Home California 8 Days in Paso Robles

8 Days in Paso Robles

7

Paso Robles

In July I spent 8 days doing intensive wine research and tasting in Paso Robles. Along the way I shared updates from my visits with producers via Instagram.

Some readers asked if I would please compile the collection and share it here on my blog in order to make the information more readily accessible. With that in mind, following are the Instagram photos from my 8 days in Paso Robles, minus a few short videos shared there. The captions as posted to Instagram are typed here directly below the associated image to make them easier to read.

I update my wine travels and local tastings regularly to Instagram, as shown below. If you’re interested in keeping up with it there, you can follow me on Instagram where I post as @hawk_wakawaka.

Cheers!

Let's do this…

A photo posted by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Eberle

"I made my first Barbera in 1978. I planted it myself. I got the cuttings from UC Davis. I really don't know what clone it was but it is what is mostly planted around here. It was planted, indexed and heat treated at Davis so it is clean. That was at the Estrella [River] property [the vineyard + winery Gary Eberle started in the late 1970s before then planting Eberle in the 1980s.]. […] Mr Mondavi, certainly in this business, was my biggest mentor. He taught me how to sell wine. I couldn't tell you why but we just hit it off. I learned so much from that man. You can make the best damn wine but you better be able to sell it if you want to have an impact in this industry." – Gary Eberle of Eberle Winery is considered the Godfather of Paso Robles wine having been one of the early founders of fine wine in the region and an instigator of the original 1983 AVA. Though his flagship wine is Cabernet Sauvignon he has won multiple awards for his Barbera. This summer he was recognized with a Wine Lifetime Achievement Award by the California State Fair, an honor he shares with his mentor, Robert Mondavi, the award's first recipient.

A photo posted by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Ambythe

Pomar Junction

Father + son team Dana + Matt Merrill farm vineyards all over Paso + make wine under the Pomar Junction label from their vineyard of the same name. "My dad is part of the Central Coast Vineyards team. We were one of the first 12 wineries in the SIP sustainability pilot program built by the Central Coast Vineyard Team. It's recognized by the TTB + means you've been checked by a third-party auditor." Matt explains. I ask Dana about his work on Paso water concerns in relation to the drought. Dana has spearheaded efforts to create a collaborative board of agricultural + residential members to work on long term solutions for water conservation. He responds. "We don't have really big water problems right now. We do have a general trend of wells dropping. We don't know if the drought is going to continue. We have enough constructive notice + time to do something."

A photo posted by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Clayhouse

The First Wine Labeled with the Paso Robles AVA

Kenneth Volk

Discussing the different growing regions of the Central Coast cannot be done more thoroughly than w Ken Volk. I ask him when he moved to the region + how he got started in wine. He answers. "I moved to San Luis Obispo in 1977 to attend Cal Poly. I made wine from Rancho Sisquoc grapes in 1977 as a home winemaker. Then I had the opportunity to do an internship w Edna Valley Vineyards in 1978 + 1979. After, I started Wild Horse. I purchased the property, planted vineyards, then bonded the winery + had first crush in 1983. We were mostly working w red grapes from Santa Maria Valley + Paso Robles. At Wild Horse we did a lot of blending warm + cool climate grapes. That worked well for us. People liked it." – Ken Volk served as the first president of the Paso Robles Grape Growers Association, which started in 1981. He was also one of the signatories on the original Paso Robles AVA that was recognized by the TTB in 1983. In his winemaking career he has made wine from around 74 varieties from throughout the Central Coast. As he explained, he recognizes the idea of noble varieties but it is in people being willing to work with grapes + travel w them that we found those. Today the Kenneth Volk winery is located in Santa Maria Valley where Pinot + Chardonnay are his flagship wines but he also works w Italian + French varieties from throughout the central coast.

A photo posted by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

The Falcone Family

Luna Matta Vineyard

"We're certified organic because we really believe in it. We believe the property should be better when we leave it than when we got it. All the hilltops here [on Luna Matta Vineyard] are a little different. There are so many soil changes. That's part of what's exciting about [farming in] Paso. You can kind of do anything." – Stephanie Terrizzi manages Luna Matta Vineyard in the Adelaida District of Paso Robles, which has 36 planted vineyard acres, 40 acres of walnuts, 2 acres of olives, 1 acre of sage + a pear tree. John Ahner + Jody McKeller planted the site in 2001 to Rhone + Italian varieties (+ just a smidgen of Tempranillo) with a focus on biodiversity. Their bees this summer are busy making honey from indigenous plants such as Toyon.

A photo posted by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Giornata 

"In Italy, there is enough heat the focus is really not on extraction. In France there are techniques for more extraction [because of the differing climate + varieties] but in Italy I have never seen anyone cold soak. The climate [in parts of Italy] is more like California. [It has the heat and sun. Our goal is] to express the site, the variety + the vintage. The best way to do that is to pick when the fruit is in balance + really on the early side. I look a lot at acidity numbers in fruit. This isn't just a low alcohol/high alcohol debate. We really want the grapes to hit that perfect edge of ripeness, the window, and it's a really small window. Stephie [Terrizzi] has done a lot of studies on physical ripeness. When to pick is the biggest decision that we make cause we use all natural yeast + no enzymes." – Brian Terrizzi owner-winemaker of Giornata w his wife Stephanie focuses entirely on Italian varieties grown in Paso Robles. Their first commercial vintage was 2006.

