Potpourri: Weekend In Paso Robles

Paso Robles is one of the well-known winemaking regions in California. Located along the coast, it’s less than a three-hour drive from where I live. Two weeks ago, The Husband and I spent a lovely weekend in this easy-to-reach destination along with two other couples.

The Husband and I have enjoyed the offerings at many of the Paso Robles wineries on various previous trips to the area. My sister and her husband bought a vacation home in a nearby community several years ago so visits with them often have included a day’s worth of wine tasting. With as much time as they spend at their home-away-from-home, sis and BIL have become quite knowledgeable about the wineries in the region. For this trip though, they weren’t available to join us but offer some advice in regards to our itinerary.

At the outset, you should know that this is not a sponsored post. All expenses were paid for by us and nothing was gifted. I’m under no obligation to promote or recommend any of the places we visited. Regarding the itinerary, I was mostly just along for the ride and left the planning details to The Husband to sort out. As per usual, he did a fantastic job. I did make one request which was to include a winery we had been to several years ago and that wound up being our first stop. Another in our group also had a winery that she wanted to visit and that was the first one we went to on Saturday. Now let’s get down to the basics of the whos, the wheres, and the whats.

Who Went

We were a group of six as we had traveling companions on this trip to Paso Robles. As noted, they are in a couple of the photos. One of the couples, Michael and Victoria, are friends that we’ve made since moving to our new home. They’re the first friends we’ve made together as a couple to whom we have no other connection, like being the parents of a child’s friend or friends of other friends. The other couple, Danny and Angelica, we’ve only met recently through Michael who has worked with Danny for many years. We all got along famously.

If we look a little tipsy in the photo above, we just might be. It was taken after our third stop on Saturday. Don’t worry, we’d hired a limo to drive us around that day so all could enjoy and wine taste responsibly. The group we used was Crown Limousine Service and our driver was wonderful. It’s a great option if you’ve got a lot of people in your group and no one wants to get stuck as the DD.

Where We Stayed

Depending on your preferences, there are many boutique hotels in the area and historical lodgings to chose from. If you’re looking for the charm of a town square, you might like the ones located in the heart of the City of Paso Robles. Or you could look for options that provide more of a countryside experience. We went the route of a centrally located nationwide chain and stayed at Hampton Inn & Suites in Paso Robles. The accommodations were very nice and it’s an easy drive to many of the wineries.

Where We Tasted

Now to the meat and potatoes (or should I say the grapes and grains?) of the trip. For the trip up on Friday, Victoria and Angelica rode with us because the four of us could leave early enough to get to some wine tasting that afternoon. Michael and Danny couldn’t leave work until early afternoon. The Husband was more than happy to escort us ladies around for a few hours. Our first stop was at Tobin James Cellars.

When we were there, all tastings were being done outdoors and by reservation only. I’m fairly certain that reservations are still required but I think that tastings can now be done indoors again. While many wineries have a pre-selected group of wines they offer for tasting, at Tobin James, we were able to pick and choose from the complete list of wines available for purchase. The only limitation was that the allotted time for tasting was 60 minutes. While the tasting was outdoors, we could still go inside the actual tasting room to get to the bathrooms and to pay for our wine purchases. The inside looks like a western saloon. As for the wines, we gals give the 7 or 8 we tried (sorry, I lost count) all two-thumbs up. We all bought a couple bottles of our favorites to bring home.

A short distance away was our second stop, Pear Valley Vineyards. The picturesque European setting was quite a contrast to the honky-tonk vibe of Tobin James. At this winery, there was a set selection of wines offered for tasting. The weather took a bit of a nasty turn and it started to rain while we were there. Fortunately, they had some covered areas where tasters could continue with their sampling and still be socially distant. Here, too, wine was bought but because of the scurry with the rain and then heading off to meet up with the guys, I don’t have any pictures of the location to share except the ones of my OOTD.

The itinerary for Saturday had us up and ready to go by 9:30am with our first stop of the day at Via Vega Vineyard. Angelica made a great choice with this place. The winemaker himself led our tasting and shared so much information about the history of his vineyard as well as his winemaking philosophy. Absolutely worth the bit of extra drive time it took to get there.

