On the Road in Wine Country- Let’s Talk

So many wineries, not enough time!

We are heading to wine country! Woo! We are planning a trip to Paso Robles. It is within the San Luis Obispo (SLO) wine region. Because the over 200 wineries is not enough of an overwhelming choice, we are looking at the Santa Barbara and Los Olivos areas as well. Did I mention Malibu, too? Yep, there are wineries in Malibu. I want to make sure that I have plenty to report back!

Let’s take a step back. Let’s talk about where we are tasting wine, the reason we go to wine country in the first place.

The experience of tasting wine in a vineyard or tasting room or winery should add to the joy and fun of tasting wine. It does not need to be by the water, or in a vineyard, but where you are tasting, the personality of where you are tasting, is totally part of the experience.

There are more wines than one can possibly drink. There are more wineries than you can possibly visit. There are probably more award-winning restaurants than you could ever eat at. What you should want, if you are spending good money and time to do so, is a place that makes you feel welcome, that you belong there. I have been to exceptional restaurants and wineries, but it is never just the food or just the wine. They add to my life in some way. The memories are good.

Hopefully, you will meet people who add to your life as well. They, too, want to enjoy good wine and food. They want to appreciate what they are drinking, and where they are drinking it.

Ok, to be honest, every once in a while, the people are just snobs. Thankfully, that is the exception.

One of my children, when walking into an electronics and video game store for the first time, announced, “This is my new home.” The same child also announced that the first time he walked into a large French Bakery. I love that expression! I use it often.

From Cornell Winery and Tasting Room

They must feel the same way!

You may say, hey, that tells me nothing specific. True, but, only you know what makes you feel positive and good about an experience. When I leave these places, I want to savor it, to remember it. It may not be your new home, but maybe you could aim for that.

Now that I’ve taken that step back, let’s move the story forward.

The planning.

Unlike Napa and Sonoma, this is all new territory for me. It’s an enormous region and according to the map, it is referred to as South Central Coast wine area. Some of the wine is just referred to as Central Coast. Odds are, if the wine you are drinking says Central Coast on the label, it is coming from one of these areas.

Within this region are multiple AVA’s (American Viticultural Area). I will discuss this further when I talk about wine labels around the world and what they tell us. I don’t want to ruin the flow and discuss it in depth right now. Let’s just leave it that this region has a number of climate and geographic differences that impacts the grapes grown.

Yep, there is an overwhelming amount of wineries everywhere we are going.

First to Paso though. I have mispronounced it for years. Being a New Yorker, I pronounced it as Paso Ro Bless. But, no no! They pronounce it as Ro Bulls.  Maybe more like a finish as the ple in purple but with a B. I just found out that I have been mispronouncing the Paso part too. It is not Paso as in the word positive, but as in pass the salt, or El Paso. To further confuse it, I’ve just been told I was correct in the first place!

I hear the wines there will more than make up for the confusion in pronunciation.

I have been saving every email I have gotten about the best, the must visit, the prettiest, the oldest, the best view, and the best food. In my defense, I did not save the best place to bring a dog or a child since I will have neither with me. I’m sure you get the picture, or you may plan better than I do.

Cool and hip wineries with edgy wine?  Wines with sex appeal. Are those really a thing?? Everyone looks for something different when traveling.

I do love planning though. It makes the vacation longer when you enjoy the planning too. However, given the enormity of how much information I have gathered, I am only offering an overview for now.

As the trip goes along, I will report back on the best of what I visited. If I don’t like someplace, I won’t mention it. Just because I don’t like it, doesn’t mean it is not good for someone else. Also, I focus on price quite a bit.

Paso has more than 40,000 acres that are planted with over 60 grape varieties. What is so incredible is the number of styles of wine that are created. You can get a wine like Bordeaux, mostly Cabernet and Merlot. A Rhone like wine which is a Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre blend, referred to as a GSM.  You have Italian style wines with, among others, the grape Sangiovese.  There are Zinfandel wines too.

The choice of wine styles in Paso Robles is incredible. It’s as if you are shopping from every aisle in the wine store!

I really don’t know how we will fit in a tenth of the wineries I would like to visit. The area is quite spread out and many wineries require reservations. You do not want to just run from one winery to another. Fortunately there are also tasting rooms in town where we will be staying. I’d like to visit a good cross section of the different Paso styles, but we shall see how many we can get to.

Before we head south to Los Olivos and Santa Barbara, we may take a side trip to the waterside wineries in Morro Bay and Harmony. I say “may”, because this is seriously out of our way. I may not be able to convince my Favorite Wine Drinking Buddy (my husband) that this is essential. I, however, feel drinking wine while overlooking the Pacific is the definition of essential.

Updated spoiler alert: We did go to Morro Bay. Absolution Cellars has a tasting room there. They have incredible wines with Artworthy labels. We even joined their wine club. If you are close, go!! Maybe even worth a special trip.

Seriously, this looks essential!

I am going to run into the same problems with these areas as with Paso. I am referring to the incredible number of choices of places to drink and eat. I was not referring to the pronunciation issues.

Rather than bore you with my planning details, I will just post those wineries I visited and liked the most.

But wait, you may say. You mentioned Malibu. Well, actually, we are starting there. We are making one big crazy circle. Malibu happens to have a number of vineyards, but fortunately fewer wineries than the other areas we are going to further north. We will start small that way.

Let’s find wines that are delicious! Maybe not a new home, but fun!