In public the get-together in the tasting room at Donati Family Vineyard on Saturday evening was called a “Summer Seafood Soiree.” In private we were calling it “Eat it Raw.”

Most of the scrumptious seafood dishes, prepared by Pier 46 Seafood Market and passed around on heaping platters, were uncooked including many kinds of oysters, plates of sushi and sashimi and raw ahi tacos ingeniously stuffed into fried wonton dough formed into a taco shell shape.

The lone cooked dish was crab cakes which were full of crab (not full of filler) and came with a sweet or spicy sauce. A tad greasy, but yummy nonetheless and the 35 or so attendees made short work of them.

Brandy and Mitch, from Donati, serve crab cakes to Karen (Paso Wino #2).

With such an intentionally small group, Donati’s long and lovely wood slab bar was never crowded and everyone was able to easily get more of their favorite wine (Karen continues to adore the 2006 Claret while Eric can’t say no to 2005 Ezio–however the 2008 Pinot Grigio has “seafood ready” written all over it). In fact, there was no need to elbow your way to the food either, which often happens at these types of special events, and everything (and everyone) remained civil and satisfied.

Donati is a great winery to visit during  a special event because they make a wide range of wine (so there’s something to please all palettes), their indoor and outdoor facilities are roomy and lovely and the staff understands how to have fun AND keep the glasses and the plates full.

Mark your calendars: While every day is special and unpredictable at Donati, their next scheduled special event is coming up fast. On September 5 the winery will host the 46 West Block party when the 16 wineries of the 46 West group will be pouring up a storm. Add in some BBQ and a live funk band and we smell trouble. Delicious, delicious trouble!

We read that post at 3:45 and still managed to get to the Clautiere Vineyard tasting room (a 30 minute drive away) before it closed at 5. When we walked in we told the woman behind the bar that we were there because we’d just read a Tweet about the blow-out sale on cases of white. Her reaction “No way!”

Way.

Tweeting about an impromptu sale like this is a prime example of one of the many ways Twitter should be used by wineries for immediate results (ie, sales), though alarmingly few Paso Robles wineries are doing it. Yet.

But Clautiere has always been a leader, not a follower right down to its motto which is “a winery like no other.” Clautiere’s tasting room lives up to that motto with an electric palette, a penchant for harlequin prints and epic portraits. The owners themselves describe it as “Edward Scissor Hands meeting the Mad Hatter at the Moulin Rouge” and who are we to argue? Actually, the cartoony rendering of the tasting room on the winery’s web site is not that far off from the reality…

One of two lively tasting bars at Clautiere Vineyard.

Oh, did we mention the basket of hats and piles of wigs for customers to try on and the shed out the back that’s full of even more costumes and fun house mirrors?

Which one goes with Mouvedre?

This wonderful wackiness is the brainchild of Clautiere owners Claudine and Terry (Clautiere, get it?) who between them have previous careers as a fashion designer, a welder, a landscape designer and a restauranteur. Now they make wine that’s fragrant and friendly and surprisingly serious given the eclectic surroundings.

We also love their latest brainstorm: a spin-off label called Two Cocky Sisters that’s meant to be an “economy buster” with a price tag of $11 per bottle. Essentially, they blend all of the leftovers together into deliciousness.

The painting that inspired the "economy buster" Two Cocky Sisters label at Clautiere Vineyard. Looks like they could bust more than just the economy...

Speaking of blending, Clautiere does a full complement of single varietal wines, but they’re not afraid to throw in  the kitchen sink. Their 2002 Grand Cru ($35), for example, is a happy mix of Syrah, Cuonoise, Grenache, Mouvedre, Cabernet Sauvignon and Viognier. Just drink it. It’s a pleasant surprise to find many of Clautiere’s wines under 15% alcohol as well.

You’ll want to linger at the tasting room bar, but pull yourself away long enough to check out the Clautiere version on a winery gift shop. No dopey wine glass charms or bottle stoppers in the shape of dolphins. Nope. The Clautiere shop sells killer t-shirts that say things like A Day Without Wine is a Drag printed over a Warhol-esque photo of a male fan of the vineyard in a florescent wig.

Tasting room hours

Daily 12-5

Free or fee?

