Calcareous Vineyard Archives - Wine Country Getaways

This Mourvedre vineyard is owned by Pipestone Vineyards and is biodynamically farmed.

Paso Robles Westside – Wine Country Backroad

The wine country backroads of Paso Robles has several wonderful backroads to experience and this one is west of Highway 101 in Paso Robles wine country. Start by leaving the Paso Robles downtown area and head south on 101. Take exit Highway 46 West toward Cambria. Travel 8.5 miles and turn right onto Oakdale Road. On this portion of Hwy. 46, you will see many tempting wineries to visit, such as Zenaida Cellars and Niner Estates. If you have plenty of time and energy, why not stop in and take a look? After you turn onto Oakdale Road, take a right on Las Tables Willow Creek Road, then turn right on Niderer Road and watch for the signs to Pipestone Vineyard and Dunning Estate Winery. These are two very small wineries with a love and passion for making wine. Pipestone is biodynamic and makes some fantastic tasting Rhone-style wines. After a visit to Pipestone and Dunning, we head on the backroads to Calcareous Vineyard. To get to Calcareous from Dunning, head back along Niderer Road and turn right onto Las Tablas Willow Creek Road. Keep left at the fork and turn right on Peachy Canyon Road. Continue for about five miles and then look for the signs to Calcareous. This is a vastly different winery than the previous two. It is new and luxurious, with a spacious tasting room and a wonderful picnic area. The views are amazing. We love all the wines at Calcareous that are estate grown. The soil is, you guessed it, Calcareous. That gives the wines a distinctive character. After leaving Calcareous, you can head back to Paso Robles on a different route. Just follow the map below. If you are adventurous, you can make your way to another spectacular winery, Daou Vineyards. Daou produces wonderful Bordeaux-style wines. The winery is also new and somewhat extravagant. It is worth a look.

Additional Paso Robles wine country information

We just spent three days and two nights in the Paso Robles wine country. Once again, upon our return to this wine region, we find new and interesting places to visit. From our very enjoyable experience this past week, we have two wineries and two restaurants to highly recommend next time you visit Paso Robles.

Lodging – Paso Robles Inn
Nothing new to report here! We always stay at the Paso Robles Inn in the newest section of the Inn built after the earthquake in December of 2004. The Paso Robles Inn is comfortable and very reasonable and, best of all, within easy walking distance of several of wine country’s best restaurants. During the week and off-season, the rates are just around the $100 mark per night.

Wineries – Venteux and Calcareous
The names of these two wineries both have to do with the terroir (climate and geology) of the wine region west of Highway 101 in the Paso Robles area. In the case of Venteux, the word means windy in French. The wineries in this western portion of Paso Robles are in the Templeton Gap corridor. Each day in the afternoon winds from the Pacific Ocean roar through this area bringing cooling temperatures to the vines. Calcareous is an adjective describing rock composed of calcium carbonate or limestone. This is the predominant soil type that is found along the rolling hills of this beautiful area. The geology of this area is similar to the same soils found in the famous wine regions of Champagne and the Rhone Valley in France.