What are your favorite wineries, restaurants, and bars in the Paso Robles wine country?
I’d really like your help on this one…let me fill you in. As I’ve stated in recent blog posts, we will be adding more tabs to our blog in the hopes of adding useful information for folks visiting Paso Robles wine country. I get asked constantly about where people should go to drink (wine or other beverages), where they should eat, and where they should sleep when visiting Paso. It’s super cool to give them my opinions but as we all know…opinions are just opinions.
What I’d like to offer to visitors of Paso, or locals, is a broader opinion base. We will be adding a tab titled something like “HnA’s Picks” or “HnA’s Favorites” but I’d like to add some of your opinions too. As of now we don’t have plans to use your names but we do want to include your opinions. Depending on how much feedback we do, or don’t get that may change.
So here are the questions (and ideally we’d love the answers in the comment section below but if you don’t want to do that you can leave them on our Facebook page.
Paso Robles Wine Country Favorites
1) What are your two favorite wineries right now in Paso Robles wine country? It does not have to be based on wine alone, maybe it’s based on the people, the atmosphere, the view, the customer service or some combination of these. So let me know your top two right now in the comments below and reasons if you’d like to share them.
2) What are your two favorite food spots in Paso Robles wine country right now? Same as above, this doesn’t have to be based solely on the quality of the food…it can be based on a host of reasons but I want to hear what you think and why…if you don’t mind. Let me know in the comments below.
3) What are your two favorite hotels or B&B’s in Paso Robles wine country right now? Since Annie and I are locals we don’t stay at hotels and B&B’s much (stayed at La Bellasera a couple of times though) so we’d love your thoughts. This will be really helpful since we don’t have the knowledge that you have on this subject. Let me know below in the comments.
I know it’s a pain in the ass to comment on blogs or meander over to Facebook but it would really be helpful for us. I’m really hoping to be able to make this site more useful and helpful, not just amusing and comical. Although I do like amusing and comical. If you have any other ideas or thoughts that could be helpful for folks coming to Paso I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks folks and Happy Humpy Day!
It’s so hard for me to define any “favorites” so I’ll just say this: When I go wine tasting (which isn’t often enough), I usually go in search of some kind of “experience.” For me it’s not just about the wine (albeit that’s important!). Since I’m partial to Rhone varietals, I enjoy the lovely blends and coziness that comes from the Mediterranean-style tasting room at Caliza Winery, surrounded by sloping vineyards. For a family-friendly outdoor experience where all ages can hang out for an afternoon of great sights and picnicking (and those 21 and over can indulge in wine), I recently enjoyed Sculpterra Winery. I think every winery has something unique to offer, and since everyone’s palate is different, it’s great to hear from a variety of opinions as to what is recommended…and why.
As far as restaurants, whenever I’m Paso I tend to eat at Thomas Hill Organics. I really appreciate the patio ambiance and the innovative, farm-to-table inspired menu by their French chef. I also love the seasonal creations of Villa Creek and need to get up there more often.
That’s my two cents!
Elizabeth, you rock…thank you. We’ve been to all the places you mentioned and I would completely agree. I think I just needed to hear from others about what is top of mind for them. It helps me open my eyes which can be narrow…that’s the human experience after all, we get caught up into “what we dig” and can get stuck in that. Thanks for the help! 🙂
Norman winery, and Tobin James, only because we have met them both in Orange country and they are very down to earth, friendly and easy to talk to.
Isn’t Norman gone now, Beverly? At least the property? Tobin is a very cool cat. 🙂
For wine, Cass Winery – great food, wine and people – and Barrel 27 Wines. No food but some of the best, most affordable Syrahs in the region. A must for me. We only eat out for breakfast, so Hoover’s Beef Palace and Hunter Ranch golf course. Both off the beaten path, both so good for the money.
Lisa, great choices. Cass is a one stop shop. I agree on the Barrel 27 recommendation too. And of course, those food spots are killer…if only Hoover’s walls could talk, eh? LOL
Two favorite wineries, San Marcos Creek, every wine on their list is fabulous, nice tasting room and beautiful patio.
Red Soles, wonderful smaller winery with top-notch wines and super nice owners.
Two favorite places to eat would be Pappy McGregors, love the atmosphere and we always get a Black and Tan. We also love Basil Thai, such tasty food!
Laura, awesome, thank you. Been to all of those spots too and have to say, especially love your Red Soles and Pappy McGregor’s mentions. 🙂
We visit from Simi Valley once or maybe twice a year. Totally enjoy our visits.
1. Wines – Tables Creek and AmByth. We love Rhone wines and these are the two best in the area to our taste. Tables has such an array of wines and price points to please everyone. AmByth has great wines and the most accommodating people. Being an appointment only winery they are very open on when you can stop by and will spend as much time as you need with you.
