Any road trip is rosier when you can work in a wine tasting. And with kids and first-time roadtripper Zoe – our new one-year-old terrier/chihuahua mix – in tow, it was an even sweeter side trip.
Also along for the ride were my in-laws, who have to be the most happy-go-lucky travelers in the western U.S. (even without the vino!). We’ve been wine tasting to the Santa Barbara and Paso Robles wine regions with Irene’s parents on quite a few occasions but this journey would hold some extra nostalgia since it included a couple of nights lodging in the city of Irene’s birthplace:
San Luis Obispo.
But which winery to visit if we could only fit in one among other activities to keep the teens and dog engaged? Turns out that was decided for us as Irene has a colleague that introduced us to the Tobin James Cellars family of wines.
Located eight miles east of Paso Robles on Highway 46, the vineyards sit on 71 acres of oak-dotted hills. Built from the ground up on the site of an old stagecoach stop, the open tasting room transports visitors back to the days of a vintage Old West saloon with its trio of brass-railed bars — an array of award-winning wines are poured from behind the antique 1860s Brunswick mahogany bar from Blue Eye, Missouri. Adding to the atmosphere, there’s a restored stagecoach stop that is now being used as a guest house.
We made a 10:30 a.m. reservation for our one-hour tasting. Once sidled up to the bar, our affable and knowledgeable wine pourer gave us a rundown on the tasting menu – you could choose any of the 23 offerings so we marked our choices carefully considering the early start and eventual 45-minute drive back to SLO.
Feeling our enthusiasm and intentions to buy several bottles, our sommelier uncorked some off-menu options to try as well – one of which was a 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon called “Notorious.” Being bigtime Duran Duran fans, we had to ask our som about the name. She confirmed our inquiry and proceeded to tell us that Duran fans will often buy it sight unsampled due to their love of the 1986 hit song (not to mention simultaneously belting out the chorus upon seeing the bottle!). This awesome wine lived up to its billing so we added two bottles to our purchases!
In fact, we enjoyed these wines so much that we joined their “James Gang” wine club, our first since our membership with Firestone Winery of Los Olivos (Santa Barbara)
in the early 2000s.
lifex5 