A photo posted by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Clos Selene

Aaron & Aequorea

Adelaida Cellars

"They seen what was coming. They got hooked up w John[Munch to start the Adelaida label]. I was just out here clearing land + doing what I needed to do. John came to me + said, what's the worst piece of ground you got? And I thought of that piece [that is now Adelaida's Lower Viking Vineyard] cause I hated that piece down there. [laughing] It was all poison oak. We didn't rip it. We didn't even have a tractor. And then we were worried about how many rocks we'd pull up. You know, it [vineyards in the Adelaida District of Paso] was all new. This one guy took great care to plant a vine right on top of a big rock. [laughing] He placed soil carefully up all around it. That vine is still there. That was 1991." – Mike Whitener has served as the Adelaida Ranch Manager for 40 years. His father was Ranch Manager before him. Mike was born, raised + has lived his life in the Adelaida District. As he explains, he's left several times but always wanted to come back.

A photo posted by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Alta Colina

"I got this concept that I was going to grow wine + make wine back in 1970. It was a long hill ahead but fortunately when I retired I had this little bundle I could use to get started to do it. But in that time period I had these phases where what I was drinking changed. In the 1970s I was a Cab guy. Then I got into Grenache + for about ten years I was a Zin guy + then I moved to the Central Coast + discovered Rhones. At the time I started planting this vineyard that's just what I was drinking. It also seemed like the Rhones were the best fit soil + climate wise + some of the best wines I drank from Paso were Rhones." – Bob Tillman shares how he fell in love w growing + making Rhone wines in the Adelaida District of Paso. Here we sit near 1700 ft beneath an oak tree at the top of the Grenache + Syrah block tasting older vintages of his Alta Collina red wines.

A photo posted by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Lone Madrone

Tasting an 8 vintage vertical, 2000 to 2007, of Lone Madrone Cabernet from York Mountain just west of the Paso Robles AVA.

A photo posted by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

The Oldest Coastal Live Oak on the West Coast

Halter Ranch

Resource Conservation

Tablas Creek

James Berry Vineyard

Saxum

The Feet of Vineyard Travel

For @clarecarver: feet darker than my face from summer vineyards + filthy from the decomposed rock of west Paso Robles.

A photo posted by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Fossilized Whale Bones

Zenaida Cellars

Pelletiere 

Ranchero Cellars

The Templeton Gap

A quick drive towards the Pacific through the Templeton Gap. Such a refreshing stop in the ocean wind.

A photo posted by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

A Little Goat

Monte is busy telling me all about life in the Willow Creek District of Paso Robles.

A photo posted by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

York Mountain Winery

Just west of the Paso Robles AVA sits the York Mountain AVA, both recognized in spring 1983. The high elevation York Mountain appellation today includes only one winery, Epoch Estates, + a handful of vineyards. However, the York Brothers, who the AVA is named for, established a winery near the top of York Mountain in 1898. The wood beams they harvested from the old Cayucos Pier. The bricks they made by hand on the mountain. Their York Mountain Winery stood + operated until the 2003 San Simeon earthquake that shook Paso Robles. Today, Epoch Estates own the original York Mountain Winery property + is in the process of restoring the original winery building using the old wood beams + bricks + stone fireplace through restoration + reuse efforts as shown here. The building once finished will be used as the Epoch tasting room w museum + educational components on the history of the region included throughout.

A photo posted by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Epoch Estates

Tasting through the current portfolio of Epoch wines as well as a vertical of Epoch Ingenuity red Rhone blend 2009 to 2013.

A photo posted by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Paderewski Vineyard

So many Hawks soaring the foothills on the westside of Paso. One of my favorite things to watch them circle + soar.

A photo posted by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Pesenti Vineyard

Ueberroth Vineyard

Amadeo Martinelli Vineyard

The Turley's newest property in Paso Robles, the Amadeo Martinelli Vineyard (no direct relation to the cider or the Sonoma gang), hosts dry farmed, head trained Zinfandel planted in the early 1920s in what is now known as the Templeton Gap District of Paso Robles. The vines are inter planted w a mix of cherry, pistachio + even a pear tree. The site includes a historic winery + the unique features of what was once clearly a self-sustaining farm: chicken coops, a root cellar + more. Though the site receives daily cooling breezes from the ocean it sits above the frost zone common to Paso Robles. 2014 is the first vintage from the site for Turley. From barrel it offers the great promise of a Turley Zin with a creamy fresh mid palate, dusty persistent tannin + enlivening acidity. Showing notes of fresh + dried cherry w chocolate + pepper accents on a snappy spine it's a delicious addition.

A photo posted by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Ancient Peaks Vineyard

Villa Creek Maha Vineyard

Soren Christensen

Anonimo

Hearst Ranch Winery

Ledge Vineyard

Bella Luna

Getting ready to taste through the red wines of Bella Luna.

A photo posted by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

A Full Week

Copyright 2016 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com.

7 COMMENTS

  1. Serious bonus points to you for the Terret Noir!

    Adelaida has made some very delicious Pinot Noir wines from the old HMR Vineyard. I recall tasting a 2000 small-scale reserve Pinot from Adelaida in the mid-2000’s and being blown away by the finesse.

    Sure, the Viking Cab and the Syrah (from the same site) are great, but a quality Pinot from Paso is the Spanish Inquisition of wine.

Leave a Reply