2. Food – our favorites are Thomas Hill and Artisan. Since we have not had a chance to try the new venue for Artisan, we hope they are still as good as we remember. THO is just a lovely place for lunch or dinner. We do like some others but these two seem to be our ‘go to’ when we are in Paso.
3. Place to stay – we can only comment on the one – Holiday Inn Express. It may not be the most upscale place in town but you get a great, comfortable room at a decent price. When we went to Hospice a couple times, it could not have been better to be able to walk to the event. It has easy access to all things Paso – and as my husband says, he would rather spend the money on wine and food and save a bit on the bed. Plus we are loyalty members and can get free nights with the points. If we are staying more than the one night, we tend to only eat the free breakfast once and go to Panolive for breakfast.
Enjoy reading about Paso – keep up the good work
Wow, Laurie, excellent comment. Totally agree on tablas, I recently wrote all about them on here. Ambyth has great wines but have not been to their tasting room yet. I love your husbands attitude…save the money for food and wine. Hell yes!! 🙂 I really appreciate the info and we will use it once we finish putting together that tab on the blog. Cheers to you!!
We have stayed at the Black Oak Best Western for years. We once tried a B and B which I prefer but she was closing the day after we left so it wasn’t that great. We always get very good service at the Black Oak. We have a Best Western MasterCard so sometimes we get to stay for free. Like another poster we would rather spend money on wine, Matt knows how many bottles we have. For breakfast we love Joe’s Place. After a day of wine tasting when we don’t want to go back and change or freshen up, just eat on the way home we like Odyssey. We also like them for lunch if we didn’t fill up at Joe’s enough for breakfast. We have known the owners for years, Dawn and John. Another favorite when we just want a pizza is the Brick Oven next to the Best Western. They have good pizza good salads and we love the Gelato. We don’t tend to eat at fancy or expensive places because we love the wine in this area and would rather spend money in wineries. We recently discovered Chateau Margene (on the east side), he has a tasting room on the west side as well but the owner is always at the east side location. To the poster re Norman, Norman passed away several years ago and the winery is no longer in business. We have many nice memories from Norman and his family. The wineries we like are too numerous to mention.
Jo, good info. I will definitely make note. The Brick Oven though, where is that. I’m not familiar unless you mean Red Brick Pizza?????
Hi Matt, I have to show some love to A-Town for good eats. Hush Harbor Bakery has really, really good bread and the sandwiches there are solid. Check out the pastrami sandwich, I crave it – and if the oyster po-boy is on the menu call your friends. Across the street at Bru Coffee they have delicious and healthy breakfast bowls and world class coffee (Stumptown Roasters from Portland). Around the corner – Chris at Fig Good Food has a great lunch and dinner menu and her food is fresh and delicious. Joe Bella Coffee is now in A-Town they are doing great work at the coffee roaster and the Allesina Salumeria moved here some months ago (storefront in Paso). We love a Nardonnes pizza for take out (warmed for breakfast with a farm fresh egg on top), Thai Elephant delivers great Thai food and I often find myself at Don Tino’s near In-n-Out for rib sticking tacos and burritos. You can’t go wrong with a Hearst Ranch burger and a cold 805 at Sylvesters or by checking out the craft brews at Molly Pitchers, and the A-Town Diner is always packed for a reason – good eats at fair prices. Check us out in A-Town, there are some worthy stops here for lunch and breakfast.
Ken, wow, great info. I know quite a bit less about Atascadero so good to have the info. I will find a way to include that in the new tabs. Hell, I have to, you made those places sound so good that I am now hungry. Haha. I’ve been to Bru Coffee and loved it, very cool vibe. Thanks again.
We’ve been coming up from Ventura county 2-4 times a year for the last decade. Currently our favorite wineries are Zenaida and Shale Oak. At Zenaida we love all their wines, and have been members for years. The people in the tasting room are fun and friendly and Morgan is our new best friend! Shale Oak also has amazing wines we love and we really enjoy buying a glass and sipping it on their patio on a pleasant afternoon.
We have stayed in many different accommodations. The latest was at the Adelaide Inn. It is next to the Black Oak and offers a clean, comfortable, and economical room. Our other favorite is to rent the Farmhouse on Oakdale when we go to Paso with friends.
We had breakfast at the Cowgirl cafe on our last trip and really enjoyed it. A little wait, but that’s how you know it is good. We have also enjoyed breakfasts at Hoovers and Hunter Ranch golf course as well.
