Cellars now has space for casual walk-in patrons, additional room for club members and outdoor seating. Cheese plates are also available to snack on while tasting. Small group gatherings like wedding receptions, mixers, meetings etc. are options. Pitch something to Dirk, Tania or Brook. They enjoy considering innovative ideas.
