A Life, Lived: Wandering Paso Robles

It has been four years since we had been in Paso Robles - we were amazed at the change in the town. While it still very much had a small town feel to it there had been amazing growth. Perhaps the biggest change has been in the growth of the wine region - grapes were growing everywhere . . . the only patch of green in the drought burnt out countryside.

We decided to have breakfast at an old favourite of ours: the Cowgirl Cafe . . . it was great to discover that it was every bit as wonderful as it had been. It's a bit over the top with the ode to times gone by but the service is great and the food delicious.

After breakfast we wandered around the town. The small town, down in the country feel was everywhere - especially with few establishments being open before noon!

We did some shopping in the stores which were opened and relaxed in the town square. This was a civilized way to spend the day – relaxing under the oak trees and watching the world wander by.

Our next stop was some of the East side wineries. The divide between the east and the west of paso, essentially the 101, is the source of conflict within the wine community. The East side is relatively flat and far more accessible with larger commercial wineries. The West side is hilly; the wineries tend to smaller and less commercial. As a result they seem to experiment with their wines a bit more.

All of that aside – there are good wines to be had in both areas and in fact, some bad ones.

We visited two of the East side wineries that Paul had selected – Robert Hall and Eberele. We had been to Eberele before and liked it. This time we weren’t thrilled so our visit was short. Robert Hall was better but it wasn’t a tasting experience which blew us away. Of course, even with not being blown away by the experience, we still had at least 6 bottles of wine in the back of the car and our purchases from wandering Paso earlier in the day – since it was getting HOT and we didn’t want things cooking or melting we elected to head back to our schoolhouse to drop things off, have some lunch, and relax prior to our visit at AmByth winery. I had made an appointment for 3 PM leaving us plenty of time for lunch and a nap even.

Of course, on the way back to the house we 'happened' to drive past one the newest wineries in Paso. Calcareous is high up on the top of a hill with stunning views and amazing wines. It was a happy stop for us.

Our friend Hande suggested we go to AmByth. She was impressed with their natural approach to wine making. I knew if Hande suggested it then it was a must. AmByth is located high on a hill in the Templeton area. They dry farm. They add nothing to the soil that isn’t 100 % organic and natural (I guess that is a redundant phase). They use no chemicals on weeds or other flying pests. Their natural approach continues into the winery where they had stop the grapes, and add nothing to the wine – the fermentation is completely natural with no yeasts being added.

The owner, Phillip, explained how they came to make wine this way. It was an interesting journey and it was hard not to be caught up in his passion. It was even harder when we tasted the fruit of their labours. We tried 8 or 9 wines, including some still in the barrel. They were all well-made and interesting. We also sampled some of their olives and their olive oil. The depressing thing was trying to decide what to buy to bring home – damn you Canadian laws only allowing 2 bottles of wine per person.