Kathy, really appreciate the info. Especially on the hotel stuff since we don’t use them…since we live here. Good call on the wineries and food spots. Been to all of those and can’t disagree with you. That’s awesome that you guys get up here on such a regular basis…gotta love paradise. 🙂
I don’t get out tasting as often as I like to.. But here are my two favorites to go visit when out and about. I’m a big fan of Tolo. I really like the simplicity of the tasting room, that most likely Josh the winemaker will be pouring for you and the fact that he has some really tasty reds. I also love Starr Ranch. You taste in her barrel room and when she has the back doors open it has such a pretty view. Her wines are also amazing and you get to taste with the winemaker as well. So you get really great info first hand about the wines from the people that make it.
If you’re tasting in town I really like Burbank Ranch (they have great food too) or I always go to Clayhouse, again totally different atmospheres.
My #1 favorite place to eat in town in Thomas Hill Organics. Amazing farm to table dinning and the out side patio is my favorite place to sit. Its inviting and casual and the food is amazing. I also really like Villa Creek. I like the mood and the setting they have there and the food and cocktails are excellent.
As being a local I do not get to stay at many B&B’s or hotels so I can only share with you Wild Coyote is an amazing B&B! (because I work there LOL ) But when we are booked I usually always refer to High Ridge Manor.
Hope this is helpful! =)
Sean, absolutely helpful. It’s just cool hearing other people’s perspectives. Good call on those wineries for sure…and the food. We need to get back to THO, haven’t been in some time. I will definitely have your B&B as well as High Ridge on the list for visitors too. Thanks buddy.
As you know, this is as hard for me as it is for you! Too many great wines! Our favorites are many but Lone Madrone has been a fav for many reasons. Good wine, GREAT staff. Loved the old location on 46 but the new location gives you a chance to taste Neil’s “other” wines at Tablas Creek just down the road. For the WOW factor..Daou of course. We have been up there only once but enjoyed the experience as well as the wine.
Food – Artisan, we have been known to drive over(1 1/2 hr drive and back) on Monday nights for the wine & purveyor dinners. Always great food and such a treat to have the opportunity to chat with the wine maker and food purveyor. Good burger, great beer, friendly staff – Pappy McGregor’s. Ah..but there is so much more. Loved Villa Creek but have only been there once. Robert’s, Odyssey, Panolivo, all go to places. Then those we want to try, THO, Il Cortile and Paso Robles Steakhouse.
Lodging – Steve & Diane’s, oh wait, they aren’t available for everyone. 🙂 We have never stayed in Paso. We usually stay on the coast or drive back home. But the one time we had made reservations at Black Oak they were very nice and very understanding when I had to cancel last minute.
LOL, Joanie, it’s very hard to just pick a couple but I appreciate your choices. I’m really hoping this helps folks more when they come visit. We have not been to the new Lone Madrone spot yet but hope to soon. As for the food, you’re exactly right. We’ve been going to Pappy McGregor’s a lot on Saturdays because it’s easy to take Sammy to. Thank you again, I really appreciate it.
I should add, Kenneth Volk is still at the 46 location and their wines and people are great too!
Good call, Joanie! I dig his wines.
We’ve been trekking up to Paso for at least 12 years from the LA area, 2-4 trips/year.
Wineries: Our absolute favorite wineries to visit in the area area Daou and Kukkula. The winemakers/owners not only make amazing wines, but they are accessible to visit with. Daniel Daou is almost always available to speak with and Kevin at Kukkula pours his wines. It definitely makes a visit more special and memorable.
Bruce at Hansen Vineyards is always a kick to hang out with and his wines are fabulous. Went there one summer day and they had made a Viognier snow cone. A less personal winery, but never miss a chance to visit is Turley; their new tasting room and patio is lovely. Worth a visit: Asuncion Ridge (tasting room in town) where Phillip, the winemaker, has developed Pinot Noirs & blends and even a Sauvignon Blanc from his very westside Atascadero vineyard. Zin Alley is exactly what their name says…Zinfandels, and they are really good! Calcareous has an amazing location up on the top of a mountain, great picnic areas (you can reserve their indoor table if the weather is chilly) and a very nice selection of wine. Hearthstone is a quaint, tucked-away winery with nicely crafted wines. Gianni, owner and winemaker, at Wild Coyote creates bold red wines and has recently enlarged their southwest inspired tasting room. We’ve also enjoyed exploring the San Miguel area as well. Villa St. Juliette is very beautiful. Silver Horse is also quite a nice outing. It’s been a few years since we visited Lisa at Pretty Smith, but we truly enjoyed her wines as well.
Restaurants: Il Cortile – fantastic, edgy Italian food. Robert’s – always a divine meal and enjoyable staff. Habanero’s – casual, homemade Mexican cuisine. McPhee’s down in Templeton has great food, less pretentious. Artisan – cutting edge cuisine, brunches are truly unusual. Enoteca (inside Bellasera Hotel) small menu, but food is really good & has a full bar, nice lounge area with a fireplace.
