In Search of Fine Wine in Paso Robles
After a couple years worth of Sunday drives out to the Santa Barbara Wine Country to go wine tasting, my palate is no stranger to a Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir or a Bien Nacido Chardonnay. I know exactly what I like and exactly where to get it! But this last Sunday we decided to mix things up & take an extended overnight trip up to Paso Robles to see what they’re crafting a little farther north.
Tasting stop #1: Windward Vineyard
To ease into the new terroir we started at Windward, where they specialize in 100% Estate-grown and produced Burgundian-style, handcrafted Pinot Noir. They had a vertical flight with the latest four years on the list and our resounding favorite of the 2008-2011 vintages was the 2009. I don’t often have the chance to do a vertical tasting of more than 2 years of one estate’s wine and it’s always interesting to see just how much the weather conditions can change the flavor from year to year!
1380 Live Oak Road
Paso Robles, CA 93446
Open Daily 10:30am – 5:00pm
(805) 239-2565
http://www.windwardvineyard.com/
Tasting stop #2: Kenneth Volk Vineyards
Based on a suggestion from the tasting room host at Windward, we stopped in at Kenneth Volk and were happily surprised to find more pinots and chardonnays, along with an extensive list of other “heirloom” varietals that are not often/never seen on other tasting lists. The girls pouring that day were awesome and had great recommendations for food, glorious food in addition to all of their wine knowledge!
2485 Highway 46 West
Paso Robles, CA 93446
Open Daily 10:30am – 5:00pm
(805) 237-7896
http://www.volkwines.com/
Tasting stop #3: Adelaida
The wine here was great, the company was even better, but the best parts for me were the almonds fresh off the tree baked to perfection and the awesomely tufted llama in the adjacent pasture. We got a bottle of their Cinsault Anna’s Vineyard 2010 just to bring home something a little different.
5805 Adelaida Road
Paso Robles, CA 93446
Open Daily 10:00am – 5:00pm
(800) 676-1232
http://www.adelaida.com/
Tasting stop #4: Tablas Creek
I think I was pretty well wine-tasted out by the time we got here. I don’t really remember much about the wines, but the facility was pretty nice – ha!
9339 Adelaida Road
Paso Robles, CA 93446
Open Daily 10:00am – 5:00pm
(805) 237-1231
http://www.tablascreek.com
No pix from Tablas Creek, but we did stop at Niner, Denner and Daou for some other photo ops…
We lucked out and were staying at Comus House at Denner Vineyards for the night and got to spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing on their palatial estate in the middle of the vineyard and even had the whole place to ourselves! See more Comus House details here.