Our stop after that was at Thacher Winery And Vineyard. The setting was beautiful but of the six wineries we visited that weekend, this one was at the bottom of the barrel (pun intended). Typically, wineries will waive the price of your tasting with a minimum of a one or two bottle purchase but nothing tickled our fancies enough to buy any of the wines we’d tasted. It happens but that doesn’t mean others wouldn’t like the wine or that we wouldn’t go there again on another trip.

The third of the four wineries on our itinerary for the day was Tablas Creek Vineyard. The tastings at this winery were offered as three different flights of six wines each; one of whites, one of reds, and one with three of the whites and three of the reds. To maximize our options, each couple got a white and a red flight to share. If you’re doing the math, that’s a total of twelve wines we all tasted. Even just a couple of sips can add up pretty quickly. Hence, the slightly goofy looks on our faces in the group photo. Wine was purchased here as well.

Saving the best for last, our remaining stop was at Volatus Wine. The winemaker, Hal Schmitt, and my husband have known each other for many years through an association in the photographic industry. His wife, Victoria (different gal than our traveling companion), is the talented photographer who took the photos for my Remembering The Details: A Sum Of Parts post from July 2017. And besides our personal connection, they make really great wine. Not only our favorites in the region but of all wines we’ve ever had. I’m just sorry we didn’t remember to take a photo with them.

Where We Ate

Enough on the drinking we did, let’s talk food. Friday night, we stayed close to our hotel and opted to eat (and drink) at Firestone Walker Brewery. Where we apparently did some beer tasting along with dinner.

Dessert, however, was a special treat. Have you ever had ice cream made with sheep’s milk? Well, you can at the Negranti Creamery. It’s a central coast favorite. According to the website, sheep’s milk is more easily digested than cow’s milk so many people who suffer from lactose intolerance are able to enjoy it. Also, sheep’s milk is lower in saturated fat and higher in protein than other types of milk. All I know is that the ice cream is really good. The flavor I opted for was Tin City Road. You need to try this ice cream if you’re in the area.

Breakfast on Saturday was at the hotel and lunch was an on-the-go thing with some charcuterie snack packs and crackers we’d brought with us. For dinner, we ate at Buona Tavola in Paso Robles which was had recommended by Hal and Victoria. They joined us as well and we had a wonderful meal. Mine was the Tortiglioni Del Buon Gustaio. Delicious.

What I Wore

On Friday, I opted for a tiered skirt first shared in With A Side Of Gingham: Floral Trends paired with a corduroy jacket and tall boots. Initially, I had on V-neck tee with a pattern of tiny ladybugs but later popped on a cable knit sweater for added warmth. These are the photos that were taken at Pear Valley Vineyards.

For my Saturday OOTD, I was inspired by my recent Would You, Could You? Dress Over Palazzo Pants to try another dress over pants look. The weather that day was expected to be sunny but still a bit chilly so I planned for layers as well. Another wearing of this dress can be seen in a post from January of 2017, The Flight Of Time: In Real Life, when I wore it layered over a high/low skirt.

For our drive home on Sunday, my OOTD included this velvet skirt that had been a thrift store find from before the pandemic closures that I hadn’t yet had a chance to wear.

Let’s Wrap This Up

Now, onto the Fine-Whatever link-up. My featured blogger from last week is Jodie, who shares her “it’s never too late to look great” philosophy at Jodie’s Touch Of Style. Along with her mother Charlotte and her friend Lesley, Jodie tackles nearly any and every fashion/beauty related topic to encourage women of all ages to try new styles and to be more adventurous with their choices.

That’s a wrap, as they say, on our weekend in Paso Robles. It was nice to get away and enjoy time with friends. If you ever make a visit to the area, please let me know and perhaps we can plan to meet up. So tell me, what have you been up to lately?

Stay well and let’s keep in touch! Subscribe, tweet, follow, friend, pin … all options are available. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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Note: This is an unsponsored post; however, some or all of the links to clothing items are associated with an affiliate program where I earned a few cents for each click.