Cheese Store: Vivant Cheese shop has a 5 yr old gouda that is fantastic. Their staff is a little under attentive, but don’t let that stop you from buying their cheeses.
Di Raimondos: Nice cheese & meats for putting together a picnic.
Lodging: We’ve stayed almost everywhere from B&B’s, chain motels, & upscale hotels.
Our go-to hotel is Bellasera Hotel
B&B: The casitas at Wild Coyote are so cute and Katie makes & delivers breakfast to your castita.
Asuncion Ridge B&B (if you have 3 couples you have the entire amazing house to yourselves) super beautiful home with a view of Morro Rock. Great breakfasts!
Chain motels: well, Hampton Inn is fine, at least you can walk over to Bellasera and have a meal or drinks.
Outstanding estate bottled Olive oils: Turley, Daou, Still Water, Kukkula, & Sculpterra.
Holy cow, Ann…you should write a blog post for us. That is super detailed and I love the reasons you gave for each one. Great info on B&B’s since we have not stayed at any, really appreciate that. Good reminder for me too that you listed the cheese spots, etc. THANK YOU!!!! 🙂
Thanks, Matt, I am very passionate about Paso! I started out tasting in Napa in 1985 and ended up making shorter trips to Santa Ynez. But, once we started going to Paso, it was love at first sight!!
I don’t blame you for that, Ann. The reason I/ we do this blog is because we love the area so much. 🙂
It’s hard to narrow it down to 2 favorites in Paso, but our longtime faves are Dark Star Cellars (we’re charter members and it’s been our ‘house’ wine until recently), and Tablas Creek. We do have a new favorite: Parrish Family Wines. Lovely wines, great folks, and a charming tasting room right in town.
Food – Love Thomas Hill Organics and Artisan.
Lodging – We generally stay in Cambria or Morro Bay as we always need a dose of salt air to refresh us.
Cheers!
Great choices…we haven’t been to Dark Star in a very long time, guess we need to get back. Good call on the food of course and in regards to the coast, I’m right there with you. If I don’t get a dose of the ocean here and there I go crazy! LOL. Thank you for the ideas and tips!
I don’t know Matt if Norman is gone, we were there about five years ago and then he came out to WineStyles in Brea right after so I haven’t heard since, if so, sorry to hear that.
Beverly, if I find out for sure I will let you know.
Thanks Matt, I was on his mailing list and had not heard from him lately.
Interesting, Beverly. Crazy times and running a winery isn’t easy.
Yes, this is a tough one, but I’m going to try!
Wineries
Tablas Creek and Vines on the Marycrest. Both places make amazing wine: TC is more traditional and VOTM is more unconventional and fun. Both locations are a lot of fun and the staff working the tasting room will always go out of their way to make your visit fun! Jenny and Victor from VOTM are especially fun and super sweet!
Restaurants
Artisan, by far! Everything about that place is amazing (food, wine, atmosphere and customer service). Thomas Hill Organics would be my second.
Hotels
Paso needs more hotels! The prices have really gone up and it’s becoming more difficult to find vacancy. I usually stay at the Courtyard Marriott and this is fine, unless there’s a wedding going on; it can get pretty loud!
I have not stayed at an B&B, but I recently found out that Denner and Justin offer accommodations; I’d love to check them out!
Great info, Mayra. Love all your suggestions. It’s funny…some people think we have too many hotels and some don’t. There are new ones like The Oaks Hotel and I believe there are more on the books for construction though. We stayed at the Justin Inn once and loved it but that was prior to their remodel. Thank you again for your thoughts on this, really appreciate it.
We love Paso and have been visiting for about the last 11-12 years from Orange County. Just returned 2 weeks ago and we will be back with friends in November.
There are many wineries we enjoy, but several that always stand out:
Le Cuvier is our definite favorite with amazing Zinfandels (our favorite) and Cabs, Syrahs, Pinots, and more. John is a master at big, bold reds. Another perennial favorite is Tolo Cellars out on the far west side. Josh makes some amazing blends and his Zins and Syrahs are fantastic.
Zenaida is also a winery we always enjoy, with winners in Zins, Cabs and blends as well. Nadeau offers some powerful, tasty Zins, as does Thacher. On our recent trip, we discovered Fratelli Perata, a small family run tasting room that got us to break our rule of not joining any new wine clubs! (This was a big deal!) Consistently good reds across the board.
