17 May 2007 - 11:26Writer’s Block in Wine Country

We’re tooling around the Central Coast and I, for the life of me, am at a loss for words. That last meager tasting note is all I’ve been able to summon after our first day of tasting room visits.

The facts:

We’re staying in San Luis Obispo. We drove around Edna Valley yesterday. The cool climate is ideal for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and we’ve tasted some delightfully crisp and refreshing wines, most of which defy the dominant heavy California style.

Missus Dink and I are here visiting the offspring and their attachments, who all live in the Bay Area but we convinced them to meet us here because the largest outdoor wine tasting event in California, the Paso Robles Wine Festival, is happening this Saturday.

We’ve visited a few wineries but none that have won me over. We’ve tasted some nice wines but haven’t found the exact combination of style, affordability and accessibility that I’m seeking. By accessibility, I mean the ability to have wines shipped to Georgia when the order is made from Georgia. As far as I know, they can all ship if I buy the wine on-site but I’m looking for wineries that I can establish a long term relationship with.

BTW, visitors to this area should know that every tasting room we’ve visited thus far has charged us $5 to taste but most of them also will apply that to purchases. I’m spoiled by having tasted so often in Sonoma (and Napa) without ever having to pay a fee so I’m not happy about this trend but this amount is reasonable, at least at those wineries that aren’t stingy with their pours. (Here’s a lively discussion on this topic at Vinography.)

More later, hopefully…