One Short Day in Paso Robles
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- Category: Local Business
- Last Updated on Tuesday, 17 May 2011 09:57
- Written by Terri Garlick
By Monica and Todd Brown, No. 109 Cheese and Wine Market
Paso Robles, just one short day for exploring wine country and one of our most memorable (Vineyard Drive and Route 46). We rolled into San Luis Obispo late, lesson learned, book hotel before 8pm at night. Dread, we got stuck at a Holiday Inn Express for $250 ….need we say more. Luckily we met Irene from San Fran the next day with her loyal companion Rocket (Rhodesian Ridgeback) at Tablas Creek Winery and she clued us in to a great web site www.airbnb.com. Plus, we did get lucky our first couple of nights in Santa Rosa outside Sonoma with www.Priceline.com, scored the Hilton for $65 a night. So even though we are keeping our free spirit on this trip we decided to start planning our accommodations at least 3 to 4 days out.
Our first winery in the morning was Baileyana– Tangent, a great tasting room in a historic 1909 Schoolhouse in the Edna Valley. A certified SIP vineyard, certification proves a collective commitment to environmental stewardship, economic viability, and equitable treatment of employees. www.vineyardteam.org/sip
The 2005 Cuvée 1909 Brut Rose was made to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Independence Schoolhouse. This fresh and elegant sparkling wine is reminiscent of traditional French Style Champagne. We equally enjoyed the Trenza 2008 Blanco Spanish inspired Albarino, Grenache Blanc blend and the Cadre Vineyard “Architects” Pinot Noir a blend of vineyard sites from Edna Valley, Arroyo Grande, Santa Maria and the Santa Rita Hills.
Due to our luggage restrictions in the 356 we went with a bottle of the Brut Rose due to the fact we love a great bubbly and it is only available at the tasting room. I will keep my fingers crossed that our local distributor will be able to deliver the other wines to us at 109.
Our next stop was Sextant, named after the nautical navigation tool. It was in a funky old building/shed in what is the historic Old Edna Town site. They also offer a gourmet deli and sitting area for a little wine, cheese and lunch. We really enjoyed the Old Vine Zins, full bodied but not hot, really well balanced but it was the Genoa XVIII NV that we fell head over heels. A non vintage blend of 2007 Zinfandel, 2006 Petite Sirah, 2006 Syrah barrel aged in mostly new French oak and new eastern European oak with only 100 cases produced. A enchantingly rich wine with notes of toasted nut, dark cherries, vanilla and black cherry jam. We are hoping to enjoy this with a pan seared duck breast, maybe when we get to Oregon and rent a house with a kitchen.
Our last stop for the day was a winery we carried at Cellar XV for years, these wines always had a place in our special cellar room. Tablas Creek Vineyard, what a beautiful organic vineyard plus we loved the aspect that the vineyard relies on solar energy and the tasting room is done with cork floors and reclaimed woods.
The drive was on great roads Adelaida and Vineyard Drive, beautiful vineyards on both sides of the road, olive groves and a mixture of cows on the hills.
The tasting was one of our tops, each wine better than the next plus we loved our wine steward Cindy. Even though it was the end of the day she was very accommodating and one of the most knowledgeable. It was a tough decision but we took with us Espirit du Beaucastel 2006 done in the tradition of Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape. A blend of Mourvedre, Grenache, Syrah, Counoise. Very elegant glass full of plums, crushed rock, cedary spice with supple tannins, this wine will age for another 10 years but I don’t think it will make it home.
Since we learned our lesson the night before we got on the road with the intention of finding our night accommodations before it got dark. We drove along route 46 to the coast and ended up in a small seaside town Cambria around 6pm. Picture perfect, the sound of the waves hitting the shore, the salty smell of the sea, plus the bonus of the sea lions on the beach, need we say more.
Monica and Todd Brown are driving across the US looking for good food and wine for No. 109 Cheese and Wine ~ No vineyard is too small, no kitchen too hot, no destination too obscure. Together, they hope to find some of the best in the US, and feature them in Ridgefield. When not posted here, other legs of their journey can be found HERE, Will Drive 4 Food.