For accomodations:
We enjoy the Paso Robles Inn for the spa tubs, central location and always great restaurant. We have stayed above the winery at Zenaida several times and really love the space. It has easily fit 2 couples in the larger of their 2 rental rooms with 2 bedrooms and about 1400 sq. ft. of space. Once the winery closes, the peace and quiet are amazing sitting on the 2nd floor veranda that runs the length of the building. Watching the sun set on this west facing space is extremely relaxing. Another option that my wife found a couple of years ago is pasoroblesvacationrentals.com , which offers houses, cottages and apartments in the area with a wide variety of accomodations. We have used this on several occasions to stay in a cottage on north Vine St. and will be using it for a new property on our trip in November.
Another thing that I wanted to mention is a wine driving service that we have used the last 3 or 4 trips. It is My Wine Driver and has been amazing every time we have used them. Ron and Patricia really know the area, get you around safely and really maximize your time and wine tasting experience. You can completely plan out your own trip, or they will gladly listen to your wine preferences and customize stops to make the most of your day. They are part of our routine now, always friendly and knowledgeable about wines and wineries.
Thanks for the chance to talk about Paso!
Jeff, some awesome info and I appreciate you including the added info on the driving service. I will be sure to have a section for that too…obviously an important part of all this wine tasting stuff. Thank you again, really do appreciate it.
I can’t narrow it down to just two wineries! So many to choose from, and so little time. I’ll mention a couple of obvious ones, Tablas Creek being my absolute favorite for so many reasons (site, people, story, etc.), but especially the quality of the wine, and more recently, Epoch with their location at the old York Mountain Winery has become another must-visit for me. Dying to get my hands on some more of their Veracity and Authenticity, etc.
I also second the Chateau Margene mention above (nice Bordeaux varietals/blends, and they also poured their Mooney Family pinot noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands, which was unexpected, but outstanding), and for some nice, inexpensive, fun-to-drink wines, we like to stop in at Eberle and Penman Springs on occasion. We’ve had special experiences with the people at both places, as well. Bring a DD to Eberle; they always seem to be very generous with their tasting portions!
I can’t add much new to the restaurant comments except to say that everything positive about Artisan is true. We can’t help but go there, which is why we haven’t visited some of the other (undoubtedly also wonderful) establishments.
I have even less to add for lodging as I stay with family when I visit each year.
Great topic, informative comments, and an all-around fun blog post!
Eric, thank you. Tablas is definitely awesome, I recently did a blog post about how they do all aspects of their business almost perfectly. I totally know what you mean about Eberle too…Gary is awesome as well as the entire staff. Thanks for the info and thanks for taking the time to pass it on to me.
I am not sure if Cambria counts. And I am not sure if non Paso Wines count but one of our favorite tasting rooms in Cambria is at Madeline’s restaurant on Main Street. They have some really good and interesting foreign wines and the person pouring is not only knowledgeable but entertaining as well. We had dinner at the Sow’s Ear last night. Unlike the restaurants in LA where we live this was quiet so that one can carry on a conversation without shouting to be heard. The wait staff last night was very attentive and the service was excellent. WE really enjoyed our food. I had the Talipia special and Richard had the pot roast. Our dinners as well as others that we could see were very well plated. The salad and soup were good as was the very rich chocolate cheese cake. The wine by the glass, the selection wasn’t that great but for half bottles and full bottles they have a large selection of Paso wines.
We have eaten at Madeline’s in the past and the restaurant is also good.
Jo, Cambria definitely counts. I may include other cities like that in a different section so your info is great. Cambria is a great little town. Cheers!! 🙂
My wife and I have been visiting Paso Robles for the last four or five years and each year we come we love the region a little bit more. Tablas Creek Vineyard is our favorite winery, but we’re still learning about the region and checking out new places!
The last couple of years we’ve rented houses when we’ve been here because we find that a better value than the hotels in the area.
Martin, seems Tablas is a favorite for most folks, great spot. My wife’s cousin always comes with a bunch of girlfriends and will typically rent a large vacation rental…more room, kitchen, etc. Seems a good way to go.
Up until about 5 years ago, we visited the area one week each year, in the spring. now we come about 4 times a year. Our all-time favorite is Onx – they make all blends. Jeff is friendly, welcoming and very knowledgeable. We always look forward to his conversations and up-and-coming plans. The winery (Briarwood in the Templeton Gap) is wonderful to visit. Their wine is made and stored at Zenaida, and we like to visit there, too. Our second favorite is Rocky Creek. John and his son Dusty only make reds. John is a wonderful story-teller and all around great conversationalist. We really feel like family there. We usually visit at the end of the day, and my grown daughters actually like to lay with the dog, Bear, to relax. We LOVE the drive to and views from Calcareous and Daou.
We usually rent a house in Cambria, because we like to cook, but we always make at least one trip to Hoovers Beef Palace and another to The Sea Shanty in Cayucos.
