Who is new/hot/must see in Paso Robles

Post #1 by **Bruce Rudman** » August 17th 2011, 5:58am

We're going to have about a day in Paso on Monday and/or Tuesday after driving our Son up to Cal for college. Any suggestions on visits to somewhere new, different or just extraordinary. Don't tell me about Saxum or places not open or where I am not on a list, and I've been to many of the Board favorites such as Denner, Linne Collado, Herman Story, McPrice Myers, and Booker.

Thanks

Daou Vineyards is a bit of a drive, but I think they're doing some good stuff with Cab & bordeaux blends, especially as their estate vineyards come on line. Lone Madrone & Kenneth Volk is a good stop on 46 West...good variety there and always something different. If you end up out at the NW end of Vineyard near Tablas Creek, Le Cuvier and Tolo are doing interesting things with long neutral oak aging. They can be hit-or-miss for me, but I've also had some great bottles - a 2001 Tolo Cab (my last) was fantastic a couple of weeks ago and still has a long life ahead of it.

Post #3 by **Bruce Rudman** » August 17th 2011, 9:52pm

Thanks Bret. Forgot about Tolo. Not sure if we'll get that far up Vineyard but we'll see what happens. Lone Madrone to me is hit and miss, but they do have some nice wines.

Post #4 by **bretrooks** » August 17th 2011, 10:32pm

Lone Madrone and Kenneth Volk have both been hit-or-miss for me too - both are certainly places to find "different" wines, though. Volk's Malvasia Bianca is one of my favorite offbeat whites.

We've actually been in kind of a rut lately when it comes to our visits to Paso...can I ask what some of your favorites have been?

Post #5 by **Kimberly Cabot** » August 18th 2011, 12:26am

bretrooks wrote:Volk's Malvasia Bianca is one of my favorite offbeat whites.

Agreed about the Volk Malvasia Bianca, floral and fruity with a nice acid finish. I was surprised how much I enjoyed his Pinots as well.

Post #6 by **Brian G r a f s t r o m** » August 18th 2011, 12:58pm

Taste Anthony Yount's wines -- his label is called Kinero.
Try out Graves Winegrowers -- give 'em a call to make an app't.
Try out Ranchero Cellars -- made by Amy Butler: give her a call to make an app't.

All of those tastings would occur at the Denner facility (although maybe not Ranchero Cellars, as I seem to maybe recall that Amy recently opened a tasting room).

Dover Canyon is always worth a stop, imo; hit and miss, but the hits are home runs.

Tablas Creek is always worth a stop.

Terry Hoage is making some excellent wines.

Post #7 by **Bruce Rudman** » August 18th 2011, 8:53pm

Thanks for the suggestions Brian. I'll make some calls as soon as our schedule is tightened up. Hey Kimberly, been a long time! The Malvasia Bianca is the best thing that they make - quite good. Say hi to John!

Post #8 by **Bruce Rudman** » August 26th 2011, 9:40pm

So we had an hour last Monday, and a few hours Tuesday to explore Paso. On Monday, we visited Daou, Chateau Margene and Dover Canyon. Since we were at the end of the day, some things were not open.

Daou was heavily under construction but we found the place. I really wanted to like the Cab Merlot blend but didn't. The Petite Sirah blend was the best thing they had going.

At Chateau Margene, we did like their Bordeaux blends which was unusual as I firmly believe that Paso has no business growing Cab - stick to Syrah, Zin, Grenache, (and some mixing grapes) that you do best. Their Petite Sirah was also good.

Dover Canyon was fun. The tasting room rep was friendly and though we arrived after hours did not rush us in the least. The wines were all serviceable, though nothing stood out as amazing. What was interesting as I really liked their zins and I had moved away from Zin. Theirs were not the raisin/prune style like Opolo Mountain Zin, but were full bodied fruity wines.

Had a WONDERFUL dinner at II Cortile.

On Tuesday, we started out at Kenneth Volk; I had them mixed up with Lone Madrone as far as the Malvasia Bianca. I was confusing the La Mezcla from Lone Madrone. The Volk Pinot was nice, as was the Mourvedre. I did not care for several of their varietals.

Next was Red Soles. I liked their Zin program, which again was a bit of a surprise. They also had a good Petite Sirah. What happened to all the Syrah from the area? Not present in those rooms we visited.

We tried to go to Croad and Caliza, but they both were closed. Out of curiosity we tried Veris - way too many wines to try, Again, serviceable but nothing jumped out as great.

Last stop before Lunch was Aron Hill. The wines were all good - but again I thought something was missing.

Lunch at Farmstead in the old Rotta Grocery location, Some great sandwiches.

One thing I liked from the short trip was liking ZIn again. Since I still have several cases of Zin in the cellar, I need to open some up.

Post #9 by **M Hoose** » August 29th 2011, 7:48pm

Shoot - way late here (sorry) but would have thrown out Epoch Winery. Cool location, the juice is quite fine, and the Staff is equally chill. Maybe next go round.

