California or Bust…
Days 18 – Exploring Paso Robles area
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011
We woke to another beautiful morning… although it was cool, the air was clear. We caught up on some office work and completed some online utility payments for Cora, Drew and Maye… even though we are on vacation there are still bills to pay. We also needed to get a few provisions and there was a nice Kohl’s (which I couldn’t resist), Target and a WalMart close by… we picked up some new rugs for the RV. We drove through the City Center of Paso Robles which means “Pass of the Oaks” and then North on 101 to see the San Miguel Mission.
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| Our site at the Wine Country RV Resort overlooking the vineyard |
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| One of the many missions along the Camino Real Trail |
Brigit and Riley were with us and as we planned in Sonoma, we looked for dog friendly wineries to visit. After San Miguel, we drove into the rolling hills and vine covered mountains West of Paso Robles along the San Marcos and Chimney Rock Roads. The hillsides were covered with large properties with either acres of cattle or vineyards or both. It seems that great wine grapes only grow in beautiful places! The roads were also lined with prairie dog burroughs and squirrels running up and down the oak trees. Brigit, who is no “foo foo” poodle, has her eye on anything with four legs. She particularly has it in for horses and cows and went ballistic over a long horn steer. It seems the only way to calm her down is to open the window and let her think she might have to confront one of these large animals.
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| Longhorn |
Our first stop was at Justin which had kind of a French Provincial style to the winery and a quaint Inn and Restaurant. This sustainably-farmed vineyard has produced internationally acclaimed Bordeaux blends since 1981. Drew loved the Cabernet Franc… of course… and I liked several of the red blends and the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Next stop was an award winning winery that we had heard about… Tablas Creek on Adelaida Road. Founded by the Perrin family of Chateau de Beaucastel, Tablas Creek is Pasos’ Rhone pioneer, dedicated to organically-farmed estate Rhone varietal wines and Chateauneuf-style blends from Mourvedre. We loved the wines here so much that we became wine club members. Now on to the Calcareous Winery on Peachy Canyon Road. Calcareous is an adjective used to describe the type of “limestone” soil in this region with high PH and low acidity. This winery has produced award winning Rhone and Bordeaux varietals and blends. Calcareous was built on top of one of the mountains and from the tasting room we enjoyed a 50-mile panoramic view. Drew was surprised at how much he liked the Syrahs that had a very nice balance with a fruity finish… we became wine club members here as well.
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| Cabernet Grapevines |
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| Justin Vineyard Cabernet Grapes |
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| 50 mile panoramic view at Calcareous Winery |
On our drive down out of the mountains, we saw a few deer and then Drew thought he saw a crab in the road. Living in the Florida Keys, you often see land crabs crossing the road, but not in the vineyard hills of Paso. OMG… it was a tarantula! We backed up to take pictures… he was as big as the palm of your hand… Florida scorpions have nothing on this bug. Then another 100 yards further down the road, and we were still talking about the tarantula, a huge wild turkey strutted across the road. He was standing about 4 feet tall, with a nice red beard. He better take cover this close to Thanksgiving!
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| Big Hairy Tarantula |
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| Head for the hills turkey!!! |
We wanted to also stop by Eberle Winery to say hello and have a taste of their great Cabernet Sauvignon. Eberle is where, by chance, we decided to have our wedding. I had called several wineries in the Paso area and the determining factors for Eberle were; they had a beautiful deck with views of the Coastal Mountain Range and sweeping views over the Estate Vineyard, they were dog friendly and the owners had two black Standard Poodles – Cabernet and Roussanne, the event staff were so accommodating, the price was right, the wine was great and we had a back up option to be married in the wine cave in case it rained. It must have been fate, because after we had decided to be married at Eberle we were trying one evening to decide on a wine for a special dinner and we wanted a Cabernet Sauvignon. We found a bottle of Eberle Cab that we had purchased months before that at one of Leanne’s Wine Tasting events in Key Colony Beach… that sealed our decision. We were greeted by the free roaming poodles and the gracious, inviting tasting room staff. One of the winemaker employees loved Riley Doodle and mentioned how much he loved GoldenDoodles and quickly showed us pictures on his phone of his cute girl Doodle. We met Gary Eberle, a former Penn State Football player and the founder and owner of the Winery, who rounded up his poodles to leave for the day. http://www.pasowine.com/wineries/profile.php?winery=13 The Eberle staff locked the doors behind us and we headed back to the Wine Country RV Resort for the evening which was about a half mile down the road… how conveeeeenient!
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| View at the Eberle deck. |
History of the Paso Robles Appellation and Winemaking –
Although history of winemaking and wine grape growing was introduced by the Franciscan Friars circa 1790 and some Zinfandel production in the 20’s and 30’s… it was not really until the late 60’s and early 70’s that a new generation of vineyard pioneers brought university training and financial resources for large plantings to the Paso Robles area. Read more…
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