Cindy, I’m not really familiar with any of those wines although I have heard of Rocky Creek and Onx. I am familiar with Daou and Calcareous though. Good list. Cool to know you are making it to Paso more often as well. Pretty awesome place to spend time…that’s for sure. Thank you for your info, much appreciated. 🙂
We have been coming up from the OC for years now. Perennial favorite is Nadeau – lovely wines and the lab / tasting room lets you feel like part of the process! Another is across the road – Minassian Young. Lovely wines and fresh walnuts and a great view of Paso’s bucolic landscape, Both wineries are so friendly – with the winemakers likely to be pouring as well.
We tend to stay at Embassy Suites in San Luis Obispo if Paso hotels are sold out. Cooked to order breakfast + big rooms for families.
Marc, good call on those wineries. We have been to both but it has been a long time. Thinking we need to get back out there to them. I have heard that quite a few people will stay in SLO when they visit Paso…especially on crowded event weekends. Thanks for the comment and I will add these to the list!
Many good comments already posted here. There really too many wineries In Paso area to focus on just two.
However, we always touch base with (1) Adelaida: a beautiful entry drive leads to a small tasting room that offers a broad selection of wines, many estate grown. The wines are all good to very good. There are also fresh almonds for sale that are crazy good. If open for tasting (2) Linne Calodo has superior Rhone blends. We’ve yet to sample a Saxum wine, but I’m imagining they are in that league. Very groovy modern tasting facility. Also very expensive wines, but the value is there.
Have to agree with others that Doau (the view), Kukkula (hip tasting room, great hospitality and location), Chateau Margene (excellent cabs), Villa Creek (great small production), Zenaida (value), Herman Story (a garagiste setting with amazing Syrahs) and Eberle (superior mass produced wines, and they have a wine cave!) are some of the other standouts.
Artisan and Thomas Hill Organics would be our choice for the best restaurants in town, but we’re still working our way through the inventory.
We often stay at the Adelaide Inn. The property doesn’t appear that appealing from the exterior, but the rooms are huge and clean with every amenity, and for cheap. Fresh cookies at check in. We recently had a weekend at the Oaks Hotel, a new property nearby. It was comfortable in a Holiday Inn Express kind of way, but not a good value.
Look for more hotel options with the arrival of the Ayers Resort, now under construction just off Highway 46 East.
Cheers.
Ed, great comment. I agree with you on many of your choices. One thing I learned was that Eberle is not as big as I thought, although I cannot remember off hand how many cases he told me he makes. There may be a new hotel going in at 46 West and south Vine St. too. Paso sure is growing up.
Thank you again for your thoughts and ideas, cheers!
Please let people know we are not a mass produced wine. We are in fact smaller in production than a lot of wineries that are much larger than us yet precieved as smaller. And in 2 different blind judgings in the last 3 years were awarded winery of the year for our outstanding wines across the board. I have been in this business for 43 years and it is only because I love it and insist that the wines coming out of here are stellar. I don’t know of any winery in Paso that has won 14 sweepstakes awards in blind professional competitions except us. Pardon but I’m having a bad hair day.
I’m having a bad hair day as well, Gary. 🙂 As for the wines, I’m a big fan and love that you’ve done so well. So…can you say your case production or no? I know you’re smaller than most people think, I used to think you were pretty darn big until you told me in one of our conversations. Keep up the awesome work!
23,000 – 25,000 cases a year for the last 8 years.
Gary, yep, that’s smaller than I had thought in the past. I wonder what it is that gives people that perception. Interesting. Cheers to you, hope to come out and see you soon!
Matt – we have been coming to Paso several times a year for a long time. In fact, when I was a kid, my grandparents lived in Shell Beach so I have a lifetime association with this area. We have stayed everywhere from Arroyo Grande – a B&B called A Place In Time (which is charming) to the Paso Courtyard to the Paso Holiday Inn Express. But I am surprised nobody has mentioned the RV parks. About a year ago we decided to move to Paso, and spent two months at Wine Country RV Park and two and a half months at the new Vines RV Resort. Both are great and a great option for the RV crowd to enjoy our area.
As for wineries, on the east side Cass is our tops! Great wines, beautiful rustic setting, awesome little cafe, fun people and events. On the west side, we love Oso Libre. The setting is beautiful, you couldn’t ask for nicer people (they treat you like family), the wines are delicious as are the burger Saturdays. We love many of the other wineries mentioned – Daou, Tablas Creek – surprised nobody mentioned the vireo at Calcareous though.
Restaurants? Thomas Hill Organics, Panolivio, Artisan, Estrella, Pappy McGregor’s, Robert’s, World Odyssey. But nobody mentioned Buona Tavola! Delicious and charming…and you could convince yourself you are in Italy! And then the is the Pony Room at the Hotel Cheval – charming setting, wine (even wine flights) and flat bread pizzas to die for (mushroom with goat cheese and truffle oil is our favorite)!
