Paso Robles Steals the Spotlight

By TOM MARQUARDT and PATRICK DARR

For years, Paso Robles has struggled to attract a flood of tourists that instead turned to Napa Valley, Sonoma, and Santa Barbara—California’s more celebrated wine regions. Its former focus on Zinfandel and other cheap wines didn’t help, but the deeper obstacle has always been access. Situated midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, Paso Robles is served by San Jose or San Luis Obispo airports, neither of which receives direct flights from most cities. From the East Coast, the journey takes about 8 hours by air and another 2 on the road.

It’s a trek. But arrive in Paso Robles, and the reward becomes immediately clear: a quiet, unhurried town that feels like a place where you could live. The trucks here are beat up, and the cowboy hats are real. There is no Thomas Keller outpost here, no tasting menus built around truffles and pâté en croûte. Instead, old storefronts have become small restaurants serving the likes of rabbit and artichokes—food that comes from nearby and doesn’t pretend otherwise. It’s worth every minute it takes to get to Paso Robles, just for the laid-back, relaxing environment—quite the contrast to crowded and tony Napa Valley.

We will be writing about the wines from this region next week. Today’s column is more about the region as a tourism destination.

Several days in Paso Robles for anyone with a passion for wine will not leave you wanting. We based ourselves at Hotel Cheval, a small inn within walking distance to the best restaurants. The bar is inviting, the rooms are beautiful, and in the courtyard two working fireplaces stay lit at night—s’mores made to order, if you want them. Hills give walkers plenty of opportunity to exercise their legs to ward off calorie gains from the food and alcohol. A tree-lined historic downtown square is packed with shops, markets and restaurants, including the popular Les Petits Canailles, known locally as LPC, and its sister restaurant S’Aranella. Just outside the city, several wineries have tasting rooms that mingle with restaurants in an industrial complex called Tin City.

From Paso Robles, many of the top wineries are only 15-20 minutes away and the ride to them is often through majestic mountains and beautiful countryside. You won’t mind dropping your speed limit on twisting country roads.

If wine isn’t all you want to do, the Pacific Coast and all its charm are 30- 40 minutes away. The Hearst Castle in San Simeon is worth a detour, as are the beach towns of Cambria and Cayucos.

The wineries span the full range of scale and ambition. Boutique producers making fewer than 10,000 cases a year sit alongside operations grand enough to support full restaurants—Justin Vineyards & Winery among them, one of the few with a commercial license for fine dining. Niner runs a restaurant as well. Tablas Creek and Law take a simpler approach, pairing tastings with cheese and charcuterie boards. Daou Vineyards, which commands some of the most breathtaking views in the region, keeps an in-house culinary team on hand to match delicious small bites to its wines. There’s more enough to sate your appetite.

Because of the variety of micro-climates here, more than 60 grape varieties are grown in the Paso Robles appellation. Many of them are Bordeaux varieties, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, but the belles of the group are the red and white Rhône Valley grape varieties. Spanish and Italian grape varieties are even grown here, giving something for every palate.

With 11 appellations spread across Paso Robles, a little planning goes a long way. Group your visits geographically, such as Adeladia one day and Willow Creek another, so the drive between tasting rooms becomes part of the pleasure rather than most of it. Larger producers often take walk-ins, but a reservation through Tock or the winery’s own website is the safer bet.

Tastings typically run around $40 per person for three or four pours, scaling up with more expensive and exclusive wines. Buy a bottle or two and the fee is generally forgiven. The most affordable option we came across was J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines, currently marking 25 years of its Paso Robles Wine Center.

The tasting rooms themselves are reason enough to visit—handsomely designed spaces that open onto long views of well-manicured vineyards and rolling valleys. Most wineries offer club memberships that will send bottles to your door each month or quarter, and it is way too easy to sign up for more than one. Worth knowing before you do.

Watch your consumption and consider a designated driver. We limited our visits to three a day and spit out much of our wine. If you prefer to drink everything, be conscious of your level of intoxication because you will regret shipping more wine and joining more clubs than you wanted to.

For trip planning, Travel Paso is the city’s official tourism site. The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance and Visit SLO CAL round out the useful resources.

Next week’s column will focus on specific producers. For now, here are a few Paso Robles wines we tasted:

Epoch Estate Gratitude 2021 ($75). Now in its third year, this delicious wine continues its charitable mission to raise money for the American Red Cross and its effort to help people still struggling with the fallout from devastating wildfires in California and floods in Texas. Matching sales with their own money, the Armstrong family raised more than a half million for the Camp Mystic tragedy and $43,500 for charitable causes over the wine’s three vintages.  This vintage features a grenache blend from Paso Robles’ Willow Creek District. For every bottle purchased, $20 will go to the Paso Robles Salvation Army.

Le Vigne Winery Estate Nikiara 2021 ($54). OMG, this is a terrific wine. Named after the owner’s children, this property’s flagship wine is full of energy. Made from several vineyard blocks and varietals, it offers fresh cherry and plum fruit with a hint of chocolate and leather. Fine-grained tannins make it a powerful wine to marry with beef. The blend is 55 percent cabernet sauvignon, 23 percent petit verdot, 17 percent cabernet franc and 5 percent merlot. General Manager Phillip Anderson told us that the winery won four gold medals at the London Wine Competition and Le Vigne was named Winery of the Year for the U.S.

Textbook Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 ($27). This is a great value for those of you who want a cabernet sauvignon with body but not willing to pay $70 or more for it. Good concentration, dark fruit character with hints of spice and slate.

Highlands 41  Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 ($15). A little petite sirah and petite verdot go into this amazing value. Loads of ripe blackberry and black cherry flavors with a hint of cocoa powder.

San Simeon Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 ($70). This serious cabernet sauvignon, blended with petit verdot, shows off ripe blackberry and plum fruit with hints of dried herbs and cocoa powder.