As we write this to you we are in Mexico learning Spanish, preparing for further explorations of this wonderful and surprising country and plotting our moves even further south. Eventually we will cover all of North Central and South America and you can bet there will be a particular focus on Where to Wine destinations (from stunning campsites to incredible hotel balconies to the scenic mountaintops) along the way. We’ll also be covering the very exciting wine regions we know about (Chile and Argentina we’re talking to you) as well as ones yet to be discovered.

You can keep up with us via our Trans-Americas Journey web site, the Trans-Americas Journey blog and Trans-Americas Journey Twitter account. You can also help by suggesting any Mexican, Central or South American wines to try or wine regions to investigate.

Cheers!

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!

The Paso Robles Rotary Club has put on the Winemakers’ Cookoff for the past decade and has raised roughly $230,000 in scholarship money so far, not counting what was raised at yesterday’s 11th annual event.

Craig Reed (right), winemaker at Martin & Weyrich, grilled up some carne asada for their tasty (and competition winning) tacos.

It was our first year at the Winemakers’ Cookoff,held at the luxuriously-lawned River Oaks Hot Springs property, and we made a few rookie mistakes, like arriving pretty much at the start time of 6pm–along with hundreds of others. The bottleneck at the entrance was soon soothed, however, by the smells coming from nearby grills and mini-kitchens set up by the 30 participating wineries. This lead to our second mistake: not consulting the very detailed and very helpful event program we were handed at the entrance along with our monogrammed wine glasses and sturdy plastic plates with built-in wine glass holder.

After plenty of yummy meat, fish and shrimp dishes these brownies were just what our second glass of Eberle 2001 Estate Reserve Cab called for.

Instead of using the list of menus and special offers listed in the program to guide us through the impressive and slightly intimidating sea of food and wine, we just dove into the first food and wine stand we stumbled upon. It was Mondo Cellar’s and there we enjoyed a tender and tasty lamb slider–a four-bite treat that would stand out as a culinary highlight of the night. A taste of their 2006 Mistress, a Bordeaux blend with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc, washed it down–more pleasantly after the initial high-alcohol nose dispersed.

Our initial manic rush to eat and drink sated, we took a more leisurely approach to our next stop at WCP Cellars stand where staff was dressed like extras from a B-52s video complete with shades with lenses emblazoned with “WCP.”  Why? We have no idea. What we do know is that their ribs were a touch greasy, but very tasty and their 2004 Tempranillo handled the heft with just the right amount of earthiness.

Whalebone's Umami short rib bites were a hit and we liked their Bob wine.

We applaud the creative-thinking at Bianchi Vineyards, our next stop, where they served seared ahi on a disc of raw jicama with either a green sauce (paired with their palate-refreshing 2007 Pinot Grigio) or a red sauce (paired with a red wine we can’t remember). Unfortunately, the creative thinking didn’t translate to creative eating as the slightly-starchy jicama battled (and beat) the subdued flavor of the tuna.

Not so at Calcareous Vineyard where they did beef sliders with bacon coupled with their yummy 2006 Meritage. Next we were tempted by the offerings at Eberle where we enjoyed a glass of 2008 Cote du Robles (very good for one so young) and mostly enjoyed their pulled pork tacos. The filling was delicious (pork, cilantro, sesame seeds), but it came encased in a corn tortilla that was unpleasantly crunchy and dry, not soft and freshly warmed–next time we suggest a tortilla warmer or two.

Eberle served up pulled pork tacos. Not shown here is the six liter bottle of amazing
2001 Estate Reserve Cab they offered in exchange for People's Choice vote tickets.

And now it’s confession time: along with the serious official judging of each winery’s food and wine offerings, participants in the Winemakers’ Cookoff are also judged by the public, which has inspired many wineries to come up with vaguely cloaked bribes to try to get as many of the “public choice” vote tickets as possible. At Eberle, this persuasion took the form of a very generous pour from an imperial bottle (that’s eight standard bottles) of their 2001 Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.

Was it good? We actually returned and each gave Eberle another vote ticket in exchange for another glass of  heaven. Will vote for wine!

During the course of the three hour event it is simply not possible to eat and sip what all 30 wineries have to offer–that  breaks down to about six minutes per winery which would be an unpleasant exercise in Speed Eating.  One  omission we really regret is that we never made it to the Tobin James Cellars booth where the line for their ancho rubbed white prawns over Peruvian potatoes was always a mile long–plus they closed up shop right at the  stroke of 9 even while others were still pouring, thus foiling our plan to return later when the crowd had thinned.

Not that we could have eaten another bite at that point. All in all, a unique fun-filled evening and we can’t wait to hear how much scholarship money was raised.

Listening to the music of Julie and the Bad Dogs on the luxurious lawn.

Official Winners:

Judges’ Choice:

• Honorable mention: Mitchella Vineyard and Winery
• 3rd Place: Tobin James Cellars
• 2nd Place: Whalebone Vineyard
• 1st Place: Martin & Weyrich

People’s Choice:

• Honorable mention: Eberle Winery
• 3rd Place: Arroyo Robles Winery & Vineyard
• 2nd Place: Mitchella Vineyard and Winery
• 1st Place: Sylvester Winery

Mitchella Vineyard grilled up Mini Sirloin Sliders that were beloved by the judges and the public alike.

Our Winners:

Most popular ingredient: Bacon by far. Got a problem with that?

Most popular type of dish: A tie between variations on sliders and variations on tacos.

