SanLuisObispo.com: Vintages

Olive oil in wine country

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:02 PDT

By Raven Railey -- It’s been a cozy relationship for centuries: wine and olive oil, olives and grapes.

The combination is a natural one in the soil and at the table.

Olive trees are typically found at vineyards in Spain and Italy, where the climate is suited to both fruits. And as the wine industry has burgeoned on the Central Coast, olive oil production has blossomed here too.

Tours to take you off the beaten path

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:02 PDT

By Sally Buffalo -- We never tire of exploring the wineries we have here in our back yard. But sometimes we want a little something different. Following are some ideas for alternate ways to experience what the region has to offer.

Up, up and away

Leave the ground behind and float in quiet serenity in the basket of a hot air balloon. You’ll take off as first light peeks over the horizon, skim just over vineyards, oak groves and grazing cattle for a close-up look from a new perspective and soar far above the earth with the wine-country panorama running for miles in all directions. (Don’t forget the camera!) At the end of the flight, you’ll drop gently down just in time for brunch and the rest of the day’s adventure.

Sideways into the Santa Maria Valley

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:02 PDT

By Sally Buffalo -- My Scottish brother-in-law, visiting with my sister from their temporary home in South Africa,wanted to see some of the wine country made world famous by the movie Sideways.

I wanted to explore somewhere new,having taken that tour a few times already.

I figured the Santa Maria Valley would be a good compromise, as it’s in the vicinity and I’d managed to miss it in three years living here. I didn’t even realize at the time that we would be treading some Sideways ground.

Central Coast hot spots

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:02 PDT

By Tonya Strickland -- San Luis Obispo County is known and cherished largely for its get-away-from-it-all feel, its stretches of serene coast, its cute and welcoming towns, its pristine wine country. But we’ve got some trendy spots as well, andt here seem to be more debuting all the time, from big city-inspired nightclubs to chic eateries with a palette of artsy drinks.

Here are some of our favorite hot spots for a drink and a bite.

Lido Restaurant

Tastings: 3 wines to drink now, 3 to cellar

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:02 PDT

By Laurie Daniel -- Wine shoppers are finding SLO County reds from the 2005 and 2006 vintages;whites are generally from 2006 and 2007. All three vintages produced generally high-quality wines,with good concentration.

As for quantity, the 2005 vintage was huge, but it was followed by two lighter-than-normal years, and some experts are starting to predict statewide shortages in some grape varieties, including chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and zinfandel.

One side note about Paso Robles:The Paso Robles Wine County Alliance reported alcohol levels were down slightly in 2006.

The Grapevine: News & Notes

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:02 PDT

Peddlin’ in Paso: Paso Robles will host a stage of next year’s Amgen Tour of California bike race,whose route will be dramatically altered and longer from the first three and cover more of the state. San Luis Obispo was a host city for the first three years but will not be on the 2009 route.

Paso will be the finish for Stage 6, scheduled for Feb. 19. Riders that day will begin in Visalia and most likely end in Paso’s downtown square. The following day they will race a time trial in Solvang.

More than a million fans have turned out to watch stages of the race during the past three the week-long tours,making the event one of California's largest professional sports contests.

Getting away in style

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:42 PDT

By Rebecca Juretic -- A bed and breakfast getaway once involved staying in a quaint cottage or Victorian, ensconced in eyeletruffled bedding and needlepoint pillows.

While some still prefer this traditional B&B setting, a new class of inns offers updated décor and a sophisticated sensibility. Options run the gamut from pared-down modern establishments to warm and sumptuous Tuscanstyle residences. Most offer private suites (no more scurrying down the hallway, clad only in a towel).

What hasn’t changed is the way bed and breakfasts balance privacy with the opportunity to be social. Common areas allow you to get acquainted with other guests. Most still have live-in innkeepers who act as hosts — someone to chat with over a homemade breakfast and offer advice on local attractions. Or, when the mood strikes, it’s equally acceptable to be utterly anti-social and retreat to your own, private room. Here are three local bed and breakfasts that offer the best of both worlds — longstanding B&B tradition with style that is very much up to date.

