This past Saturday we had been invited by Neeta, co-owner of LXV Wines and all around awesome lady, to attend their Diwali party at their place on Willow Creek Road. There were many things that made the party exceptional, so let’s dive in.
~Our awesome friend and babysitter, Megan (and sidekick hubby Brock), took care of Sammy for part of the day so we got to enjoy some true adult time…no chasing after Little Browne.
~LXV Wines are, simply put, amazing. Their winemaker is the insanely brilliant Amy Butler who also has her own brand called Ranchero Cellars. On this day we tasted the 2013 Dark Romance (100% Chenin Blanc), 2012 Rising Tempo (Grenache, Syrah, Tempranillo), and the 2012 Secret Craving (Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Merlot). Each was superb, my favorite being the first two wines. Side note, if you’ve never done a tasting with LXV Wines, it is a must! They pair each wine with spices and it’s actually quite incredible.
~The extras: They had different meats on the wood fired grill as well as Indian hors d’oeuvres. Everything we tried was quite good…the meat from the grill was falling apart and was great with the wines. LXV also had Massage by Kimberly, Henna by Helena, and a holiday gift shop set up. Quite the shindig if you ask me.
~The people were great. We saw some folks we’ve known for some time; like Amy Butler, Kevin, Cary, and of course the owners, Neeta and Kunal. It’s always great being out and about in the Paso wine scene. It’s casual, comfortable, and friendly…just how I like it.
~The last thing I’ll mention that made this a great party was that it RAINED!!! As you all know by now, between Friday evening and Saturday the general Paso Robles area received approximately one inch of rain (depending on where in Paso, anywhere from 0.80 to 1.5 inches). This did not dampen (see what I did there) the mood of the party at all. It was great to be out in it and get mud (real live mud made from rain) on my boots.
So there you have it. I strongly recommend that you go do a wine tasting at LXV, great wines and the pairing with spices is unique and spot on. I’d also like to recommend that you check out Ranchero Cellars if you have not. Amy Butler might be called an up and coming winemaker by some but I’d argue that she is not ‘up and coming’, she’s already arrived and worthy of checking out.
There you have it kids. Let me know what you think and until next time…cheers!
Thanks for the awesome shout out, Hoot n Annie! It was great to see you guys on Saturday and I totally agree about the rain! I’m ready for a wet winter.
Amy, always great to see you and yes, more rain please. 🙂
Great article Matt/Annie, have it on my bucket list for sure, I will email you when the time comes for our visit, and you can give me a list of all the places to visit, how does that sound?
Beverly, that sounds awesome to me. I can’t wait for you to be in the area. We hope to meet up with you and do some wine tasting with you.
sounds like a plan.
Cheers, Beverly! 🙂
Thank you, Matt. I have enjoyed creating all the spice pairings for LXV. It’s a fun process and I, too enjoy the results. It’s impossible not to be inspired with Amy’s gorgeous wines and Neeta & Kunal who are such fun.
Cheers to that Ange! And cheers to your awesome pairing job. 🙂
Thanks for the kind words. LXV had amazing friends that support us at every step of the wine making such events a success. You guys are certainly in that group of people. The biggest shout out is to them!! And to Amy of course!!!
Kunal, it was so fun for us to come out to the event. Great to see the property and experience LXV in that way! Cheers and continued success. 🙂