Preface: This is a two day post about a 2014 summer trip to Paso Robles. And I am going to spoil it by telling you up front and right now the biggest and most important thing I learned: Paso Robles is fucking awesome. Go there. There are 350 wineries spread across the area, there are nauseating winding roads, and endless rolling hills, and a quaint little town filled with yummy restaurants. This is a slice of heaven!
In an attempt to jus re-orient my mind, my husband and I went up to Paso Robles to drink wine. Having been absent for most of the year and then very busy working, we finally decided to go away for the weekend and drink some wine.
Now the locals pronounce Paso Robles as in Robe-uls, but the correct spanish pronunciation is Robe-lace. I don't want to say I know better than the natives, because I get a little pissy when people pronounce it Ne-vahh-da instead of Nevada (the middle 'a' as in "dad"). So whatever to that. I'll just be the annoying foreigner.
The first day we tasted a shit load of wine, so we'll start there. As we were coming into Paso, the first place we saw on the little offshoot street was Tobin James. I liked the sound of it. Whomever is in charge of their marketing has their shit together. Every piece of merch has their logo on it. Everything. Great branding. They have a beautiful little outdoor area, but inside the tasting room it was boisterous and just a big party of happiness, warmth, and excitement. It was a great first place to visit.
I'm writing this three days out and I can't remember what their wine was like, but they had a Chardonnay (2012) that was quite delicious. I only know this because I bought two bottles and I never would have done that if their Chardies were piss. They are known for their Zins, though and they have a few expensive and fancy reserve Zins, and these are quite spectacular. Big and jammy, lots of flavor, good balance, and just enjoyable to drink.
If you are a Zin fan, they have six different selections available, including a Primitivo that was also worth noting.
Next was on to Rockin' R, where a lass with a silver mullet, poured wine down my gullet. This was a fun small winery, and the woman in charge of the tasting room knew her stuff! She had a very interesting smell technique whereby she smelled the wine one nostril at a time, first "left brain," then smell something neutral, like the back of your hand, then your "right brain," then something neutral, then both nostrils together. It is interesting how one side picks up more of certain flavors than the other side.
Overall their wines were interesting, but nothing rave-worthy. Definitely above average and really good, just not great.
We went to Steinbeck next. They also have a dessert wine company housed in the same tasting room called Paso Port, and they have a wide selection of yummy tasty magic. Steinbeck was one of the pricier wineries we visited, averaging $40 per bottle, but their wines were really good. Overall, really good wines.
We had a quick lunch at the golf course. I'd find another place to lunch in the future. While the views were nice, downtown Paso has a lot of excellent restaurants that are more worth your time and money. Yelp is your friend, not for just the food, but the wineries as well.
Robert Hall is a big fancy winery, right on Highway 46 and one of the first big ones you see coming into town. I hate to disparage wine, but a lot of the wine experience is completely subjective. I am hardly an expert, and you may think my opinions are full of crap and that is fine. You should question me, and go out and form your own opinions. Everyone's tastes vary and everyone's biology is different.
I didn't really care for this wine that much. So I only bought a few bottles. I have to qualify that just a little. A lot changes when you are tasting wine. You get all these flavors back to back. I think when you are at home, you open a bottle and suddenly you are committed to that bottle. Whether you can polish it off with friends in an hour, or if you have to bravely go it alone over a couple of days, it is kind of a thing where you either try harder to like it, or chalk it up to experience and just power through your jug of swill. Take away the obligation to invest and suddenly you become pickier. Maybe that was just me, or maybe I had tasted better wines already so my frame of reference was altered. Hard to say.
I have had Robert Hall before, purchased from the local grocery store. It was a Syrah, that I recall as being quite good, but perhaps the vintage was better than what I tasted. Either way, I wasn't necessarily bowled over by anything I tasted. The prices were lower than most other wineries though, about $20 per bottle average, versus $30. So if you are on a wine budget, it might be a good place to explore. Don't get me wrong the wine is good. But just good.
Eberle has a beautiful winery and tasting room and a nice deck overlooking rows of vines. It is nice and relaxing. Their wines are quite tasty and their mascot is a boar. Overall really good wines.
Hey it was the end of the day after drinking a gallon of wine. What kind of review did you expect? I was lucky to walk out of there. But my tasters were shot! I could drink or taste no more!
So we went to one last winery:
Grizzly Republic. The tasting room is in downtown Paso, and they have a list of interesting and unique wines. The woman pouring for us was adorable, and she explained that a lot what we were tasting from one year to the next was weather. The standout wine was a Grenache that had an overtly smoky flavor to it because that year, there was a fire nearby and the smoke hung over the vineyard, and the grapes absorbed the smoke. They had a Petite Syrah that was big and jammy, just the way I likey, but Gregory wasn't really into it.
They also had a very nice port, that screamed yumminess at me.
Their tasting room was simple but elegant. They had the best palate cleansers, crackers, cheese and little brownie bites. They also had live music, a guitarist singer who was quite good. It was a very enjoyable way to end the first day of wine tasting.
Personal favorite winery of the day: It was a toss up between Tobin and Grizz
Personal favorite wine tasted: Tobin Fatboy (Zin)
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