Wine Tasting In California’s Paso Robles : From Fine Tri Tip BBQs to Fine Wine

Paso Robles: From Fine Tri Tip BBQs to Fine Wine

So, for those of you who read the last blog, (the one where my grandmother and I get lost on our winery road trip and end up in the Mohave desert as opposed to doing the gorgeous scenic Route 1), – we did end up reuniting with our family in Cambria, Paso Robles. 9 hours later.

Cambria? Paso Robles? I can hear you say… For people outside of the States, Sonoma and Napa are definitely the iconic Californian wine regions. Was driving 9 hours (five hours of it which were completely out of the way), worth it? ABSOLUTELY. And the next two blogs will show you why. This first blog will aim to give you a bit of where and why wine knowledge, whilst the second will go more in depth at some of the personalities and unique projects I found there. Ultimately I hope to put Paso Robles in your mental wine mind map and get you excited about California’s most up and coming wine region… especially for those Rhone fans out there!

Paso Robles: Where and Why??!!

Paso is located geographically halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. If you get it right (ahem) you can have beautiful coastal drives up or down the Coast to get there.

I ended up there for a number of reasons. I had heard it was a fantastic place for primarily Rhone native grapes but as it had diverse climates, local winemakers were getting far more ambitious. Just as importantly – my cousin had a beautiful beach house situated in the coastal town of Cambria, (where I now want to retire), which I could use for three days. And so ensued a three – day winery whirlwind which was undertaken by four generations of my family (my grandmother, my aunt, my cousin and her two children under two). Most of the troop were game – I am all about weaning people onto wine.

5 important facts about Paso Robles for your own knowledge and for good trivia at dinner parties

Paso Robles has done A LOT of refashioning. We are talking about Anne Hathaway in Devil Wears Prada transformation here. It was a region known for its cattle stock and Livestock Pavilion – it only had two dozen wineries in the area by the early 90s. Two decades later it now has two hundred due to its relatively cheap land and its ability to grow a wide range of grapes – from the Rhone and Bordeaux to grapes associated with Italy and even Germany!
This region has an abundant amount of sunshine. It easily hits 100 degrees in the summertime. However, the best wineries are situated close enough to the coast or up high, which allows for an incredible see saw effect to happen from day to night temperatures. The sunshine allows grapes to achieve full ripeness and flavour – whereas the cool sea breezes or mountain top air reins in the sugar levels and thus harnesses the wine’s potential to be an alcoholic, jammy fruit bomb.
It has an incredible array of soils – most importantly limestone. Limestone is a real rarity in California but is rightly adored for its ability to give freshness to some of the most sun -baked, alcoholic wines. I was therefore able to taste wines with easily 16% alcohol and enjoyed the concentrated fruity aspects of the wine – without the telling alcoholic burn at the end.
It is one of California’s largest appellations, and has long been stuck with an identity crisis. See above for my Anne Hathaway remark. However, due to a new generation of winemakers that have arrived – the appreciation of the different climates, soils and hill aspects is only growing. The potential of this region is only now really beginning to be unlocked which is super exciting.

5. As wine tourism is a fairly new concept here, you will find it a lot less snobby and manicured then some of the winery tours and visits that you would experience in Napa and Sonoma. This still feels like unspoilt cowboy country full of rolling grassy cattle pasture, wild horses and wide open fields dotted with wildflowers.

Places to Visit:

I will give you my full list of favourite wineries and wines at the end of the second blog, but for contrast’s sake, I will mention here L’Aventure (one of the top wineries for Cabernet Sauvignon as well as Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre), and Law Wine Estate (a new, family run, boutique winery making some very smart Syrah and Rhone blends). People coming to my wine tasting this Friday will be able to enjoy some of the latter!

L’Aventure – A French Winemakers Adventure – Where Bordeaux Meets the Rhone
http://www.aventurewine.com/

L’Aventure was recommended to me by a fab winemaker called Sashi Moorman – probably the most pioneering winemaker in Santa Barbara. I therefore knew that the winemaking here would be second to none. It was set up by Stephan Asseo who had been a winemaker in France but felt restricted by all the local laws and legislations. In 1996 he had left France with his family on a mission to find the ‘perfect’ terroir. He dragged his family to possible wine sites in South Africa to Lebanon, and Argentina to Napa. In 1997 he fell in love with the rolling hills of the Santa Lucia Mountain range, its complex soils and its appealing proximity to the sea. You guys can now also appreciate the importance of these physical variables. And so L’Aventure was born. Stephan stills mans the helm of the winery with his daughter Chloe (who could easily be a model in her spare time), running the marketing and events.

