Paso Robles Wine Trip! Page 1

March 22 to 27, 2006

"Welcome to Paso, Cowboy!"

Lorri and I took off from Encinitas on a sunny but slightly windy Tuesday morning and headed up I-5 toward San Luis Obispo County and the Paso Robles area to do a little wine-tasting and hanging out with our friends. Of course our friends were not due to show up until Friday, so we had to go it alone for a couple days. It's a tough job wine tasting with just the two of us but we've had some good training, especially during our cross-country wine tour (see http://www.superstork.com/RT5/ ) last year.

Note: if you click on any of these thumbnails, you will see a larger version of the photo. Just click your browser's "back" button to return here. The versions of the photos on this website have been reduced in size and resolution from the originals. If you would like a copy of the original file, just email me and I'll email the original file back to you.

Tuesday, March 22

The trip began on a traumatic note. Our old friend Pecos Pete who has been with us since our first cross-country trip in 2000 lost his left arm. Well he didn't really lose it. I reached out the window somewhere on I-5 and "amputated" it when i realized it was about to be torn from him by the nasty headwinds we were encountering.

If you look at where the arrow is pointing in the photo on the left you will see how dire the situation was. The photo on the right shows Pete after the amputation. Pete is well over 60 years old (in antenna man years) and we don't expect him to live much longer.

We spent the first two nights of the trip at the Wine Country RV Resort, http://www.winecountryrvresort.com/ which, as far as RV "Resorts" go was not too bad. The restrooms were clean and modern and we had free WiFi access. However, we always feel a little out of place among giant diesel pushers but we made the most of it.

Right after we got our space we went back up the highway a couple miles to Tobin James http://www.tobinjames.com/ always and fun spot, and did a little tasting and bought a couple bottles to enjoy back at "camp".

Wednesday, March 23

Cass Winery

After a late breakfast in town we decided to explore the area on east side of US 101. First stop was Cass Winery http://www.casswines.com/ where we encountered the monthly luncheon of the Tasting Room Managers Association. We thought we'd be the only two people there but we could barely find a parking space.

Here are a couple photos from Cass, including a white board explaining what was about to happen out in the vineyards. The photos on the right were taken along the road heading toward our next destination.

Falcon Nest

The not-so-friendly woman at Cass recommended that we try Clautiere next but we spotted Falcon Nest http://www.falconnestwine.com/ on the way there. We were greeted and served by the owner/winemaker, an Italian guy who makes some pretty good wines besides being a chef and maker of all sorts of sauces and stuff that he sells there at the winery too.

Clautiere

Named after the owners, Claudine and Terry, this tasting room is a fun spot filled with wigs and hats for people to try on and have fun with. The buildings are painted in bright colors like purple, and most of the sculptures and artwork were done by Claudine. Their wines are good too! We had so much fun we joined their wine club! http://www.clautiere.com/

Robert Hall

Robert Hall http://www.roberthallwinery.com/ is a huge edifice on Rte 46. The vineyard and winery are owned by a 79-year-old guy who apparently has had quite a successful career. He's no relation the the Robert Hall discount clothier from the Philadelphia area that I remember from my childhood but he's done a lot of other stuff. The wines were good and the huge tasting room had a nice, friendly atmosphere for it's size. 

Here we are at the RV Resort on our second night. We didn't even have to use our leveling blocks!