{"id":2640,"date":"2014-04-22T16:33:02","date_gmt":"2014-04-22T23:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/winetraveler\/?p=2640"},"modified":"2014-05-20T20:47:41","modified_gmt":"2014-05-20T20:47:41","slug":"girls-weekend-paso-robles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/girls-weekend-paso-robles\/","title":{"rendered":"Girls Weekend in Paso Robles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just three hours south of the San Francisco Bay Area lies a wine region worthy of a weekend visit- Paso Robles.\u00a0 I first discovered Paso Robles on a road trip to southern California.\u00a0 Paso was my halfway point, so a stop at Opolo, one of my favorite wineries, was in order.\u00a0 This stop started my fascination with Paso Robles wineries and wines.\u00a0 This wine region is laid back and all about the wine experience.\u00a0 The less commercial the winery, the better the experience.\u00a0 You will leave with a full trunk of fabulous wines to share back home!<\/p>\n

Girls Weekend in Paso Robles<\/h4>\n

This particular weekend was a girls\u2019 winetasting weekend.\u00a0 We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott, which is walking distance to the downtown area.\u00a0 Elvis at the front desk gave great recommendations for just about everything.\u00a0On this trip, we visited ten wineries in three days and spent day two with the Grapeline Wine Shuttle (thanks to Elvis!).\u00a0 Here are some things to know before venturing out on your Paso wine weekend:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Know the maximum number of wineries you can handle in one day and plan accordingly.\u00a0 Everyone is different.\u00a0My maximum is three.\u00a0 After that, my palate is shot.<\/li>\n
  2. The wineries in Paso are spread out.\u00a0Choose one area to focus on per day.<\/li>\n
  3. Many of the wineries serve really good food and some even have full service restaurants.\u00a0(It was also very easy for me to accommodate my gluten allergy.)<\/li>\n
  4. If you have time for a full day wine shuttle tour, or it\u2019s your first time in Paso, do it.\u00a0The wine shuttles are a great way to try out one of the wine areas and they are a lot of fun.\u00a0You also have a built-in designated driver.<\/li>\n
  5. College kids have given me the best advice about the wineries and wine shuttles. This includes over the phone, at Red Brick Pizza, and in the tasting rooms.\u00a0Ask them for their recommendations of just about anything.<\/li>\n
  6. Navigation and cell phones will not work in many of the wineries and on the backroads.\u00a0Make sure you have an old-school map and a sense of adventure!<\/li>\n
  7. Dinners can be surprisingly pricey in Paso.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Day 1: Scenic Tour of the West Side<\/h4>\n

    Daou:<\/i> We began the weekend up at Daou off of Adelaida.\u00a0 Daou sits above the valley with an incredible view and Spanish-style grounds.\u00a0 There is restaurant service in the members’ area.\u00a0 I highly recommend the 2012 Grenache Blanc and the 2012 Unbound.\u00a0 The food in the members’ area is very good, especially the cheese board.\u00a0 Daou tends to follow the tasting list, so don\u2019t expect extra tastes or to revisit anything that you previously tasted.<\/p>\n

    From Daou, we headed out to Opolo without great directions and no navigation.\u00a0 Luckily, my brother-in-law had suggested Justin and we happened to be on Chimney Rock Road.\u00a0 Justin is the last winery on the map before you reach a military area.\u00a0 So, unknown to us, we chose wisely when we stopped!\u00a0 At first, Justin seemed a bit formal and LA sleek with its ma\u00eetre d\u2019 stand, black and white motif and elegant clean lines.\u00a0 However, once we were brought to our tasting area, the atmosphere became very laid back.\u00a0 All of the servers were super friendly and struck up conversations with the patrons.\u00a0 The wines were delicious and higher end in price and quality.\u00a0 My favorite was the 2011 Isosceles.\u00a0 Our server, Blair, invited us to some off-list tastings and asked if we would like to revisit anything.\u00a0 She really knew her wines, gave us excellent directions and a map to Opolo, and recommended some fantastic restaurants.\u00a0 Justin also has a bed and breakfast and a restaurant on the property.<\/p>\n

