We have long awaited a visit to Paso Robles for the great wines that the region produces but were not prepared for how much we loved this area. There were so many wineries (nearly 400) in a relatively small area in gorgeous, rolling green hills (we are here in their springtime) and the quality of the wine was astonishing. Our campground, appropriately called Wine Country RV Resort, was another of our happy surprises. It’s newish, immaculately kept, overlooking a vineyard, conveniently located near Paso (as the natives refer to it) with pool, several hot tubs (including a separate adult only spa), an outside bar, and populated by other wine lovers.
We encountered some rain during our stay in Paso but this was just an excuse to visit more vineyards and taste their fruits of the vine. Most of the wineries are smaller producers with limited distribution (< 5000 cases) so we did our best to support their economy by purchasing their wine. Bill was in his element. Because this was not their busy season, we often were tasting with very few other couples – especially during the week. It was a little busier on the weekend but still so manageable and so, so very enjoyable. In addition to the quality of the wine, the servers almost to a person were enthusiastic, well-informed and eager to impart their knowledge of their particular vineyard and made the experience above what we expected. It reminded us what Sonoma was like 10-15 years ago. Tastings were reasonably priced and waived with a 1-2 bottle purchase. We didn’t pay a tasting fee all week. We met a number of the winemakers along the way and as always, their stories of how they got started in the business were quite interesting. Most of the tasting rooms were striking and many offered great views with outside seating (which we would have taken advantage of in better weather). If you’re interested, our winery reviews are immortalized in Bill’s traditional wrapup found in https://beamishadventures.com/wine/
Just in case you thought we did nothing else but drink wine..we did stop at an olive oil farm for a tasting called Pasolivo and it was fabulous. It was not an ordinary tasting, but delicious bread served up with samples of their olive oils and vinegars paired with different seasonings. We spent a wonderful hour there, bought a bunch of olive oil, joined their club, and motivated me into writing my first TripAdvisor review.
Another “non-wine” stop was a visit to Hearst Castle one morning and we spent several pleasurable hours touring the castle and gardens. It is well worth the drive and the views from the castle were stunning. We stopped at a local café on our way back and had lunch with the largest burgers we have ever had. Neither of us could finish. Yum! Of course, we stopped at a couple of wineries on the return route just to round out the day.
We loved the week we spent at Paso and are currently devoting our energies to persuading our fellow wine-loving brother and sister-in-law into joining us next year or the next year for a re-visit! Lots more wine to taste !
SEB
“Well, I thought it was a very lovely story, and you told it so well!!!” (Forest Gump). I’m so jealous, you guys should have worked another 4 years so Sue and I could have retired at the same time and experienced all this with you. So looking forward to seeing you two in less than 2 weeks in Sonoma!!