Paso Robles Wine Harvest Weekend
I had the good fortune to be invited to the Wine Harvest in Paso Robles at the beginning of October. One of the benefits of having a husband with a friend who shirked corporate America a few years ago and decided to make a career out of a passion by becoming a partner in the Four Vines winery. We stayed with our friend, Bill Grant of Four Vines and his girlfriend, Janell Dusi of J. Dusi Wines and were treated like special visitors everywhere we went.
The weekend was full beginning with a winemaker dinner on Friday night. Bistro Laurent paired with the Edward Sellers Winery and wine maker, Amy Butler did a top notch job pairing her wines with the menu.
The first course was Heirloom Tomato and Lobster Salad served with a 2005 Roussanne with 100% of its grapes coming from the Denner vineyard. This was followed by a Salmon appetizer paired with the ’06 Vertigo, a blend of Grenache, Mouvedre, and Syrah. The entrée was perfectly cooked, melt in the mouth tender local Paso lamb chops served with the ’04 Cuvée de Cinque, a blend of five grapes, all Rhone varietals.
At the end of the night there was a drawing for a magnum of Cuvée de Cinq signed by Amy Butler and guess who won? Lucky me! My tablemates were so excited that they all signed the box so I have a real memento of the evening and everyone with whom it was shared.
Saturday was spent wine tasting. We started with the Alternative BBQ at Four Vines– they’re in the process of increasing the size of the tasting room and adding an Oakville Grocer type deli so the BBQ was held outside. Winemaker, Chris Tietge is also a chef and put together an Asian inspired menu that featured chicken satay with peanut and tamarind sauces, cucumber salad, and pork finger sandwiches. Everything was grilled on the “Jimmy” flatbed truck grill. We couldn’t get enough!
After a couple hours, we headed down Vineyard Avenue to Denner Vineyards followed by Jada Vineyard with our final stop for the day at the newly opened, Jack Creek Cellars. We were greeted warmly at all wineries thanks to our friends and tasted some real treasures. The trunk of the car was full of wine by the time the day ended.
We grilled at Casa Billy Grant for dinner so our final stops were Pier 46 Seafood Company where we picked up some bright red sockeye salmon and fresh line caught wild halibut. Next we visited 15 Degrees Wine and Cheese shop where we picked up some cheese and dessert. We cooked up a storm while our host treated us to some special wines from his cellar – starting with vintage Ruinart champagne.
On Sunday Paul and I went to the plaza in downtown Paso and strolled around town, poking around in the boutiques, doing our best to stimulate the local economy. There has been a lot of rebuilding going on since the big earthquake in 2003 and the plaza reminded us of Sonoma or Healdsburg with a mixture of upscale shopping and good dining mixed in with a few stores that have been there for a long time.
We had lunch at the Crooked Kilt – a cavernous Irish pub that features every NFL Sunday football game on their many televisions. You guess why we chose this restaurant – Paul was in heaven! And, it turned out to be an excellent choice for food. I had a crisp Steak Salad with big cubes of Niman Ranch beef, pine nuts, blue cheese, avocado and onions mixed with Romaine. Paul went for the Frisco Burger a fat, juicy burger on sourdough bread with cheese and a little secret sauce.
After lunch we had a couple more wine tasting stops to make and we lingered at each one. Turley Wine Cellars was first on the list. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable and made us feel very welcome. Our last stop was Terry Hoage Vineyards. I was particularly impressed with the tasting room. It is a barn that was refaced with 300 year old wood from Terry’s family farm in Iowa. It was beautiful and brilliantly perched on top of the hill with panoramic views of the vines and some up and coming olive orchards. We chatted with Terry and his wife about their operation and enjoyed a sneak taste of some of the grapes that were just harvested.
And just when we thought we were going home we received the most generous invitation to have dinner with the first family of Paso. Every Sunday four generations gather and dine together. It was truly special to have been included in this warm and intimate family gathering.
When it was finally time to leave our hearts were happy and stomachs full. We spent the drive reminiscing about how much fun over the weekend and scheming about our return.
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