Paso Robles Zinfandel fest

[CruizinDux]

Wi-fi on the road was challenging so this is a post adventure post.



Leaving soon for El Paso de Robles (as they call themselves now) for the Paso Robles Zinfandel fest (https://pasowine.com/events/ and

Going Up the Country has been running in my head on repeat. We’re ready to get Blue back on the road southbound for some warmer and drier weather. Oregon is all about Pinots, but I just don’t get it. Being a Sonoma County ex pat…(IMO) it’s all about Zins (and Cabs)!

Day 1: I-5 southbound and extremely windy from Weed to Redding we camped at Rolling Hills Casino. No Cable or real wi-fi but an antenna in the valley should draw Sacto TV signals well. SP hoked up but didn’t even unhitch. Sunset over the casino’s sewage treatment plant was gorgeous . Rolling Hills also has a huge truck stop on site so there is a lot of semi traffic, tho they were pretty quiet…no trucks running all night.

[CruizinDux]

We used to always take I-680 to Hwy 101 as the SB default but took I-5 S thru Sacramento to Hwy 41/Hwy 46 to Paso which is a pretty good road. We now prefer this route to I-680/Hwy 101 with all the congestion and rough sections.


Day 2 (call it Coalinga) we’re first stopping at Harris Ranch for tri-tips for the group BBQ in Paso. The restaurant serves up an awesome Santa Maria style tri-tip sandwich and tri-tip salad. Checked into Sommervile Almond Tree RV Park 9 miles S of Harris Ranch. The pool was nice and the park has good Wi-Fi. Tomorrow it’s Paso Robles and the Wine Country RV resort for 4 nights.

[CruizinDux]

Day 3 & 4 stopped at Chalome at the Jack Ranch Cafe (road house) for breakfast (awesome rancher’s breakfast) and to visit James Dean’s memorial as the crash site is nearby.

Early check-in 10:00 a.m. at Wine County RV Resort on Hwy 46 E. Spotted a truck selling killer strawberries from Santa Maria (my dad’s hometown). A very nice resort with a whole lot of very big rigs. Our group of 12 mostly K-H/S friends and old n’hood friends arrive tomorrow.

Day 4 *Friday) the RV park hosted an incredible wine tasting in the even room. Great food and 11 wineries participated, all different than the planned 4 stop tour on Sat.

[CruizinDux]

Day 5, pre-arranged wine tour on a short bus. I usually oppose their use and volume but simply didn’t want to drive this time. This was the only way to fly although winery appointments were mandatory. Lone Madrone, Zenaida, Peachy Canyon and Eberle as the closer. The three day-trip for winery research from our recent Pismo trip paid handsome dividends. Plus managed to get a few workouts in and that made it all worthwhile ; )

[CruizinDux]

Day 7 was an early departure NB…target Redding so we’d be within range for an easier drive to EUG and an early ETA to pick up the dogs and cats at camp. The drive up I-5 was with a tail wind…woohoo…killer mileage! Slipped into Redding RV Park, an easy exit off I-5 @ Hwy 299 and noticed a very nice 34’ (?) triple axel Estrella (?) a few doors down. PIC Reminds me of an AS that project ownership bought in 2002 as employee housing for a rural West Sonoma County project I worked for. My first time in an airstream. Very sweet AS indeed, tho I truly can't imaging towing it.


Day 8. Extremely heavy rain (buckets!!!) from Redding to Weed, but with another tail wind, out ran the storm for the final lag home.

[OTRA15]

Thanks for the great report and photos, Bob! Glad the trip worked out well, and that you are on the road again after last year's challenges.

Novinophobia -- a new one on me! Avoid at all costs.

Happy Trails,

Peter

[RPVEd]

You skipped Turley?

[RPVEd]

Also, Tobin James has great wines and has let us boondock in their parking lot.

[CruizinDux]

Believe me when I say so little time (5 hours on the bus including travel time) and so many winery options. Getting the itinerary drive time to work in light of winery reservation requirements was a huge challenge. Turley, Fratelli Perata, Caperone, Epoch (the original Paderewski vineyards/old YorkMt. Winery), Daou were all on the short list. Friends who joined us were James Gang regulars and they dropped by late Sunday as things were winding down. We opted to go with other friends to Booker which was on their short list. TJ I hear is great...I heard he got his start with Gary Eberle.

My wife grew up in Paso and her brother had a vet practice there for many years so we're pretty familiar with the area. But keep the suggestions and comments coming please. There are so many new options every year.

Bob

[USAtraveler]

Have all the potholes in I-5 thru the San Joaquin Vly been filled yet? A month ago I was doing all I could to drive around them, but at night in the rain couldn't see them. Had to take the hit and just hope nothing broke. Will be down that way again in a few weeks headed to the great SW, hoping conditions have improved.