$5  (free for club members)

Bar snacks

None, but it was closing time when we arrived

Soundtrack

None, but it was closing time when we arrived

Bottle prices

$20-$69 (mostly in the $30s)

Wine club

Yes and accepting new members who can opt to receive two shipments of six  or 12 bottles each every year and enjoy wine club member savings of 20%

What we walked out with

A mixed case of 2005 Viognier and 2005 Rousanne for 96 bucks people

More information

Nothing quite conveys the essence of this unique and tasty winery like an actual trip to the tasting room. Make your visit a doozy by signing up for Clautiere’s Cops Criminials Kimonos event on August 18 (free for cub memeber, $30 for the rest of us) and be treated to the full  Clautiere effect with costumes (come dressed as your favorite cop, criminal or kimono wearer) plus food and great wine and probably wigs. Lots and lots of wigs.

A portion of the many varietals and blends offered by Clautiere Vineyard.

Sharing a bottle. Sharing advice. Even sharing wine making facilities and space. Sharing is a huge part of how wine gets made and why it’s so enjoyable to drink. Heck, Alta Colina wouldn’t even have a tasting room except for the generous and sharing nature of their neighbors at Villacana (awesome women’s t-shirts in their tasting room, btw). Earlier this year Villacana owners Alex and Monica offered to let first-time winemaker Bob Tillman use their equipment and rented them an unused portion of their building so they could turn it into a cozy upstairs tasting room.

This is where we met Meg after a short drive down Adelaida Road, one of the most scenic winery-laden byways in the Paso Robles area. Her family’s brand new winery just finished its first bottling (2007) from their 31 acre vineyard  of Rhone varietals, some of which were bought by the venerated Justin Vineyards & Winery–a good sign in and of itself.

No doubt these are incredibly young vines (just three years old). However, the extremely refreshing and rounded white blend of Marsanne, Rousanne and Greanche Blanc, the pleasingly light GSM, two radically different Syrahs (one from grapes blended from different blocks of vines in the vineyard and one made exclusively from grapes grown in the mysteriously superior block #9)  plus a pleasantly metallic/tobacco-laced Petite Syrah don’t taste like young’ins. (The winery’s viognier is still fermenting in the barrels but we can’t wait to taste that too.)

Prices are on the high end ($28-$48), which Meg explained as a conscious decision by her father who believes  that the wine is and will continue to be worth the price (particularly the 2008 Claudia Cuvee and the 2007 Old 900 Syrah, if you ask us) so rather than start out with lower first-bottling prices then have to raise them on people Mr. Tillman wanted to set the bar where he feels it belongs from the outset.

Tasting room hours

Thursday – Sunday 11AM – 5PM.

Free or fee?

$5  (free for wine club members)

Bar snacks

Wrapped morsels of Dove dark chocolate on the tasting room bar

Soundtrack

Billy Holiday

Bottle prices

$28-$48

Wine club

Yes and accepting new members. Alta Colina’s club offers a full 20% discount to members and only members of their wine club can buy the wonderfully earthy and seductive 2007 Old 900 Syrah (from the magical vineyard #9) and the already sturdy 2007 Ann’s Block Petite Syrah.

What we walked out with

A bottle of the super-refreshing and so-drinkable 2008 Claudia Cuvee white blend (for a limited time you can get a case of this stuff for $240!) and a bottle of 2007 Old 900 Syrah.

More info

Winery profile from the Paso Robles Country Wine Alliance

August Ridge Vineyard was opened by Jill and John Backer in 2001 and they released their first vintage (2005)  in 2007. The mostly-red wines are, in their own words, “Cal-Ital” style and lean heavily on Sangiovese, Barbera and Nebiolo grapes. All were delicious and enjoyable even at such a young age. The 2007 barbera, a varietal that’s getting harder and harder to find around here, was luscious and proper like a beautiful, but married, Italian woman and the  2006 Sangiovese was all bottled smiles, though the 2005 Sangiovese may have a bit too much alcohol (15.5%) for some, including Jill the owner.

The lone white wine currently being offered at August Ridge (a Sauvignon Blanc is rumored to be in the works) introduced us to an Italian varietal we’d never heard of: Arneis. With a clean, almost austere mouth-feel and a refreshing crispness capped off with an almost lemon-juice acidity at the finish the August Ridge Arneis beats the capris off Pinot Grigio any day.

Tasting room hours

Friday 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM and Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM or by appointment (call 805-239-2455).

Free or fee?

Free except for their two reserve wines for which a $5 fee covers both. Fee is waived upon purchase of a reserve bottle.

Bottle prices

$21-$44

Wine club

Yes and accepting new members–and with such small production numbers (fewer than 70 cases for some varietals) wine club members often get goodies that are never poured in the tasting room.

What we walked out with

1- 2008 Arneis, 1- 2006 Sangioves, 1- 2007 Barbera

More info

Winery profile from the Paso Robles Country Wine Alliance