Paso Robles: 2013 Wine Region of the Year

I’m sure there are some people out there that think this title is long overdue for Paso Robles. There are probably other people that wonder why Wine Enthusiast would even consider a region like Paso Robles. It goes back to that whole thought that you cannot please all the people all the time.

My thoughts on Paso Robles being wine region of the year…

~I think it will help reinforce what so many already know, that Paso Robles is growing some exceptional fruit and the winemakers are making some exceptional wines.

~I think it will help sell wine…it is a business after all.

~I think it will increase tourism on some level; therefore, creating more revenue from hotels, B&B’s, restaurants, and other shops.

~It just feels good to live in a place that is, and has been acknowledged for so many great things…most often the wine.

Personally, I don’t think there is much of a negative to getting this award although some would probably bring up increased tourism as a negative. But hey, cities need money and other than wine (on the agriculture side as well as the tourism side) we don’t really have that much else going for us. The restaurants are here because the wine scene blew up and the hotels are here for the same reason…art followed due to all of those things showing up.

If the wine scene died in Paso Robles…so would MANY of the restaurants, hotels, B&B’s, small shops, and so on. So like tourism or not, we need it. If I had to bring up one thing that could come across as at all negative it’s that we listen so much to arbitrary people handing out arbitrary awards. So last year Paso Robles sucked? Or maybe next year we’ll suck? Point is, if you like Paso Robles then keep coming back and if you don’t like it feel free to go to Napa.

As much as an award like this is awesome, I just feel like those of us that live here (or visit often) already know that Paso Robles has been the wine region of the year every year for the last seven years (this is how long I have been drinking Paso wine). We are the wine region of the year for multiple factors and obviously vineyards and juice are part of that but as many of you may know if you read my stuff…we are the region of the year because of the people. Sure, there are some assholes here (assholes are evenly spread out across the world) but at the end of the day, the people and the stories behind them are why we kick the crap out of anywhere else.

So even though you and I already knew this was the region of the year, I will say thank you to Wine Enthusiast magazine for finally catching up to us. Check it out here…