Wine tasting in Paso Robles

Each year, over Memorial weekend, we take a wine tasting trip to the nearby wine regions in California. Santa Barbara, Monterey County, Napa and Sonoma, Paso Robles, which are all within driving distance for us. How lucky are we? These annual trips started about 20 years ago. My husband and I took a spontaneous trip over Memorial weekend and ended up at the wineries in Santa Ynez which is outside Santa Barbara and only 2 hours from where we live. We had such a good time, and drank so much good wine, that we decided to do it again the next year.... and a tradition was born. We then started inviting friends and over the years we have gone with several different groups making each trip unique and memorable. We went to Santa Ynez for many years then several years ago we started investigating the Paso Robles area. This year was our 4th trip there. We have also visited Napa, Sonoma Valley and Monterey County. As they say......its a tough job but someone has to do it.

We left our house early on Saturday morning and we were at our first tasting room by 11:30 AM. After tasting at a couple of places we stopped for a picnic lunch, which everyone participated in preparing. We all bring a few dishes and it turns into a feast. The food is always wonderful or maybe it's just that we are starving and have been drinking that make it taste so darn good. There is something so special about setting up a picnic and tasting all the wonderful food, drinking more good wine, and talking up a storm, catching up and visiting with people you enjoy. Sometimes we sit far too long and have to force ourselves to get up and move on. After lunch we taste at a couple more wineries, until they finally all close at 5:00 pm. By then we are done. Stick a fork in us, done. These days evenings are slow and we usually all want to hit our rooms early to rest up for a repeat the next day. In years past however we would go back to our rooms, freshen up, then go out to dinner and eat and drink more. Ahhh to be young again.

We have a list of our favorite wineries but always try to get in a new one. This year we tried 3 new wineries and two of them were quite good. I love when that happens. We find new wines that we can buy and bring home or look for in the future. We all belong to several wine clubs too.

This years list included stops at: Bella Luna, Martin and Weyrick, Malony O'Neil, Tobin James, Opolo, Minassian Young, Nadeau Family, Pipestone, and Four Vines. We also went to the olive oil place Paso Olivio. Did you know you can do an olive oil tasting? It's wonderful because you can taste before you buy. The people there are all so nice and they obviously love what they do. It's a nice thing to do first thing in the morning before you start with the wine. We all left with bags of precious oil.


I have had one beef with the wine industry. Wine tasting starting because wine makers wanted people to buy their wine so they offered a taste in the hopes you would buy it. Well, here in California wine tasting has become big business. Lots of people go tasting, and some don't buy much, they just use it to party, and many get a little unruly and drunk. (Us older, more mature people, don't do that anymore.) The tasting rooms charge anywhere from $5.00 to $20.00 per person. My feeling is that when you buy from them they should waive the tasting fee but many of them don't. They have become so arrogant! That means if a group of 6 go in and taste you can spend $60 at one stop. And that's before you buy anything. After years of paying for both a tasting and buying from wineries I decided I would boycott certain wineries for this practice. I decided to contact several of them to ask about this policy and I have found that many of them are now changing their policy. It appears the slow economy is causing them to reconsider. I was happy to see this. I also believe in using my consumer power and voicing my opinion. Businesses need to hear from their customers to know what they want. Of course there are still many who will not waive the tasting fee no matter how much wine you buy. Turley comes to mind. Buy a case of wine and you will still be charged the tasting fee. If you choose to do business with them you just have to know what you dealing with.

I have to say that in Paso Robles there are still many fine small wineries who still do not charge a tasting fee. Like Bella Luna who says the still believe they should earn our business. I have found Napa who is the most arrogant of all.

If you are going tasting, or on a buying trip like us, there are several good web sites out there that describe the wineries, the hours, the fee, and the style of wine they specialize in. It pays to do a little homework before going.

Going tasting with a small group is perfect. I love the interaction and listening to each person talk about the nuances of a wine, what they like or dislike, what food it would pair well with. It's interesting to see how we all react to wine, the flavors we prefer, the tannins, the money we are willing to spend on something we truly enjoy. Everyone has such distinct wine personalities. I am envious of the folks who can find the good in any wine. They appreciate a particular wine for what it is. I am not there. I either like it or I don't. And if I don't you are not going to talk me into it. I also hate when you go into a tasting room and they say "but have you tasted ours? Its different". I don't want to taste it. Period! No it is not different. Why do they do that? I guess it's admirable that they think there's is the best, but come on, I am not a rookie at this. Do not try to force something on me that I have not liked for the past 20 years. I only have so many wine points in a day and I am very careful about how I spend them. I am not going to spend them on something I already know I am probably not going to like. One sip and it gets dumped. This happens over and over. Ok I feel better having gotten that off my chest. Thanks for listening.

On Monday morning we met up with our friends for breakfast, said a quick good bye, and then hit the road. We have learned from past experience that the traffic going through LA on a holiday is to be missed at any and all costs so we either leave early or very late. We headed home around 10:00 am and by 1:00 pm we were home safe and sound. As another wonderful weekend came to an we were already talking about the funny moments and good times.

Get out there and drink some wine.