We’ve been known to visit tasting rooms here and there but since Sammy was born our tasting room visits have declined to some degree. In our pre-Sammy days we would go to 2 to 8 wineries practically every weekend and we did that for roughly five years. Now…not so much.
I used to feel I had my finger on the pulse of the Paso Robles wine region but because now I spend many of my weekends crocheting, drinking tea, and watching PBS I feel a bit out of the loop. Luckily I have good friends that post all their winery visits on Facebook so I can easily stalk all the “cool places” to go…when I have time.
My current list of places to go that we have NOT been to nor tasted their wines is (and some of these places don’t have a tasting room but we’ve heard about their wine):
Rasmussen Vineyard & Winery (our friend Diane told me about this one)
Two Shepherds (not in Paso but have always heard great things)
LXV Wine (was invited to go taste but have been unable to thus far)
Sinor-LaVallee (anything to do with Mike Sinor seems to be awesome)
I think that’s it for now. Again, remember that this list is of wineries in which we have never tasted the wine. There are plenty of places that make another list called, “we haven’t been there in forever and we really need to go visit again”. That’s a really long title so I will probably do some editing.
Have you had any of the wines listed above? Good list or not? Second question is, do you make lists of places you’d like to go or do you typically visit the same places over and over again?
Oh, and after making the above list I realized that I will be able to taste many of these wines at the upcoming Garagiste Festival. Yay me!
Crochet, tea and PBS – yeah, right! Hope you get to taste those soon!!!
Quite the mental picture, eh Heather? LOL
Rasmussen wines are very nice and fairly priced. Love their syrah.
Mark, thanks for letting us know. We had a friend recommend that one…I had never heard of it prior to her mentioning it.
Love the wines from ONX!
Xochitl, you get out more than we do now. LOL. Hope to try them soon!
We would love to have you over at ONX! Thanks for including us in your list of gotta try its.
Jenny, awesome, thank you. We will try to get in there, heard lots of great things. Our struggle now is trying to get a babysitter or bring our 1 year old along. We’ll be in soon though.
We were at Rasmussen last year just after they opened and the folks there are really great…and their wines are pretty good as well!!! After tasting through some really good vintages of syrah, merlot and cabernet, Larry and I were talking and found out we were both in the construction business (he’s an architect) so he took us up to their house at the top of the vineyard…great home, views and cellar!!! They have been growing grapes for 15+ years and just got bonded in 2010…in addition to more current years, they pour some older vintages (poured some 2004’s) so you get a pretty good perspective of their vineyard capabilities.
Of course LXV is a good find with their new tasting room at 13th and Pine. Neeta and Kunal have taken a very different approach with their “sensual lounge” design and they pair their wines with different spices…blew my mind pairing their rose with cinnamon! Amy Butler is their winemaker and her reputation precedes her. This is one place that is still flying below the radar but won’t be for long!!!
Cheers!
Good info, Steve. Can’t go wrong with Amy as your winemaker…that’s for sure. Hope to start getting to some of these on my list soon…maybe we’ll start this Saturday! 🙂
Thanks for the list! There are several on here that we haven’t yet tried. Guess we need to get moving!
An out-of-the-area winemaker you might like to check-out in your CA travels is Todd Taylor Wines located in Clarksburg (south of Sacramento off Hwy. 5). We tried him several years ago when he & his wife were first starting out & were blown away by the depth & quality of his wines. We bought futures on his cab and have not been disappointed.
That’s awesome, Diane!! I will keep that one in mind. It’s crazy how these new ones keep popping up…kind of fun. 🙂
For sure! Keeps our dance card full! ^_^
LOL…no kidding, Diane!!
Have you visited Judy Starr, Starr Ranch off Chimney Rock Rd, RN Estates, North River Road or Crooked Road?
Jim, we have been to Starr Ranch before as well as RN. I’m not sure if we’ve had Crooked Road before…where is that one?
Crooked Road is a very small producer, owned by Ryan Ralston. Ryan’s been in Paso for a lot of years and worked with Judy Starr among others. He works with several varietals, but his syrah is a favorite. Check out crwines.com. Tell Ryan we sent you.
Jim, that’s right. We met him out at Starr Ranch way back when and I do recall that label now. Parenthood and wine have made me forgetful. LOL
LXV is beautiful, the owners are beautiful as well. I love the pairing of wines with cheese dipped in spices. I’ve never experienced anything like it. It’s downtown on 13th & Pine, so it’s easier to get to than some of the wineries that are off the beaten path. Within half a block, there is Grizzly Republic, Chateau Lettua, Pithy, Pianetta and Clayhouse. You have a new perspective for other parents who’s lives have changed. You’ll be able to offer advice about how to continue your love of wine now that you are in a different space. It would be fun to have your friends bring bottles from a variety of wineries, have a themed dinner and an in home wine tasting. You could try a lot of wines from the comfort of your home while your baby is in a familiar place. 🙂 Happy Mommying & Daddying. I do remember my life changing drastically when my son was born.
Angi, we finally made it over to LXV so I will be posting about them soon. You are spot on with the parenting thing…super fun but it definitely curbs some of the social things. Good ideas on in home tastings that way, we may just do that!! 🙂