Why would you want to go to Paso Robles?
If you want to go to wine country why don’t you go to Napa or Sonoma? My husband’s coworker asked him on Thursday. My response upon hearing of this conversation? Because they’re pretentious, unfriendly, overcrowded and way overpriced.
Now this response really was mostly a snarky response to a snarky question. Mortgaged and I had a lot of fun in Napa and they have some truly great wine. However, comparable wine in Paso Robles is $20 to $40 less per bottle, Paso Robles tasting fees are $5 to $15 cheaper than in Napa (though I well understand that the crowds of tasting only visitors drove Napa wineries to charging those fees), Paso Robles is much closer for us and much less crowded. Also, while Napa/Sonoma is certainly friendly, at most wineries you will not have the opportunity to talk to the winemaker, winery owner or their family. In Paso Robles this is not a given, but if such a person isn’t the one pouring your tasting they’re likely to stroll through at some point and answer questions. So, while we certainly wouldn’t turn up our noses at another trip to Napa, we generally prefer Paso Robles...and the fact that Mortgaged's wonderful parents let us stay at their vacation home in Cambria makes this option possible even now.
We were just in Paso Robles for Labor Day weekend and, of course, everyone was talking up the Harvest Festival at that point. Harvest Festival is the one festival weekend we’ve never made it up for, so we decided to take this Friday off and see what we could see. Like most festival weekends, the individual wineries hold mini-festivals and events to celebrate the occasion. There a lot of expensive options for fun that truly do seem worth it, but also a lot of free and cheap options that wind up being a blast. Mortgaged and I are still firmly in the free and cheap camp - You know the rules, any comments from the peanut gallery that make you laugh for more than 15 seconds must be shared ;) - so once again we did not attend Midnight Vineyards Annual Chicago Ribs and Blues night. One of these years we really need to make a point of attending though because it sounds amazing! However, we found plenty of other things to do including pick-up parties, a wine and bacon pairing and more tacos and tri-tip than any sane person could possible eat while indulging in all manner of delicious varietals…but I will write these adventures up in more detail when I get home.
Suffice to say, we came, we drank, we ate, we enjoyed baseball games with rabid Giants fans, we met and chatted with a lot of fun people, we saw Red at the little theatre off the park, and we had a great time. I would definitely recommend Red by the way. We were in the mood for a fun action movie and this was everything we wanted it to be. The cast looks like they had a blast and Helen Mirren and John Malkovich were especially good. But I digress again. Off to check the laundry one more time. As soon as it’s dry, we’re hitting the road. Looking at FaceBook it sounds like it's raining in L.A. It hasn't started here yet. The mist is just a little thicker and mistier than usual. It will be nice to come home to a little rain, or a lot even. I love it and we need it.