kimamom

Last weekend we headed out to the Fall Harvest Festival in Paso Robles, CA. We were able to visit a number of places that we hadn't been to before that was lots of fun.

Our first stop was at the Chumeia Vineyards. We did some barrel tasting of their latest Syrah that was very good. There were samples of warm, pumpkin soup that was very good and was a nice touch with the weather really starting to cool off. It definitely felt like Fall! I purchased a really nice Lycra top with chiffon sleeves with a drawing of a girl drinking wine that I just had to have! There were also handbags and jewelry for sale that was fun to browse through.

The next stop was at the Tobin James winery. I really like this place, a lot!! The tasting room is very whimsical and it was very crowded. A very popular place and I could see why. The tastings at all the wineries were complimentary. I really liked their "Cash Flow" red table wine that we purchased and they had a very nice Pinot Noir that I'm going to order DH for a Christmas present.

The TJ winery had a great BBQ set up where you could sample various BBQ'd meats with your wine samplings. We sat our on the front porch area and enjoyed this place for quite awhile. Everyone was having a wonderful time. They were also giving out free Tobin James stars to wear around which was fun.

Then off to the Bianchi winery which was definitely the most beautiful of all the ones we visited. The tasting room has just been completed and it is absolutely gorgeous. Large floor to ceiling windows, fireplace with comy leather sofas, on a very pretty setting of grounds with koi ponds and lots of outdoor seating on their deck areas.

We went over to watch "the stomp" but there wasn't anyone participating, so we went back to the tasting room to sample their yummy wines. I really like their Merlot here and purchased a bottle. We also bought a French Laundry cookbook here that we took out to the deck and read a little bit.

Bianchi was offering a BBQ pizza which was made to order and a glass of wine for $12. We shared a very good BBQ pizza with a glass of Merlot out on the deck and soaked in the sun. I could have stayed all afternoon here, it's a must see for anyone in this area. Very impressed with the architecture and classy setup.

Then off to the EOS to pick up our wines. We had a bottle of the Reserve Petite Syrah and a bottle Muscat Canneli waiting for us. Not too much going on here, we sampled some very nice olive oils and headed out.

Martin & Weyrich was the next stop. I had to have a bottle of their Nebbiolo Reserve wine. They were offering BBQ Jalepeno sausage sandwiches with any bottle of wine purchase. These sandwiches were wonderful, so good we had two!! Lots of people here, also.

Then we stopped at the Eberle Vineyards. It was really crowded and the tasting room was a little dark and outdated for my liking. We sampled a couple of the wines here and moved on.
Next stop was the San Marcos Creek Vineyards. Beautiful grounds here and their tasting rooms are still in the process of being built. We sampled some very good White Merlot and a wonderful Estate Syrah which we purchased.

They had a really nice buffet table set out here with bacon-cheese stuffed tomatoes, cranberried meatballs, brie cheese and home made fudge. With each buffet item was a suggestion of wine to go with the food which was a very nice touch.

Then off to the Wild Coyote vineyards. This place was a total kick. The tasting room is up on a hill, sort of out in the middle of nowhere, and it is built in a pueblo-style type place. The tasting room is very pretty, with a small fireplace. They charged $5 for a sampling of five wines and you got to keep the Wild Coyote glass.

Wild Coyote is known as the House of Reds. We sampled two very nice Merlots and two nice Zins and a Syrah. We decided on the Merlot which was very nice. I'll be ordering more of the Zin here for Christmas presents. I picked up my DD a cool Wild Coyote shirt that she really likes.

Wild Coyote, Tobin James and Bianchi were my favorites this trip. Each winery was just so unique and the all produced VERY good wines. We were runing out of time. I really wanted to visit Tablas Creek, but we had an early dinner reservation at Buona Tavola in downtown Paso.

We were seated right on time at BT. I had been wanting to try this place for quite awhile, the SLO location is Zagat & Wine Specator recognized.

Buona Tavola means "good table" and it was very good. I started with the Insalata del Dante, which is a bed of fresh spinach, dried tomatoes roasted pine nuts and red onions in a gargonzola dressing. We shared this and it was very good.

Primi Piatti was the Tortelloni di Zucca alla Salvia e Mascapone which is a homemade tortelloni stuffed wtih pumpkin and ricotta in a sage and mascapone cheese sauce topped with roasted walnuts. We also shared this and it was very good, sweet, rich and wonderful with being overbearing.