Power brunch: Favorite spots for an early meal

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:08 PDT

By Sally Buffalo and Dawn White -- Cayucos — Hoppe’s Garden Bistro
Hoppe’s Garden Bistro, near the pier in Cayucos, is possibly the most acclaimed restaurant on the Central Coast, a favorite of gourmands and wine lovers.

And the prix fixe Sunday brunch includes three courses plus champagne for less than many dinner entrees alone, making it an excellent value for such renowned cuisine.Many of the dishes are taken straight from the lunch and dinner menus. The brunch appetizer and entrée choices cover the savory and the sweet, breakfast and supper, sure to satisfy any appetite as long as it’s big.This is no light breakfast.

For appetizers, it’s a difficult decision among a number of tempting salads, oysters on the half shell and more substantial selections that could include carpaccio of filet mignon, braised Hearst Ranch beef, sand dab tempura or barbecued beef ribs, depending on what’s freshly available nearby.

Tiny gems, big wines

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:37 PDT

By Raven J. Railey -- Amidst the explosive growth of wineries large and small in the Paso Robles area, some tiny gems have been born.

Their stories are as different as their vintages: wine lovers trying to save money, ranchers trying to save their land, grape growers who wanted to show off their product, a winemaker who started at age 13.

But they all offer highly personalized wines in very limited quantities that are often difficult to find outside their wee tasting rooms. Most are also family affairs where the winemakers are often the ones pouring tastes for visitors.

The wine buzz

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:05 PDT

By Janis Switzer, Melanie Cleveland, Dawn Rapp -- A chill new spot for wine lovers
Templeton has a new wine shop to tempt wine lovers to stop in. 15degreesC Wine Shop, next to the Trader Joe’s off Vineyard Road, goes beyond local wines with an international selection of 350 wines from France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Australia and other parts of the world.

And not to leave out its home base, the shop carries about 35 offerings from “smaller, hard-to-find, highly allocated” wineries such as Villa Creek, Alban, Denner and Tablas Creek. There’s also about 25 beers, a dozen sakes, international cheeses, olive oils, vinegars, salts, pastas and deli meats. The shop offers wine flight tastings that change daily and weekly and monthly special events with tastings and talks.

And the name? It’s the ideal cellar temperature for storing wine. The Celsius figure (equivalent to 58 degrees Fahrenheit) is a nod to the shop’s focus on imports. It’s also the temperature in the store, which may not feel ideal to shoppers. Not to worry: the owners have fleece vests on hand if you get a little chilled yourself.

Touring

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:43 PDT

By Sally Buffalo -- Driving around Paso Robles recently, a friend and I made a quick, unplanned turn off Highway 46 West into the former Sycamore Herb Farm, now called Lone Madrone. I had long been curious about the place and just never found the opportunity to stop by.

We parked the car by a bright green farmhouse and made our way through the trellis entry, stopping first to say hello to Buster,a distinctive-looking Nubian goat who greets visitors, and check out the funky, precariously perched tree house. Not long ago, the farm was home to the tasting room of the whimsical Bonny Doon Vineyard — one of the first area wines I “discovered” when I moved here.The tasting room was destroyed in a fire in 2004, and after operating out of a tent, then a trailer, for two years, Bonny Doon decided to close in 2006. The owners of the herb farm also took the chance to retire. Thankfully, Lone Madrone moved in to set up a tasting room, and last year took over the herb farm as well.

We entered the new tasting room and gift shop — a clean, modern building that still harkens back to an old farmhouse — and began browsing the myriad spices (who knew there were so many variations of sea salt?), artwork and beautiful wood-carved furniture and accents. It didn’t take us long,however, towander over to the tasting bar to sample some of the wines. The tasting fee was a little steep, at $10 each, but we didn’t regret it.

The last sip

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:33 PDT

Cal Poly has a new graduate - wine. Students in the university’s three-year-old wine and viticulture program bottled their first vintage of Cal Poly brand wine in the fall.

The pinot noir ($18) is sold at Taste in downtown San Luis Obispo, and a chardonnay and a red blend called Mustang Red will be available soon.

Sales of the wine will help fund the expansion of what is becoming one of the largest viticulture/enology programs in the country.