Many things impressed me about this winery. From their wide range of powerful yet elegant wines (even Stephan cautions consumers to put down the 2012s for at least 6 months), the extremely engaging tour by enthusiastic Gillian and the hospitality of the winery was ultimately proved by how rapidly their tasting room went from professional consumer space – to an enthralling play pen for my hyper under 4ft cousins. Photographic evidence is included in this bog. I cannot see a tasting room in Bordeaux being quite so flexible…

My aunt and grandmother each bought a case of wine, but what was interesting to see was how we all went for different things. My fave was definitely the Cote a Cote 2012 – a smoky, earthy blend of Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah, whose rusticity rasped of the Southern Rhone. Whereas my grandmother and aunt were huge fans of the Estate Cuvee – a Syrah siren which wonderfully weirdly also had 28% Cabernet blended with it, which gave the wine very rich, dark fruits as well as satisfying, chewy tannins. This was definitely not a wine for wusses.. Robert Parker would have lapped it up.

Whether it was L’Aventure’s Rose, their Rhone blends or their changeling blends of mixing grapes originally from the Rhone with grapes usually associated with Bordeaux, all of their wines showed incredible intensity, combined with a remarkable freshness – an intoxicating combination akin to all the wineries that I will mention in my Paso Robles blogs. For a $15 tasting fee, this was definitely a tasting worth doing… the added wine weight in the car would also back me up.

Law Estate Wines – A stunning, boutique winery specialising in characterful Rhone blends
http://www.lawestatewines.com/

Forget the fact that every single one of the wines here has a mid to high 90 Parker Point.I think one of the biggest testaments to this winery was the fact that I could make the worst entrance EVER for a wine professional at a winery (see video).. and yet we could not have been more warmly received . That included those who crawled as well as walked. See the video attached to this blog and I was also competing with my 9 month old cousin.

I also have never been received into such a beautiful yet contemporary tasting room. It truly felt like walking into someone’s elegantly furnished living room. No expense has been spared on the building nor on making sure that the consumer cannot miss out on the incredible views which their vineyard at 1,800 ft can afford..

I must admit that I was doubtful about how complex and elegant these wines could be. This winery had been recommended by another incredible contact of mine in wine, Cush Donelan whose family winery, Donelan, is doing wonderful things in Sonoma so I tried to keep the faith. However the vines themselves were very young (planted in 2008) and the estate had only ever produced two vintages. And yet my European pretensions dissolved instantly upon liquid contact… Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz style. The wines were sublime. All of them are blends (except the 100% syrah) of mainly Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache – and yet all five of the wines have such unique characters and nuances due to the incredible elevation of the vineyard and their huge diversity of soils. This fact is enhanced by the names given to the wines – all of which are meant to represent traits found in humans and in wine. I will be bringing back the meaty ‘Intrepid’ (100% Syrah) for my tasting this week. It’s a Syrah made from 5 different vineyard blocks and which seems to be so fearless it’s almost schizophrenic – flexing vinous muscles which could ripple from the Rhone, Priorat as well as Barossa from Australia. Scott Hawley, the winemaker (also pretty much a State legend), definitely seems to be living up to his laudable reputation.

The tasting here was $20 but it was definitely worth it! We tasted 5 incredible wines – all valued at $65 and were given such an interactive tour (little people included), with detailed side by side tasting by the incredibly French and handsome Arnaud. Photographic evidence of this is also included in this blog. – all the females in the family left with purchases and in a slight swoon.. not sure if it was vinous or Frenchman induced…

Summary: Whether the winery specialised in Bordeaux grapes or Rhone blends, both of the above showed off Paso Robles at its best, in terms of produce and hospitality. Concentrated, powerful, complex, fruity wines, whose freshness and bright acidity, could easily interweave the abundant alcohol!

All available wines complete with pricing and stockists will feature on my blog next week.

Next Week: Paso Robles Part 2

We will meet one of the most exciting New World and Old Word wine partnerships in Paso, as well as one of the most talked about, applauded winemakers – who is also the most elusive – and doesn’t usually see visitors – As if that would stop me!