Kathryn, some great reminders from you…the RV Parks along with some of the wineries you mentioned. I have to agree with pretty much everything you said. The folks at Cass and Oso Libre are salt of the earth people. I also agree on the restaurants, we’ve been to Buena Tavlola a handful of times and enjoyed each visit…for some reasons it’s never on our top 3 list, nothing against them at all. Now I’m thinking we need to go check them out again soon. Thanks for your help!! 🙂
Hey Matt! I’ve been meaning to write sooner but time just gets away from me! Anyway, I absolutely love Minassian-Young wines! They are very fruit forward and some are jammy! The location is nice too! I also enjoy visiting Shale Oak, they have a very good Albarino, and they are dog friendly! I just love the look of the tasting room! As far as places to eat, there are so many! For seafood I like Chico’s and for Mexican food I like going to Papi’s. FirestoneTaproom is nice for burgers and beer! The Cowgirl Cafe is great for breakfast but usually there’s a wait on the weekends. If you want to pick up something quick, go to Cregors Liquor & Deli. They have great tri-tip sandwiches on the weekends and the fried chicken is really good too! I also like their jalapeno potato salad and breakfast burritos!
Pat, I knew you had some great ideas from the lunch we had together. Thanks for commenting on here and we hope to gather all this info and add it in some way to the blog before October is over. Great choices on wine and food, totally agree with you!! 🙂
Matt no response needed I just wanted to add we enjoyed a Meritage from Star Cellars. We found them within the last year but with all the wine we have we just drank it tonight. Very smooth I would recommend Star Cellars. We will go back at some point.
Thanks Jo!!! 🙂
My apologies to Gary for classifying Eberle wines as “mass produced”. I used that term only because 25,000 cases is significant when compared to many of the Paso boutique wineries. Many small producers are very limited production, often less than a couple of hundred cases.
By comparison, Silver Oak, the treasured Napa “boutique” winery is reported to produce over 75,000 cases.
All that being said, Eberle creates some wonderful wine. We especially like the Syrah, and consume an awful lot of it. A bottle of Eberle Reserve Estate Cabernet Sauvignon was on the table when I proposed to my wife.
Ed, “size” is definitely viewed differently per person. 25K is bigger than many of the small lot producers but it is also smaller compared to many others. Eberle always seemed bigger to me than it actually was. I have to agree, great Cab for sure. We have 11 bottles left of one of the 2007 Estate Cab.
We come to Paso about 10-15 times a year as we have been so foolish as to buy property and plant a vineyard there. Actually its been the most fun I have had. But one of my favorites stops is Fratelli Perata. Carol does a great job holding down the tasting room fort and her husband and daughter make the wines, which I really enjoy. A bit rustic but lovely reds. I always feel welcome there and it is very low key. When we want to eat at a nice place we often go to Bistro Laurent, which I have not heard mentioned here. Their tasting menu is alway great food and with the wine it is also is a good deal. The wines they pour are always well paired with the food, and they are generous. The wines are both local and from afar so its a nice way to compare and contrast.
Good choices, Steve. We’ve only been to Bistro a couple of times and only been to Fratelli Perata once and that was quite a long time ago. Guess it’s time to go back. So many awesome places to go in Paso so little time. LOL. Cheers!!
Matt sorry about the bad hair day. It’s just that So often we are listed as a large corp. winery and some much larger than us are seen as a small family run winery. The other day it just got to me. Sorry.
Gary, no worries at all. i totally understand. You don’t need to apologize. Hope to see you soon!!
Our daughter graduated from Cal Poly in June of 2013. That has given us a wonderful “reason” to come up to the SLO/Paso area 4 to 5 times a year for the last four years. (She is now doing her masters at the Univ of Texas at Austin – yeah – not much good wine made in Texas!) This year we are headed to the Paso Garagiste Festival with four other couples. We are renting a house in downtown Paso through Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO). Really looking forward to it!!
Favorite wineries: 1) Denner – I have been a member there since our daughter’s freshman year. This past July a group of ten of us had a fabulous tour and tasting with Ron Denner and Anthony Yount. What a treat! Unforgettable experience! 2) Alta Colina – I tend to seek out the smaller, family run wineries. When I came across the Tillman family at Alta Colina, I was smitten – great people and fabulous wines! I also have to echo what another poster said about ONX – Jeff is fabulous and their wines are excellent. I have also really enjoyed visits to, and drinking the wines from, Terry Hoage and Caliza.