The Main Course was the satlimbocca alla Capo Vico which is veal scallopine with prosciutto and melted imported fontina cheese served in a bed of spinach in a rosemary veal reduction sauce. Very good with very unique flavors. We shared a glass of the Wild Horse Merlot with dinner.

For dessert, we shared the chocolate flourless cake with raspberry sauce which was a wonderful ending to a very nice meal. Service was attentive and the ambiance was very casual, elegant. I would return again here and would highly recommend it to anyone in the area. Cheers!! ***kim*** www.btslo.com _

easytraveler

Great, great report, kimamom!

So many new wineries in the area! You are inspiring us to try all those "wild" things: Wild Coyote, Wild Horse - LOL!

Used to be the highlight of our tasting in the area was the rot gut Muscat at York Vineyard!

Thanks for an inspirational posting!

emd

kikamom: You'll appreciate this. One of my best and closest old friends of 15 years (who also happens to be a client of mine now, and my best hiking bud too) lives in Santa Monica and has a wine cellar in her house. She and her husband love Paso Robles as much as they love Napa and Sonoma. And every year guess what she sends me for my birthday? A case of Tobin James. I always call her and say, "Thanks sweetie, Mr. James just knocked on my door and wished me a happy birthday!" I love their reds. I also like EOS. You can get their wines at Safeway here in Northern VA, which always suprises me.
I think you should go to the "WINOS" posting on the "Other" board here on Fodors.com and either cut and paste this post or at least tell those winos about where to find you Paso Robles posting. They would appreciate it.

emd

kimamom: I did mean to call you "kimamom", although for some reason when I am thinking about you and see your posts, my brain wants to call you "kikamom"...

kimamom

emd, which of the Tobin James wines did you receive for your BD present? Everything was good there but I chose the "Cash Flow" because it was so versatile (for every day dinners) and a good price for only $10/bottle.

If you want to cut and paste my post to that board, you're welcome to do that. The Paso Robles area needs more recognition, it's such a fun and wonderful place to wine taste with soooooo many places to try. ***kim***

emd

The bodacious syrah, the merlot, and the ballistic zin, the james gang reserve zin. I think they do better w/those than the cabs. Also like their red dessert wines- late harvest zin liquid love is great.

cher_cher

The flourless choc cake just send me over the edge. *drool*

kimamom

Anyone looking for an AMAZING place to stay in the Paso wine country? Check out www.myvillatoscana.com A five-star B&B located at the Martin & Weyrich vineyards. Wow, this places looks as amazing as the Paso wines taste! ***kim***

Alisa

Great report! I printed this out to my special file!

kimamom

Thanks Alisa! Another place you might want to add is the Clautiere winery. www.clautiere.com I've heard their wines are very good and the tasting room is really whimsical. Has anyone been here? ***kim***

Scarlett

Thanks, kim for more lists!

sequess

Clautiere is a fun place to go. It's run by a couple named Claudia and Terry (hence the name). I believe they also own the Lobster Restaurant in Santa Monica. The tasting room is brightly colored and whimsically decorated and they have funky wigs and hats for people to wear while tasting. The wines are actually quite good and not gimmicky as one might expect. The only downside is that it's become quite popular and the last couple of times I've been there have been limos full of bachlorette party attendees there and it gets rather crowded.
But overall, it's a fun and festive atmosphere and worth a visit.

kimamom

How fun it would be to taste here on Halloween, huh? That's really funny about the hats. I don't know if DH would go for that, but I think it would be fun.

There were large groups of ladies at Wild Coyote tasting, also in limos. I guess Paso is quite the "wild" place, huh? I don't think there are places like this in Sonoma or Napa that I know of.

I rather can't imagine the people that go to the Napa/Sonoma trying on hats while they wine taste but you just never know! LOL ***kim***

kimamom

sequess: any opinions on Tablas Creek? That was another one we missed but want to try in the future.

Peachy Canyon is always good for their zins. You can get the Incredible Red at Trader Joes, but the Old Schoolhouse is one unique to the PC winery only. ***kim***

sequess

I really like Tablas Creek. They have excellent Rhone-style wines. Their wines have been written up quite a bit recently and are getting lots of acclaim.

kimamom

Yes, definitely on our list for our next visit to the Paso wine region. Any opinions on Justin? We wanted to have lunch there, but there was just soooo much yummy food going on at the wineries. ***kim***