Paso Robles Wrap Up, I'll be baaackkk

October is Harvest Season. We were just a week shy, but I preferred it this way; I'd rather avoid the crowds.

Our first stop was Nadeau, a family run winery. It's a rather simple place; nothing fancy. In fact, there was only one person working there.

Fresh Zinfandel grapes stored outside.

We ended up with a jam packed schedule, considering that we only wine tasted for about 5 hours on Saturday, and 3 on Sunday. Our final winery hit list was as follows.

Saturday

- Nadeau Family Vintners (liked their Petit Syrah)

- Tablas Creek (great service, Reds were pretty good, dessert wine was my favorite)

- Adelaida (loved their wines, and the service)

- Justin (two good reds including their famous Isosceles, but the rest were so-so)

- Clayhouse (wine shop in town; the first one that we went to that paired chocolate with one of their wines)

- Pianetta (another wine shop in town)

Sunday

- Firestone (liked their Reisling, piece of Parmesan with their Syrah was velvety)

- Eberle (liked their dessert wine, the rest were not that great)

- Graveyard (didn't really like any of the wines, but they had wheat thins and candy corn!)

- Castoro Cellars (liked their wines especially the Pinot Noir and their dessert wines)

- JanKris (liked their sparkling wines: Almond, Raspberry and Peach)

The list of wineries came from recommendations either online or from friends. It was definitely a mixed bag. You have award winning Justin Vineyards & Wineries, but you also have mom-and-pop mini winery Graveyard. My favorites were Adelaida and Castoro, and the reds were definitely better than the whites at most wineries.

On many occasions, the tastings were complimentary. If not, it was for a small fee (e.g. $3 for 7 tastings). What a deal! I have NEVER been to a winery that had complimentary tastings. The wineries hope to make profits off sales. Most in our party walked away purchasing a couple bottles of wine. The service at most were very good, warm and personable. You could tell the difference between the small time producers vs. the large wineries.

We stayed at Morro Bay, home of the famous Morro rock. We could see the rock from the outside deck of our hotel.

I loved staying in Morro Bay as it was scenic and very quaint. It was a pity that we were only there one night so I did not have the opportunity to walk around the town. However, my friend run betty run managed to wake up in the morning for a run to Morro Rock.

Paso Robles is about 4 hours away from Los Angeles. Yes, its not THAT close, but it's worth the drive if you are planning to spend a good amount of time at the wineries. Also, if you like a bottle, don't cheap out. Just buy it. After all, you probably got a bunch of free tastings throughout the trip.