There was one place remaining in our big intro to Paso Robles wine tasting day, Tablas Creek Vineyard. Lori told us it was a must-visit to close out our day and when we found out that Tablas Creek was instrumental in the AVA too, we knew we had to continue tasting. (Rough life, I know). The tasting room opened in 2000 and this winery was the first to plant Rhone varietals in Paso. They are actually the ones who brought the grapes from France through Cornell University. Well now I’m even more excited to taste! As we walked through their front patio, we saw the mother vines of these original varietals. I can already tell this is going to be a great tasting!
Brecon Estate, http://breconestate.com, was our third stop on the Paso Robles day of Wine with Lori. We were delighted to see that they had a cheese plate to pair with their wine tasting. As you know, we love pairing wine and cheese but were also happy to have a bit of food during our tasting. This tasting room was set up differently than other places I’ve visited. The people pouring the wines were indoors but we could either sit at the bar on the outside of the building or at the picnic tables. The weather was terrific so either option sounded good to us. This winery had different grapes than we’d seen earlier in the day so let’s get started and find our favorite!
We made a plan to hang out with Lori from Dracaena Wines, during our trip to Paso Robles. She was so excited to show us all the iconic places of the region, and I was hopeful that we’d get to see her vineyard and winery, too. I met Lori on #WiningHourChat and knew we’d be friends once I found out they made a Cabernet Franc. After hearing about their wine for a couple years on the chat, this was the day that I was finally going to be able to taste it. I’m not a Cabernet Franc expert, by any means, but I used to pour one at the Winery Collective and I always enjoyed it. My favorite part about the plan was that we’d get to taste the Dracaena wine next to the vines that produced it. How cool!
Eberle Winery is located in Paso Robles, CA which was unchartered territory for Neil and I. When we lived in California, we focused on the wine regions immediately surrounding San Francisco. We took the opportunity during our recent trip to California to explore some new wine regions. As luck would have it, Lori from Dracaena Wines volunteered to bring us to some of the landmark wineries of the area as our introduction to Paso Robles. She knew it was only appropriate to begin at Eberle Winery where we could experience the winery responsible for getting the AVA started. Not to mention, that Eberle Winery uses many Rhone varietals, grapes that Neil and I enjoy very much in wine.
Our weeklong wine tasting trip was called the Sideways Wine Tour. Imagine how excited we were to find Fiddlehead Cellars in the Wine Ghetto. Do you recognize this brand from the movie Sideways? It’s from the scene during Miles and Maya’s double date with Jack and Stephanie. Maya has a glass of Fiddlehead Cellars Sauvignon Blanc that Miles tastes and likes. Maya says, “We should get you a glass of your own”. Obscure reference, maybe? but I’ve seen it a million times so I recognized it in the list of tasting rooms at the Ghetto.
We began our Sideways Wine Tour in the Wine Ghetto, Lompoc, CA. First stop was Pali Wine Co., thanks to a recommendation from our AirBnB host, Edward. He was previously part of the wine industry and happily suggested Pali wines. I’ve heard of the Wine Ghetto but was open to places we should taste in the area. He told us about it since we wanted to try some local Pinot.