This was our third and most likely final day of wine tasting as we will be leaving on Wednesday. Let me get you caught up as to what we have done since my last post.
On Friday we took a drive out to lake Nacimiento, which is a few miles west of us. This was a lake I used to go to as a kid when I spent my summers up here. There was not much to do as this is the off season so we drove the park and then headed back to do some wine tasting.
First stop was Justin Winery, www.justinwine.com. The experience was OK, wines overpriced but decent. Overall, not that impressed. Next we went to Kiamie Winery, www.kiamiewines.com/. This was a quaint little winery with another winery right next door, although we did not go to the neighbor. The tasting room was nice and the server was very pleasant. We were impressed with their wines and ended up buying two bottles. At this winery the server made all the difference. Last stop was Peachy Canyon Winery, www.peachycanyon.com. We had previously tried their wine and I wanted to stop to taste more. We both were impressed with their wines, especially their Zinfandel. The server was a very pleasant fellow from England, so he had a great English accent.
No tasting over the weekend but today, Monday, we headed out for another round of tasting. This time we were in the Union Road area, which is very near our RV park. First up was Tobin James, www.tobinjames.com. This was a neat place for tasting. They have it made up like an old western town and you taste at a bar. They are a larger winery so their prices are more moderate. Very impressed with their Syrah and red blend. Again, by tasting during the week with nobody in the place the server allowed us to taste many of their reserve wines, including a $150/bottle of Syrah. Their reserves are outstanding.
Next up was Cass Winery, www.casswines.com. I had picked this one because they had a café where they paired their entrees with wine, so I had this one set up for lunch and we were impressed. Their wines are expensive, $40 per bottle on average, but when you order lunch you get a glass a wine with your meal (and they recommend the pairing), plus our tasting was free thanks to the RV park. The meal was outstanding as was the wine. This is one winery we will visit again when in the area.
Next up was Sculpterra, www.sculpterra.com/. This one looked interesting as they had a sculpture garden as part of their winery. Beautiful grounds and a great tasting room. Their wines are a little pricey but their red blends are outstanding. The winery was started by a local doctor who started with pistachio orchards then got into wine. Would be a very nice place to have a picnic.
Last up was Clautiere Winery. At first I was concerned as the server was telling me the tasting coupon had expired and they have been trying to stop them, etc. Dumb argument with nobody in the tasting room and a coupon you previously had honored. She finally said she would charge us $5 for the wine/cheese tasting as opposed to the $10 for the tasting. The pairing with cheese was a novelty and was enjoyable. They recommend you taste the wine, then eat the cheese and taste the wine again. I have to say it did make a difference in your opinion of the wine. Nice experience and OK wine but not one I would probably go back to.
Tuesday we will be doing chores and then leaving on Wednesday, so the 200 plus wineries we missed will have to wait till another day!
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