Central Coast Vineyard / Winery Recommendations?

Go to Harmony Cellars in beautiful downtown Harmony (pop 18) on the way to Hearst Castle. They have a Zin (2002) that smells like you are sniffing black pepper grinders... :-) nice effort anyway, and friendly folks. Some other quaffable wines as well - I don't have too much experience down there otherwise.

Jim

In Paso, the places I can recommend are: Garretson Justin Linne Calodo L'Aventure Tablas Creek Turley

Further North on 101, you have: Chalone

In Arroyo Grande, I'd visit: Laetitia (*) Talley (*)

• I haven't been there, but I'd be willing to try them.

I haven't heard much about any of the SLO wineries, but some might be fun to visit. Further South, of course, you enter "Sideways" country, and the wineries will probably be a bit less approachable these days.

You'll be too late for the big event in Paso, the Hospice du Rhone in May, but there will be smaller events such as Garretson's "Fixin' to Eat" dinner series:

You can use localwineevents to look yourself for things happening in the areas you're interested in.

HTH Mark Lipton

Talley pinot noir totally rocks. Adelaida is sort of near Tablas Creek, so I'd throw that one in too. Garretson isn't on most maps, by the way, but it's right in town. It's the only wine club that I belong to (mainly because I'm poor and cheap). In Paso, Peachy Canyon has gotten some good write ups, but I've never had their wines. Bonny Doon has a tasting room in Paso Robles that's a hoot just for hearing a description of how the labels are made.

Calera isn't too far away and has a few interesting wines and has an interesting gravity flow system. Their Viogner is quite good actually.

We typically stay in Cambria on the coast then drive to the different wineries in the area. Cambria is one of my favorite places on the coast and San Simeon and the elephant seals are also close by.

Depends on what types of wine you enjoy. Paso Robles is noted mostly for its Zins. My two favorites are Midnight Cellars and Dark Star.

You mean crowded from the fame of the movie? I haven't found that so far.

Can you recommend any Paso Robles area wineries with killer full bodied Zins? For comparison one of my favorite Zins is from Amador County at Karly Winery. Their Warriors Fire is superb.

I'll be taking 3 or 4 days to visit from Paso Robles south to Santa Barbara. I love the Pinots found in the southern regions.

Not crowded from the movie at all. That was as much hype as the movie itself. This area, in all but the summer, is as uncrowded as you get in California. Just there last month and were only 1 or 2 other couples at any tasting rooms.

What wineries do you recommend for good Pinot Noir in the Southern areas?

Unfortunatly I believe they are sold out of their Pinot for good reason!

Next door to Babcock. Several styles of Pinots.

It may have subsided by now, but shortly after the release of the movie, many of the wineries featured found a major upsurge in visits.

I also like Karly's Warrior Fires. Have you visited Turley's Paso outlet? Their wines are certainly full bodied. There's also Stephen Asseo's L'Aventure, which makes a pretty full-bodied Zin. I actually prefer the Rhone varietals from Paso and look to Sonoma County for my Zins.

Mark Lipton

Though one of the best Zinfandels I've had lately was the 2004 Rosenblum Paso Robles. They don't make this one every year but what a wonderful up front Zind nose berries and briar and black pepper, very well integrated taste of blackberry/cherry taste good mouth feel and long fruity finish. Too bad they don't make it every year and when they do it is in small lots.

Any winery recommendations for areas further north in the Arroyo Grande / Edna Valley / SLO / Paso Robles areas for good Pinot Noir?

The southern reagions closer to Solvang/Buelton tend to have the better Pinot Noirs. Paso Robles area to the north is better known for Zins.

I like Sanford, Babcock and Melville.

The 2003 Sanford basic estate pinot noir sucked. The people who control the place forced out the guy named Sanford who founded it and they also lost their winemaker and their organic certification. Are you sure you want to recommend Sanford?