There’s always something going on in Paso Robles…and recently we went to a couple of events that were pretty damn fun!
Paso Robles; Recent Wine Fun
The first was out at Mondo Cellars, an event they call Sunset Happy Hour, which starts at 5pm and goes to sunset. There’s live music, a varying menu of food (this time was prepared by our buddy Jeffry), and wine for sale…this event goes from roughly March through October, every Friday evening. Their facility is out Lake Rd. and sits on top of one of the beautiful rolling hills this area is known for, the views are spectacular.
When you partake in a Mondo Sunset Happy Hour, you hang out on their lawn which has tons of seating, tables, and umbrellas to keep that warm summer sun off until sunset. Better than all this, when you’re up there enjoying this event, it literally feels like a backyard party at your friends’ house. The owners Doug and Mitch can be seen meandering around chatting with everyone and the staff is awesome, great customer service for sure!
Be sure to check out the Sunset Happy Hour at Mondo Cellars…live music, great food, and Mondo wines!!
The other recent event we went to was a Wine Industry Night. We’ve been to these before and they’re usually at one specific winery and you go hang out there for a couple of hours or so. This one was for the Downtown Paso Robles wineries though…and there are many. The list includes Ascuncion Ridge, Arroyo Robles, Pianetta, Grizzly Republic, Bear Cave, Parrish Family, Anglim, D’Anbino, Clayhouse, Bodegas Paso Robles, Pithy Little Wine Company, and Herman Story.
Some of the wineries had live music and most had food of some sort. It’s pretty cool though because there’s a bunch of industry people milling about downtown walking from one tasting room to another…good times in the big city! We ended up going to Parrish Family Vineyards and saying hi to our friend Chalan that works there. While there we bumped into our wine buddy Jeff and ended up going to Pianetta with him after Parrish and then on to Grizzly Republic.
Parrish is great as always…some new wines out and I’m always in love with their Chardonnay and Pinot Noir but they also have a great GSM. Chalan is awesome behind the counter, which often times for me can make or break a winery. You may have good or even great wine, but if you can’t figure out how to interact with the public you’re in trouble. Great job Chalan, and Parrish!
Pianetta has got some great reds, wow…a very nice Sangiovese, a Cabernet Sauvignon, and some blends…oh, and they have AMAZING jugs! WHAT? Well, they now have a jug wine so you can’t let that slip by without joking right? Anyway, they do a great job too…the staff is awesome!! We also ran into our good friends over and Uncorked Compliance…those lovely ladies are terrific!
Last spot was Grizzly Republic…I only tasted a couple of wines here (2 whites and a Rose I believe), I would have tasted more but the service was a touch slow. The two guys behind the counter were awesome dudes but just took them a while to get back to you for the next pour. We ran into numerous more friends while here and had a great time hanging out with them. Meanwhile, Annie has been grazing at the snack trays at the tasting rooms to fill her belly and Little Browne Dude’s as well. Another great night in Paso, minus the excessive heat…cheers to ya and have a great weekend! And don’t forget, get out and EXPLORE your area…find the good stuff and tell us about it!
By the way…where should we go next? What should we go check out?
Sounds like a great time (as usual!). Lots of wineries I haven’t come across, too. Clayhouse is the only one I’m familiar with.
Hey David…yeah, definitely a great time! It’s fun to wander around and try out several different places. Our downtown has so many tasting rooms now, it’s hard to choose! Guess we’ll just have to try them all!!!
I’m sure it would mean a lot to Stuart and Maria of Frolicking Frog Cellars if they got a Hoot n Annie visit to their new tasting room at Spiegel’s Jewelry, corner of 12th and Park. Cheers!
Hey Xochitl, that’s the new jewelry store? Wow, so they have wine tasting in there, too…what a great mix! We’ll have to scope it out! Cheers!!!