Skip to main content

WINE: Paso Robles Wineries


The Wineries of Paso Robles
(Click the picture for a few more winery photos)

On Saturday, we went to a few different wineries in the Paso Robles area. As it happened, I liked each place more than the one that came before it.

York Mountain/Martin Winery
We began at York Mountain Winery, which is now called Martin Winery due to new ownership, although all the wines are still called York Mountain for the time being. This was, relatively speaking, my least favorite of the day. The tasting room was cramped, and while there were two counterwomen, one was helping only one group of people, while the other tried to help three groups of people, making it a longer wait to get served.

The wines were hit and miss, to me. I started with a Viognier that was just kind of ... meh. It was very bland but also very acidic, so that I didn't taste much flavor but the acid kind of tickled my throat. I then tried a syrah clone (#877) that was my favorite of the bunch. It had a dark, rich berry flavor, but ended with a spicy, peppery finish that stayed on the tongue. I really liked it, and ended up taking a bottle. Plus, it was bottled on my birthday!

Next I compared a Jack Ranch pinot noir with an Edna Valley pinot noir. Most of our group prefered the Jack Ranch, but I prefered the Edna Valley. I thought it was smoother with a nicer, mellow flavor. J. thought the Jack Ranch had a bit of a sparkly mouthfeel, but I didn't feel it.

I ended with a Merlot, even though I felt like I had had enough at that point, but I couldn't pawn my last taste off on anyone. I didn't like the Merlot ... it had some kind of strange flavor running through it that I can only describe as "baby diaper." ???? Sorry, but that's what it reminded me of (I've never tasted a baby diaper, but I have smelled my fair share). My mom did not care for it either.

Denner

Our next stop was at Denner. Denner has a gorgeous tasting room and facility that I found to my surprise was designed by the architect that designed my parents' house. My parents' house is very traditional in style while this was very modern. The winery is on a hillside, and the building sweeps back in an arch over the hill. Inside it's wide open and spacious with plenty of room to accomodate lots of tasters, with homey little corners of comfortable chairs and tables where visitors can sit and relax.

The Denners sell most of their grapes, so their wines are very limited releases of only a couple hundred cases. They have an exclusive wine club that's currently on a waitlist status to ensure you get in on their wines.

Here I liked pretty much everything. I tasted a Viognier that was much nicer than the previous one. It was light and buttery with much more flavor, very fruity. Next we had the "Theresa," named after someone's mother (this is where the wine begins to effect me), I don't remember much about this one. Then there was a Syrah that was nice. Again, I don't remember particulars, but we did take a bottle home, so it must have been good. We ended with the "Ditchdigger," which is a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre. The description claimed there was a "dark, brooding beast," within this one, but I thought it was quite mellow although it was also complex. My dad thought he had a case of this, or else we would have bought it. Turns out he had a case of the Syrah, which we did buy. Oh well.

Grey Wolf

Finally, we ended up at Grey Wolf. This was my favorite stop of the day. We were greeted by an old German shorthair pointer named Lucy and the tasting room attendant gave me a treat to give to her, making her my new best friend. The tasting room was small, but spacious enough to comfortably accomodate several groups and was decorated with wolves all over. The attendant told me that the owner helped rescue hybrid wolves.

Here, $2 gets you approximately one million tastes of wine. By this time it was nearly over for me, so I decided to limit myself to three and try to choose wisely. But I think there were about 8 different wines that your $2 would get you. I started with a white called "The Awakening" which is a white Rhone blend. All the previous wine tasting obviously did not affect my "wine vibing" powers, because once I chose it, I was told it was a "red wine drinker's" white. Perfect. And it really was, it was very nice. Next I had a rose which was delicious. Unfortunately, by this point I was well past the point of being able to intelligently describe anything I was tasting. They had some bread and a garlic basil grapeseed oil that went well with this. I finished with a Petite Syrah and was admonished to eat chocolate with it, and a Cadbury bar shoved toward me. And it was exactly right. The chocolate added something special and we bought a bottle and I will not drink it without chocolate.

I wish I had been more attentive and less, well ... drunk for the last tasting because it really was my favorite. Next time I head up to that area, I am going there first.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

NEWS: Angeleno Magazine's Chef's Night Out

Brad A. Johnson of Angeleno magazine, and The Tasting Panel 's Anthony Dias Blue are co-hosting the annual Chef's Night Out and Restaurant Awards to honor local chefs and resterauteurs and to celebrate the release of Angeleno 's food issue. The dinner benefits the Children's Institute, an organization that works with children and families affected by violence, abuse, and trauma. Tickets are $150 for the event (food from the featured chefs with wine and spirits pairings), and $250 for VIP tickets which includes access to a special reception and the awards ceremony. The event will be held at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows this Sunday, July 26. The chefs at the event include: David Myers from Sona, Comme Ça and Pizza Ortica Lee Hefter and Thomas Boyce from Spago Lee Hefter and Ari Rosenson from Cut Susan Feniger from Street Anthony Zappola from Craft Brian Moyers from BLT Steak Ray Garcia from FIG Restaurant Santa Monica Warren Schwartz from Westside Tavern Evan

RECIPE: Serious Eats' Foolproof Pan Pizza

It was love at first sight ... the second I saw J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's Foolproof Pan Pizza recipe ,I was twitterpated. I was definitely going to try to make this and see if it was really proof against this fool. Overall, I think I'm a pretty good cook, but when it comes to trying out new recipes, usually if there's a way I can totally mess it up, I will. Even if I get the actual process right, chances are I'll do something like try to check if the bottom's cooked while the pie is still in the pan and dump the pie all over the kitchen. :( (True story). Well, happy to say Mr. L-A has done it again. You could do worse than compile all his recipes and just use them as your cookbook. He takes a thorough and scientific approach to cooking but also has a way of translating it all for the casual home cook. The recipe was seriously easy - there is a lot of waiting time but very little active effort to expend. It's pretty much just mix the dough, let it rise, mak

ABOUT THIS BLOG

I've been evaluating my blog and have realized that, while I have lots of nifty posts, I don't really have a good overall explanation of what exactly this blog is all about, and what one can expect to find here. So I'm creating this post and will link to it in the sidebar for anyone who's interested. I am not a professional chef. I have not been cooking for years. I am not an expert who is going to make beautiful and amazing and complicated dishes to "wow" you. I am, in fact, quite the opposite. I am a total beginner. I've always lived in places with miniscule kitchens and concerned myself with schoolwork and studying and working and not paid the least bit of attention to what I was eating every day. And that's what this blog is all about. It's about me learning where my food comes from, how to make it properly, and how to enjoy it to the utmost. It's no fun to learn by myself, so I started the blog to keep track of what I learn, kind of like a