Wine tasting weekend in Paso Robles

By Glen Bruels

When I was still working, I had an office in Santa Maria, CA — in the heart of the Central Coast California wine region.  I used to time trips to arrive on Friday night for a Monday morning meeting, allowing Deb and I to spend weekends wine tasting around the region.  We hadn’t been for a few years, when I got a call from a former partner (Don) who was organizing a wine tasting weekend in Paso Robles — one of our favorite areas for Cabernets and Syrahs.  Before the wine tasting, though, Deb and I made a pilgrimage to San Luis Obispo, a place we would frequently visit when I was on business.  It is such a charming little town and it was fun to visit some of our favorite creekside restaurants, art galleries, a walk in the gardens by the mission and, of course, Bubblegum Alley!

Enjoying a libation in SLO
So many gorgeous gardens along the creek. You can’t beat CA gardens for beauty.
Bubblegum Alley!

We then joined our group for wine tasting — we did 10 wineries/vineyards over two days.  It’s a good thing that we hired a van to take us around because we never would have made it.  Some of the wineries were already known to us (Justin, Le Cuvier, Cass). but the rest (Eberle, L’Aventure, Adelaida, Chateau Margene, Hansen, and Barr Creekside Vineyards) were not.  The award for biggest character of the trip was Bruce Hansen, the owner of Hansen Winery.  He must of spent two hours with us doing a variety of barrel and bottle tasting and he was drinking along with us.  What a character!  The other interesting couple was Greg and Tealy Barr, the owners of Barr Creekside Vineyards.  They actually came out of retirement to take over and expand this vineyard and, while they were there, they were bottling their first harvest.  Brave souls indeed!

Thank God we had this bus. None of us would be capable of driving. Notice the doors in the back — if you couldn’t walk up the steps, you could always be thrown in the back with the wine!
The hearty crew getting ready for a serious day of tasting. First stop — L’Aventura (amazingly rich Cabs!)
I was surprised at the amount of barrel mixing that occurs during the aging process.
A miscellaneous “Wine Dog.” Every winery has one. There are a series of Wine Dog pictorial books. Trust me, not too many thin Wine Dogs.
Lunch at Justin Winery. The aforementioned Wine Dogs are waiting in the wings to snarf the leftovers!
A big day at our of our favorite wineries, Le Cuvier — some amazing wine pairings. How about a bite of orange and a gingerbread cookie to simulate Thai food to pair with the wine? It actually worked!
We asked to sample some port at Adelaida. He took it right from the tank — with a bit of spillage.
The wild mustard was growing all over the place — and the allergies weren’t far behind.
We then moved on to Eberle and posed with their mascot. In German, eberle translates to “small boar.”
An amazingly intricate set of man-made caves at Eberle.
Fred and Taeny. They came out of retirement to buy a vineyard (Barr Creekside Vineyards) and they are bottling their first harvest. They spent most of the weekend and were great — they also got us the 30% professional discount on wines!
Their “spread!”
Richard Branson serving us wine at Cass Winery! Actually, it is one of the owners serving some of his private stash. What a character!
The ladies took at break at Chateau Margene — leaving the men to do the heavy lifting (so to speak!).
The “character of the trip” award — the owner of Hansen Winery.
The good news was that he was every bit as “tipsy” as we were. What a great job!
Lots of custom blending from the barrels — you had to be quick!
Winding down to the big finish as we warmed our glasses to get the esters. It almost looks like a religious experience, doesn’t it?
Our last dinner — with several more bottles to sample.

It was great catching up with old partners and friends and it’s always great to visit and taste wine in Central Coast CA!

This entry was posted in California, Travel
Glen Bruels

I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.

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