    \"Opolo<\/a>
    Opolo delights<\/figcaption><\/figure>Opolo:<\/i> Opolo is one of my wine clubs.\u00a0 I joined because of the 2011 Montagna-Mare and I have remained a
    \nmember because of their wines and their fantastic hospitality.\u00a0Opolo is located on Vineyard Dr.\u00a0It has a beautiful outdoor patio with huge tables for enjoying wine and a fire grilled pizza or cevapi sausage platter.\u00a0Zak took great care of us at Opolo.\u00a0Not only was he very generous with the tastings, he also helped me choose a magnum of Mountain Zinfandel for my father\u2019s birthday present.\u00a0In fact, you could say that Zak customized our tasting!\u00a0 My favorites were the Chardonnay and Tempranillo.\u00a0We returned for lunch on Sunday before heading back to the Bay Area. Opolo is a \u201cmust visit\u201d destination when in Paso.<\/p>\n

    Day 2:\u00a0The Grapeline Experience<\/h4>\n

    The Grapeline was one of those \u201ccollege kid\u201d recommendations that did not disappoint.\u00a0A full day on the Grapeline includes your lunch, all of your tastings, transportation, and, of course, the charming driver\/wine expert.\u00a0They also did a good job of making sure that the \u201cright people got on the bus.”\u00a0We had a fantastic experience with Dave at the helm.\u00a0He made sure that we stayed on schedule, ate lunch and, most importantly, had fun! Dave even jumped in to give us some of the wine education from time to time. By the end of the day, we were a cohesive group of twelve wine-enthusiast friends!\u00a0How could you not be?\u00a0(Note: The Grapeline also accommodated my gluten allergy for lunch. I was able to eat everything in the box from the cheese and crackers to the sandwich to the dessert.)\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

    The Grapeline took us to four different wineries located on the east side of Highway 46:<\/p>\n

    \"Vineyards<\/a>
    Vineyards at Hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>Robert Hall<\/i>: Robert Hall is a beautiful property with large spaces for groups and a beautiful fountain.
    \nThey create Rhone-style wines and have had the same winemaker since 2001.\u00a0 Our group liked the 2012 Zinfandel and the 2011 Orange Muscat.\u00a0Melinda added a couple of extra pours based on the group\u2019s requests and asked us about revisiting previous tastes.<\/p>\n

    Pear Valley<\/i>:\u00a0 Pear Valley is another beautiful property with terraces for picnics and private rooms inside the main building.\u00a0 The wines were very good and more Italian in style.\u00a0 Our driver\/wine expert Dave jumped in to teach us about the Pear Valley wines.\u00a0\u00a0 I recommend asking your guide or server to choose the wines for you.\u00a0 We were handed a list of nineteen wines and told to choose six for the tasting, which was quite overwhelming.\u00a0 Pear Valley boasts one of the only 100% Chenin Blancs in the area.\u00a0 The 2010 Malbec and 2010 Caberbet Franc were hits with our group, as was the 2010 Belle Fin, a Cabernet Franc port-style wine.\u00a0 This property could be visited over two days just due to the number of wines available to taste.<\/p>\n

    \"Sculpterra<\/a>
    Sculpterra wonders<\/figcaption><\/figure> Sculpterra<\/i>: The front of Sculpterra\u2019s property is peppered with Dali-esque statues of animals, hence
    \nthe name.\u00a0 The statues are giant, curvy animals with a mixed metal look to them.\u00a0 Once inside the tasting room, we were greeted by Pablo.\u00a0 Pablo was very knowledgeable of the wines and added two additional tastings at the group\u2019s request.\u00a0 The winery pays homage to their field workers with the 2012 H\u00e9roe Pinot Noir.\u00a0 My personal favorites were the 2013 Viognier and the 2009 Maquette, a Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc blend.\u00a0 Sculpterra also rated high marks on hospitality and social justice.<\/p>\n