Eateries: Thomas Hill (am I being redundant? Yes!) As we were linked to SLO by our Cal Poly daughter, many of our best meals were in SLO. IN SLO, Novo is outstanding! We have also enjoyed Palazo Giuseppe and Big Sky Cafe in SLO on multiple occasions. Want killer sandwiches? I have to recommend High Street Deli in SLO. OMG!! If you are headed to Paso from the south, just jump off the 101 at Madonna Rd., turn right on High St. go down a few blocks and find this little tiny shop that turns out some of the most amazing sandwiches I have ever experienced!
Jack, thanks for the response. Great answers for sure. You have more history here than I, only been here 10 years. We will be at the Garagiste Fest as well, I am on the Board for that event.
I totally agree with Anthony Yount, amazing young winemaker. Alta Colina is another great one, love the Tillman family. I have not had ONX so I need to get on that. I also love Hoage and Caliza. Honestly, there are so many great wines here it really is hard to narrow it down. 🙂 Good problem to have.
Thank you again, I really appreciate the comment.
also in SLO, we like Splash! one downtown, one near the apple farm
Heard lots of good things, Cindy, but must admit I have never eaten there. 🙂
Our “go too” wineries in Paso are Zenaida and Halter Ranch. Midnight gets honorable mention. We never stay in Paso, we always stay in Morro Bay 🙂 We don’t eat in Paso either – we eat at the Madonna Inn in SLO or at Dorn’s in Morro Bay.
Right on, Robert. We have not been to Zenaida or Midnight for some time but Halter is an awesome spot for sure. I’ve only eaten at the Madonna Inn a couple of times, typically if we’re in SLO we’ll go to Luna Red, Novo, or even Eureka Burger. Cheers and thank you for your thoughts!!
Hey Matt! I wanted to leave a follow up comment for you! We recently had a series of out of town guests and took them to wineries and eateries like crazy. It reminded me of a few great places I neglected to mention, and one that unfortunately, I have completely changed my opinion on. Cambria’s Sea Chest is a fabulous dinner spot, and standing in line with plastic cups and a bottle of wine while waiting to get in is kind of fun. Red Scooter Deli in Paso has great sandwiches to eat there or pick up for a winery picnic. Panolivio is great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. And Hunter Ranch, while it may be a golf course, has terrific food, great views and a nice selection of wine and beer. Now for the unfortunate. We took very special friends out to dinner at Artisan — our first time at their new location. It is too bad that their new build out did nothing to solve one of the problems of the old location – the noise level. They built in no acoustic sound deadening so we could barely hear our server. Not that it mattered much…when we asked for explanation on menu items, our server told us that any words we didn’t understand were probably cheese and walked away. Wow! Not true, and rude as well! And she told,us she didn’t like the two steaks on the menu – hanger and flap I believe. Our meals were fair to poor. The two guys had 3 shrimp, 2 scallops and a few baby mussels (maybe 2 ounces of protein) in a seafood special with no side at all for $38. One gal had rabbit which was tender but tiny and she felt her potatoes were the best part of her dinner. I had lamb which was so game-y that I ate one bite and stopped. No seasoning whatsoever, and the only thing I ate was the garnish. My three companions tasted it too and thought it was disgusting. I told our server it was game-y and she shrugged. Other patrons stopped by our table and it seemed like others were having similar experiences or had heard of the same. We will never go back!
Kathryn, great call on the Red Scooter Deli, the Sea Chest, and Hunter Ranch. We go to Hunter a lot. As for Artisan, that is very unfortunate. We’ve been many times to the new location and always sit at the bar. I haven’t been disappointed with the food so far in the new spot. I will keep what you said in mind…always good to hear when people have good or bad experiences. Maybe someone from Artisan will see this and do something about it. Cheers to you and many thanks for the follow up comment!! 🙂
Thanks Matt…I don’t like to report negative things in general, but Artisan is not cheap and when people come to Paso I want them to have great experiences. With so many choices, I feel Artisan needs to amp up their act a bit. And if they are seeing your blog, I would be happy to have a chat with someone there. All they have to do is post their name and I will call and ask for them!
We visited Paso in early January and had some great wines. Our favorites were Calcareous, Kenneth Volk, Zenaida and Shale Oak. Really outstanding wines across the board at all four wineries. Turley and Venteux were also very good. We were disappointed with Villicana, Lone Madrone and Barrel 27.
The Holiday Inn Express is a good lodging option and has free wine and beer tastings in the evenings. As new Zenaida club members, we’ll probably stay there next time to cash in on our free night. 🙂
THO, Basil Thai and Il Cortile were all fantastic.
Can’t wait to come back to try out some new wine and food!
Wow Tim, that sounds like a pretty amazing visit. Great places you name. It’s always so hard to narrow it down but I will take your info and add it to the list I’m working on!! Thank you!