I’d also add Adelaide Inn on the north side of town near the Black Oak - been very happy with my couple of stays there and it’s reasonably priced. If you’re on a budget, Melody Ranch Motel on Spring Street is a great option. Smaller, older place without some of the bells and whistles you’ll find elsewhere but it’s clean, has really nice owners, and it’s a short walk to all the downtown restaurants (unlike the other places besides Hotel Cheval). I can tell you that comes in handy after a wine dinner!
Some write-ups on a couple of these:
Law Wine Estates
Torrin Vineyard
You can find a bunch of other reports on Paso-area wineries listed under “Paso Robles” or “Central Coast” reports here:
Had some good visits with several Paso winemakers in January (including Brecon, Desparada, and Dilecta), and particularly enjoyed visiting Ryan at Paix Sur Terre:
Paix Sur Terre
Tapping this great thread as we’ll be in Paso in 4 hours.
Anyone have a suggestion for a tasting room that also has some where to sit and enjoy a picnic lunch, preferably with a vineyard?
Also, besides Bistro Laurent, where should we grab dinner?
Visit Dau for the view and picnic lunch and Epoch for the wine! We had a good dinner at II Cortile.
*Daou
Kyle, glad to hear it! The timing is great as California has had unusually cool weather. I’ll start with the second question first: Thomas Hill Organics. The weather should be ideal for dining in the courtyard. Artisan is another great option, but THO was really excellent the last time we were there. Also check out Brown Butter Cookies off the park for a treat to take home. They can be pricey, but they’re almost universally loved in our office and there are a number of different flavor combinations.
As for a tasting room with a picnic area and vineyard view, there are several. Tablas Creek is a strong recommendation for the hospitality and excellent range of wines. They have tables outside on their patio looking out over the allee of olives and the vineyards. They have complimentary cold water available from an ice bucket outside and filtered water for your own reusable canteens.
Another great option is Denner which has a more impressive view and similar amenities to Tablas Creek. They will also serve your table with tasting pours while you’re outside. Denner is sometimes open to the public, I would recommend calling ahead. I would be happy to call and get you an appointment if you have any issues, but typically they’re happy to have you visit if you call.
Cheers, gents!
Carmody McKnight has a wonderful area to picnic and enjoy pretty views. They’re out near Justin and Tablas Creek, iirc. For something not quite that far out, I seem to recall that Dunning also has a nice picnic spot right outside of their tasting room, too.
I am excited about a trip to this region next year as for the most part, PR pricing across the board hasn’t skyrocketed like some other regions, cough Willamette Valley/Sonoma etc…and you can still find a killer bottle of wine for $30. Some very interesting juice being made in So Cal…Thank you for the write up!
Lots of great recs here.
Planning on stopping in Paso for lunch today on way down to Pismo and also hoping to hit up a winery. If you could hit up one, which would it be? We’ll have our 8 year old son in tow, so needs to be a place that allows kids.
If you like big ass, delicious wines, I’d hit Herman Story.
Personally, given you are just making one stop, I’d prefer one of the wineries that sits out on a vineyard. I love being able to see the vines, terroir, etc. To that end Alta Colina, Denner and Villa Creek would be good options (from the places I visited and wrote about above).
Thanks for the last minute tips. Will be calling on way down to see if open and if kid friendly. Cheers!
Keep coming south, Jeff - I’ll open up for you in Los Olivos 
And I have chalk for the kids!
Cheers!
I am heading to Paso for 2 days in May.
It happens to be the week of the Paso wine festival so I plan to attend the winemaker dinner at Thomas Hill organics on 5/19.
We have 2 full days so I was planning on taking a tour the first day to become familiar with the area. That said, which tour company would others recommend?
We’ve been to Napa and Sonoma a few times but never Paso so I hesitated to just “wing-it” the first day. Bad idea?
Per the recommendations of many on this board we have scheduled tastings at Lone Madrone and ONX on 5/20. Have thought about Tablas Creek, Denner and Niner as well.
Have thought about Daou because of their location/ tasting room but hesitate because their wines are pretty widely available.
Anyone have other thoughts/recommendations?
Wine Wrangler (owned by a cat named Coy) is a great company that I’ve used before.
I stayed at an AirBnB in Templeton last time I went down. Turns out the owners are related to the Dusi family which brought me full circle to tasting at Mastantuono in 1984 (a very different Paso).
Skip Niner. Try Caliza instead.
Epoch is not to miss.
Davoulet (spelling) is Pinot. Where 4 vines used to be. Much better Pinot than any other in Paso.
Carmody McKnight are both my close personal friends. Wine is all natural on their own stock. Tasty.
Turley wine is some of the better Zins around. Tasting room is all wood inside. If they have the olive oil buy it.
Ron Denner is insanely nice and the wine superb. Anthony Yount makes the wine. He is very young.
Booker has the highest Parker scores of any winery in Paso next to Saxum (who really does not do tastings).
Tablas in wonderful.
Booker, Villa Creek, Terry Hoage, and Epoch (probably missing one or two) all started with JS Smith as their consulting winemaker.
Adelaida has decent wine and a huge view.
Law (also a view) and Torrin (tin city) are both made by Scott Hawley. Top notch.
I go to Paso every two months. Have visited maybe 100 times.
George and Daniel (Daou) have a most gorgeous place and the higher end wines are good.
Andrew, I have to ask for more on Davoulet (sp?). I can’t come up with who that might be and am always looking for great CA Pinot.