Why do I love Paso.....the other reasons

With all the press that Paso and their (incredible) wines have been getting.....here is a wine guys "other" reasons for loving Paso and the Paso wines so much.......that's not in the published press.
My wife and I have been coming here for years...and over the last 7 or so...really started getting into Paso wines.  Getting tired of just going to tasting rooms....(and being subject many times to the limo party group), we met a winemaker.  He spent over an hour with us---barrel tasting--sipping---explaining...then suggested another winemaker for us to visit.  OK....fast forward:  What I've learned is:  WHERE ELSE can you go into a tasting room, and very possibly be sitting face to face with the winery owner or winemaker----Where else will a winemaker take an hour or two of their precious time...to talk and sip wine with me (or you)...Heck, I'm a nobody. I like wine.  I know a little about wine...but let's face it...I'm not going to have an effect on their overall sales or ratings.  They do it because...well just because---of their passion and your passion.

And Paso is filled with young (20 and 30 somethings and some 40 somethings), vibrant, fun, experimental winemakers....not afraid to push the envelope with their blends and blending.  And that shows in their labels. I mean, elsewhere in California, you'll see an assortment of cabernets, merlots, cab francs, bordeaux blends by top notch name wineries.  BUT...in Paso....you are more likely to spend an afternoon by the pool with "Alice", or watch a football game and analyze" The Pick", or maybe get down and dirty with "The Ditch Digger", or meet the "Maven", or give your loved one a "Broken Stone"----these winemakers have as much fun with their labels as they do blending and creating great wines...and all the labels and names have a meaning behind it.

Some would say this is a gimmick, a marketing ploy, that Paso needs something to make their wines memorable (as if the ratings and publicity isn't enough)......but I say.....Paso is what America is all about:  Pushing the envelope, experimentation, fun, working together and using good old American "Ingenuity" to define an area that is all about "Authenticity".

So....next time you are on the 101 on the Central Coast....don't Paso by...get off...stop,sniff, swirl and sip

Cheers

So many wines......

So many wines...especially in the Central California Coast Paso Robles area.  And....to my delight, SO many good wines and wineries---in fact, maybe the best.  From time to time I will comment on a specific wine or winery....such as Epoch Estate Winery---oh my...they are all so YUMMY!  Epoch defines Rhone blends at their best....and they are only on their second release.  Not only great wines...but great people and a sense of history....stay tuned for more...right now, I'm enjoying a bottle of their '07 Authenticity.

don sonderling