Paso Vino Tour 28Jun16

Hitting the beach, visiting with our friends Steve & Anne, dining delicious and riding & hiking around SLO are all great but we fill the cellar from our visits to the Central Coast too. We hired a driver and hit six esoteric wineries around Paso Robles this day. Perhaps it was because it was our final two or just because they were the best but Bodega de Edgar (picture with Edgar himself) and Alti Colina were some of the best. Kala and I gravitated to the rarer blends on this visit so have Tempranillo, Conlignan and others Rhone varietals in the cellar now. The facilities at LaW, Halter Ranch and Sextant were over the top gorgeous; the views from Douw (high point in SLO County) were amazing; the food was always good where we went. And of course the wines and wine tastings here are much better value and more laid back than Napa or elsewhere. I did taste the brews around the county during wine down-time and found Firestone Luponic Distortion, Barrel House Brew Company IPA and Central Coast Lucky Day the best. We even caught a surprisingly excellent Chicago concert (they'd hired a young, excellent signer) from the 9th row. SLO is cool (but was pretty hot when we landed and then chilled nicely).

LaW

Villa Creek

Brecon

Douw

Tablas Creek

Alta Colina

Bodegas de Edgar

Herman Story

Desparada

Barrel House Brew Co

Sexton

Bishop Pk Smears 27Jun16

Climbed the highest point in SLO County - a Moro named Bishop Pk. 1600ft elevation or so - had to solve some boulders and smear the summit blocks at the end of the trail. A moro is and old volcano coney worn down - there are seven around here.  Did both peaks on a pretty hot day so I walked down to Central Coast Brewery and grabbed some Gold Medal brews - a world medal IPA named Lucky Day and a session collaboration gold from GABF named Faciitator. Yesterday I had a Paso Robles IPA from BarrelHouse Brewing Co (BHBC) IPA. All west coast citrus and excellent. I'll have to see if I can get the team to go to Firestone Walker but we have so many wineries.