[CruizinDux]

Originally Posted by USAtraveler

Have all the potholes in I-5 thru the San Joaquin Vly been filled yet? A month ago I was doing all I could to drive around them, but at night in the rain couldn't see them. Had to take the hit and just hope nothing broke. Will be down that way again in a few weeks headed to the great SW, hoping conditions have improved.

USAtraveler, Granted I was driving during the day and generally was able to control the line. I'm comparing I-5 & the SJV in 2016 to 680/101 in 2015, but it seemed to be better to me. Additionally much less of the erratic weaving/being cutoff associated with local/commute traffic with a deadline. I-5 was missing some AC in a few areas and I managed mostly to avoid, but I recollect that 680/101 which I don't remember as being overlaid with AC had many more concrete failures & settlement/heaving problems.

Bob

[USAtraveler]

Originally Posted by CruizinDux

USAtraveler, Granted I was driving during the day and generally was able to control the line. I'm comparing I-5 & the SJV in 2016 to 680/101 in 2015, but it seemed to be better to me. Additionally much less of the erratic weaving/being cutoff associated with local/commute traffic with a deadline. Bob

Always some tradeoffs it seems. I-5 is fast, but lotsa truck traffic and not much scenery. 680/101 has bad traffic thru the SF bay area, especially thru Silicon Vly (and horrible pavement in places), but south of Gilroy it gets to be much more enjoyable. My first home was in San Jose almost 40 years ago. I thought it was too crowded then, and happy to move when I got the opportunity. Traffic today, with its cutthroat commute drivers, is worse by multiples...no place to be towing a trailer!

[AlinCal]

Halter Ranch for an over the top no expense spared experience, do the cave/winery or the excursion tour if time permits
Right around the corner is Dubost for a 5 generation family run winery.
Both have lots of history from back when Adelaide was the town before Paso Robles.

[jimmini]

Wish I had known about this.Sounds like fun. Would liked to have joined.I am in Atwater CA. I was born in Santa Barbara.
Nice to have driver while on wine tours,no DUI that way.
That sure puts the pig meat on the fire.
In other words,that starts the party.

[CruizinDux]

Originally Posted by AlinCal

Halter Ranch for an over the top no expense spared experience, do the cave/winery or the excursion tour if time permits
Right around the corner is Dubost for a 5 generation family run winery.
Both have lots of history from back when Adelaide was the town before Paso Robles.

AlinCa, Thanks I had not hear of either. It's been years since we've been out that far on Chimney Rock (heading to Justin which had too much going on to return) but will have to get DuBost on the list.

The last trip we were almost to Halter but stopped (our tour actually started at) Lone Madrone. We planned to return to the area as Tablas Creek (near Halter) has the same wine maker as LM. Both Halter and DuBost offer Tempranillo which is gaining a foothold in Southern Oregon as another bolder red option similar to a cab.

BTW there is a historical society in the Paso Town Square

http://www.pasorobleshistoricalsociety.org/history/

that has (had) a display on all the old towns...Creston, Adelaida, Estrella, etc. and was very interesting and worth a visit. DuBost sure fits into that history.

Bob

[AlinCal]

I'll add another quick stop for excellent wines at fair prices, Tolo cellars is right between Tablas Creek and Dubost and Josh the owner/winemaker had a Tempranillo that was amaizing, 5 Years in the barrel and was sold out when I went back for another bottle. Tablas creek has a really nice tasting room and a worthy trip itself, the wines are in a French style and not your typical Paso Robles wines so if you like big bold reds you won't be leaving with much although their whites are really good Have fun ,Alan

[CruizinDux]

AlinCal…oooops, strike “bolder red option similar to a cab”. I wasn’t thinking of bolder in the sense of high alcohol/tannin/oak which used to be the standard for some Nor Cal CA (Zin) producers a few generations back but of bolder in the sense of a dominate varietal taste such as Zin’s, Cab’s and now Tempranillo as opposed to the (Rhone style??) blends that have become popular in the Paso area.

Thanks for the Tolo referral too. My wife grew up in Paso and her brother lived there with a practice for a number of years. We used to come to the May festival in the town square starting in the late 80’s (?) but stopped when we moved to West Sonoma County in the mid 90’s. We’re just circling back now and discovering all the new wineries and their offerings. So thanks for the feedback.


Bob

[jimmini]

It is interesting that California has NO health warning on wine,only fed warning.California likes to put health warnings on many product
,like they think they are smarter than other states or the Fed's.
Must have to do with politics.

[AlinCal]

Does this count?