    Cass<\/i>:\u00a0 Cass was the final destination on our wine tour for the day.\u00a0 This winery has an expansive outdoor patio and a full restaurant indoors.\u00a0 We tasted mostly white wines at Cass, such as the 2013 Rousanne and 2011 Rockin\u2019 One Blanc.\u00a0\u00a0 Most people in the group liked the wines.\u00a0 As this was the fourth winery of the day, my palate was a bit shot.<\/p>\n

    <\/h4>\n

    <\/h4>\n

    Day 3: Random Friends and Family Suggestion Day along Highway 46 West<\/h4>\n

    On this final day of wine tasting, we headed out at 10:30am to start the day:<\/p>\n

    Turley<\/i>:\u00a0 Turley is known for its high-end Zinfandels.\u00a0 They have a main tasting menu and then a reserve tasting that you can add on for $5.\u00a0 The Zinfandels are delicious.\u00a0 I like the 2012 Dusi Zinfandel the best.\u00a0 Our server invited us to a few extra tastings and some Toscano cheese that paired well with the wines.\u00a0 She even introduced us to Templeton, the winery cat.\u00a0 Their Pesanti label 2012 Red Velvet blend was very good.\u00a0 It is not a special occasion wine, but a very good weekday wine.<\/p>\n

    \"Wines<\/a>
    Wines of Jack Cellars<\/figcaption><\/figure> \u00a0Jack Creek Cellars<\/i>:\u00a0 Jack Creek Cellars by far had the best Pinot Noirs.\u00a0 The Jack Creek Cellars
    \ntasting room is family owned and located on the same property as both the vineyard and the residence.\u00a0 In fact, we did not know it at the time, but the winemaker poured us our second Chardonnay.\u00a0 This is another winery that is big on hospitality, good directions and the wine experience.\u00a0 The 2011 Concrete Blond Chardonnay, aged in cement, was a hit as was the 2012 Reserve Pinot Noir (members-only wine).\u00a0 In fact, the 2012 Reserve Pinot Noir is quite possibly the best Pinot Noir that I have ever tasted.\u00a0 This tasting room is very small and cozy.\u00a0 It is located on Jack Creek Road off of Highway 46 West.\u00a0 If you go east when leaving the winery, you will eventually hit Vineyard Drive.<\/p>\n

    Chronic Cellars<\/i>:\u00a0Chronic was our last stop for this trip.\u00a0 It is located on Nacimiento Lake Drive.\u00a0 Like Sculpterra, this winery also has an art-wine theme.\u00a0 \u201cDay of the Dead\u201d style art adorns both the wine bottles and the tasting room.\u00a0 Chronic has two picnic areas and is dog friendly.\u00a0 The wines are also quite good, with names like Sofa King Bed, Suite Petite and Tranquilo.\u00a0 Tranquilo, a port-style wine, was the winner of the day.\u00a0 Chronic is definitely on the list of places to revisit in the future!<\/p>\n

    Cheers to you and your Paso Robles wine experience!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Grapeline was one of those \u201ccollege kid\u201d recommendations that did not disappoint.\u00a0A full day on the Grapeline includes your lunch, all of your tastings, transportation, and, of course, the charming driver\/wine expert.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[427],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[1885],"authors":[{"term_id":1885,"user_id":3,"is_guest":0,"slug":"joe","display_name":"Joe Becerra","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Joe-Becerra.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Joe-Becerra.jpg"},"first_name":"Joe","last_name":"Becerra","user_url":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com","description":"Joe Becerra has been traveling to wine country and enjoying wine since 1965. He is a retired educator, and now have the time the opportunity to share his wine travel experiences through this Website."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2640"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3476,"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640\/revisions\/3476"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2640"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winecountrygetaways.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=2640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}