Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Paso Robles, California

This is one of my favorite wine tasting areas.  Best known for Red Zinfindel and GSM Blends (Grenache, Syrah, Mouvedre) there are also many other excellent varietals as well.  I am going to outline a perfect 2 days of wine tasting in Paso Robles below with suggestions for wineries to try.  On my latest trip (late August 2014) the harvest had begun a few weeks early due to inconsistent weather patterns this year.  I wanted to go to a few of my favorite places but also try out some new wineries as well as this region has over 200+ wineries.  I checked out recent medalists in California State competitions this year to select the new wineries to try and came up with Sculpterra, Thacker and Niner as my new places to visit.



SCULPTERRA
5015 Linne Rd Paso Robeles CA 93446 
Open daily from 10am-5pm

The grounds at this winery are spectacular and include an emphasis on sculpture, art, and music in addition to the wine.  The sculpture artists featured are Dale Evers and John Jagger.  This is a great place to have a picnic and take in the atmosphere.  The winery also grows pistachios which are part of the wine tasting.  I purchased the 2011 CABERNET SAUVIGNON ESTATE wine.




THACHER
8355 Vineyard Dr. Paso Robles CA 93446
Open Thursday-Monday from 11am-5pm

We enjoyed our visit to this newer winery in Paso.  We had a chance to talk with the wine maker Sherman about wine sales and marketing and enjoyed a picnic as well.  We picked up a bottle of the VIN ROUGE 2011 which is a blend of Syrah 73% and Grenache 27%




Tolo Cellars
9750 Adelaida Rd Paso Robles CA 93446
Open Thursday-Monday from 11am-5pm

This is one of my favorite boutique wineries in Paso Robles.  We enjoyed talking with the wine maker, Josh, and often get food pairings with our wine which is a fun experience.  This winery consistently produces some excellent wines and I picked up a bottle of the Sangiovese 2008 which was excellent and  paired with a wonderful pork sausage.




NINER Winery
2400 CA Route 46 Paso Robles CA 93446
Open Daily from 10am-5pm

This was my favorite new winery find of the trip as I enjoyed each wine I tried here.  Food and wine pairing is available on the weekends for an additional fee.  I picked up the award winning Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 and also the Petite Syrah (my favorite varietal).  The winery has beautiful architecture and would make an excellent picnic spot!




EBERLE Winery
3810 E Hwy 46 Paso Robles CA 93446
Open Daily 10am-5pm

This is my Go-To winery that we visit on each trip as they produce excellent quality wines at reasonable prices.  This was one of the first wineries in Paso Robles and has been here over 30 years.  We picked up quite a few wines here but ones of note are the 2010 Barbera, a Gold Medal winner in the New World International; The 2010 Cotes du Robles Rouge, a Gold Medal winner in the LA International, and the 2011 Zinfandel a Gold Medal winner in the New World International.


Fall is a great time to make the trip to Paso Robles as the weather will be cooler and the laid back atmosphere of the area makes for a comfortable wine tasting experience.  Tasting at many places is often waived with the purchase of wine and many hotels often have discount coupons for many of the local wineries.  I hope you make the trip to Paso!
Cheers!