Cheers,

M

Post **#10** by **Randy Bowman** » August 29th 2011, 8:05pm

Don't forget Peachy Canyon. Leenda's hot, loves offlines and wears some of the best bedazzled outfits. flirtysmile

Post **#11** by **Bob Foster** » August 29th 2011, 9:57pm

The restaurant is Il Cortile and it is superb.

Post **#12** by **Danny M a z z a** » September 14th 2011, 10:00am

Even though the topic is over. I'll second Epoch and Daou.

Fyi. Daou is building a sperate tasting area for members, i guess simliar to what denner has. Quite excited to see it opening weekend is in line with harvest fest weekend.

Post **#13** by **Linda Baehr** » September 14th 2011, 1:23pm

Randy Bowman wrote:Don't forget Peachy Canyon. Leenda's hot, loves offlines and wears some of the best bedazzled outfits.

And in my opinion we make some excellent Cab. [berserker.gif]

Post **#14** by **Peter Kleban** » September 14th 2011, 1:30pm

Randy Bowman wrote:Don't forget Peachy Canyon. Leenda's hot, loves offlines and wears some of the best bedazzled outfits.

+1

Post **#15** by **Linda Baehr** » September 14th 2011, 1:52pm

Peter Kleban wrote:
Randy Bowman wrote:Don't forget Peachy Canyon. Leenda's hot, loves offlines and wears some of the best bedazzled outfits.

+1

Oh you guys............. blush

Post **#16** by **Bruce Rudman** » September 15th 2011, 6:45pm

So, next time in Paso need to check out Linda's Cab (and outfits)? Will do.

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Post **#17** by **Brian G r a f s t r o m** » October 14th 2011, 8:13am

Bruce Rudman wrote:...
Last stop before Lunch was Aron Hill. The wines were all good - but again I thought something was missing...

Wow, I think you're the only person I've run across who's also tasted at Aron Hill. My feelings on their wines were pretty much the same as yours, although the term "good" has to be used in the macro sense --- they are not fine wines, by any stretch of my imagination.

I'm bummed nothing at Dover Canyon wowed you --- they usually have at least a couple on pour that really impress me. Do you remember what you tasted there? (I know this post is quite a time since your tasting, but I rarely pop into this sub-forum)

Post **#18** by **Brian G r a f s t r o m** » October 14th 2011, 8:14am

M Hoose wrote:Shoot - way late here (sorry) but would have thrown out Epoch Winery. Cool location, the juice is quite fine, and the Staff is equally chill. Maybe next go round.

Cheers,

M

Epoch would be absolutely right up your alley, Bruce! Nice suggestion, Mike. Only thing with them is sometimes they don't have any wine to taste (very limited production, and I think they sell-through via their list).

Post **#19** by **bretrooks** » October 14th 2011, 9:43am

Brian G r a f s t r o m wrote:
M Hoose wrote:Shoot - way late here (sorry) but would have thrown out Epoch Winery. Cool location, the juice is quite fine, and the Staff is equally chill. Maybe next go round.

Cheers,

M

Epoch would be absolutely right up your alley, Bruce! Nice suggestion, Mike. Only thing with them is sometimes they don't have any wine to taste (very limited production, and I think they sell-through via their list).

It's also worth mentioning that they're fairly pricey...$80/bottle or so at retail. The one I tried at Tastes of the Valleys several months ago (I don't remember which) had some nice complexity, but struck me at the time as big and ripe and extracted, too much so for my taste. They were newly released at the time, so maybe they've settled down...

Post **#20** by **Brian G r a f s t r o m** » October 14th 2011, 9:57am

that's a pretty bad retail price on the epoch. I've occasionally seen 'em pop-up for $50 - $60.

Post **#21** by **Bruce Rudman** » October 18th 2011, 6:28pm

Brian G r a f s t r o m wrote:
Bruce Rudman wrote:...
Last stop before Lunch was Aron Hill. The wines were all good - but again I thought something was missing...[/quote

I'm bummed nothing at Dover Canyon wowed you --- they usually have at least a couple on pour that really impress me. Do you remember what you tasted there? (I know this post is quite a time since your tasting, but I rarely pop into this sub-forum)

Brian,
My short-shrift was perhaps too vague. I love the people at Dover Canyon. We were in their club for years. The room was gracious enough to stay open after hours for us. The better Syrah was on, it just wasn't "wow". We enjoyed a couple of Zins and bought one even though I swore off doing so as my cellar is busting at the seams and I have several Zins that are way past their drink by dates.

Hope you're coming back to the states soon.

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Post **#22** by **bretrooks** » October 18th 2011, 10:20pm

Brian G r a f s t r o m wrote:that's a pretty bad retail price on the epoch. I've occasionally seen 'em pop-up for $50 - $60.

I suspect that Tastes of the Valleys bought their bottles right as the big scores were being published and may have overpaid a bit...pure speculation. Anyway...