Best theme: Clautiere Vineyard’s culinary (and costumed) ode to Mexico’s awesome take on the fine art of wrestling. Called Lucha Libre, this Mexican obsession involved grown men wearing brightly colored masks and tights while mixing wresting and campiness to such extemes as to make WWF fans blush. A Clautiere staffer was dressed as a Lucha complete with mask and cape (below) and they served up steaming plates of Nacho Libre Mole with chicken. Delicous fun.

Clautiere's Lucha Libre cooked up Nacho Libre Mole.

Best t-shirt: Pear Valley Vineyard, whose Cookoff workers all wore tees that said “Nice Pear” across the front.

Best freebie: Chronic Cellars stickers featuring the lable off their “Sofa King Bueno.” Hilarious.

August 8: Winemakers’ Cookoff

Thirty of Paso’s best wineries will be cooking and pouring at this annual fundraising party that benefits the Paso Robles Rotary Club. Net proceeds from the Winemakers’ Cookoff go to the Rotary’s Harlow Ford Scholarship Foundation which awards $30,000 for education to deserving local high school students. The Cookoff has made roughly $230,000 in scholarships possible so far.

Even though it’s in its 11th year we’ve somehow never made it to a Winemakers’ Cookoff so this year will be our first. We’re thrilled at the roster of wineries taking part his year and particularly looking forward to what Clayhouse Wines, Chronic Cellars, Cass Winery, Eberle Winery, Halter Ranch Vineyard, Calcareous Vineyard (and oh, well, all of the 24 other participating wineries) will be pouring and dishing up.

Unlike a lot of wine events, participants in this one will be judged not just on their wines but on their food prep and pairing as well, so come thirsty and hungry! Tickets are still available and $75 gets you all your food and wine plus really good karma. Not drinking? Event organizers smartly offer designated driver tickets for $40.

Did we mention the live blues music and a chance to win a Hawaiian vacation?

August 21: Olive Festival

The 6th annual Olive Festival will be held from 10 am to 5 pm in downtown Paso Robles and while not technically a wine event, strictly speaking, where’s there’s wine there are usually olives and we’re looking forward to tasting some creative versions as well as classics and dipping into some of the olive oil that Paso is becoming known for. To keep the natives happy, wine and beer tasting will also be offered along with free olive oil ice cream.

August 22: Wine for Water  Benefit Event

Readers of this blog know that we’re huge fans of the not-for-profit group Wine for Water, its founder Ryan Boersma and its mission to creatively and effectively raise money to drill wells and install pumps to provide clean water to people living in the most needy corners of the globe. Here’s our original post about it.

We think August is not too early to start wracking up the tax write offs so come to the first ever Wine for Water Benefit Event from 4-6:30 in downtown Paso Robles. You’ll be treated to hors d’oeuvres and wine from Paso wineries including Booker Vineyard, Saxum Vineyards, L’Aventure, Torrin Vineyard, Jada Vineyard and Winery, Terry Hoage Vineyards and Jack Creek Cellars.

All proceeds go directly to Wine for Water’s efforts and each $40 ticket will help provide clean drinking water for at least 2 people for 20 years. That warm fuzzy feeling you get inside very time you turn on the tap are realize you’ve helped ease the planet’s water access problem? Priceless.  

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.

It was too beautiful to keep to ourselves.

The self-proclaimed “bastard live child of a music geek and a wine freak” (Derek and Sara, respectively) the site harnesses the couple’s skills as writers (they create screenplays and comedies in Los Angeles) and passion for wine and music (Derek spins at Palihouse on Fridays) to pair an album (yes, vinyl, hence the site’s name) with a bottle of wine.

This is something we can relate to, being mightily into music as well as wine. New pairings go up every week (usually on Thursdays, so go check it out) and Sara and Derek even tell you where to buy the albums they recommend, via customized links to Amazon but, and provide an insidery list of a dozen or so of their favorite wine stores dotted hither and yon across the country (and one in England) plus a few online retailers that sell the wine they recommend.

The site looks and feels like a zine, which we love: handcrafted, a bit ramshackle but all passion which, now that we think about it, reminds us of what we love most about our favorite wines and music too..

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

The whole shebang is the brain child of an alarmingly tall man named Ryan Boersma who’s built like a rock climber (because that’s what he is) and has the heart of a true millennial philanthropist. See a problem. Feel a problem. Fix a problem.

Ryan saw the clean water problem (one billion people don’t have clean drinking water right this very minute) during trips to India, Kazakhstan and Guatemala. As bad at the water situation is there, its even worse in Ethiopia so that’s where Ryan started solving the problem, using his own money to install the first Wine for Water well in early 2009 (each well costs about $5,000, will serve the entire community and will last for years).

While Wine for Water is certainly not the only charity focused on the issue of access to clean water, it is one of the most innovative for a number of reasons that add up to more water and less waste. First, Ryan realized that he can raise more money by opening the Paso Wine Centre as a business, then donating all profits to Wine for Water vs. just trying to get direct tax-deductible donations to Wine for Water (which are still very much appreciated, by the way). Second, Ryan maximizes the effectiveness of every penny by partnering with an existing clean water action group in Africa which gives him access to pricey infrastructure stuff like vehicles so he doesn’t have to buy them himself. Third, all profits after operating costs (like staff salaries and rent for the Paso Wine Centre) go straight to Wine for Water. ALL PROFITS.

The Paso Wine Centre has been open just six weeks and is slowly but surely attracting customers with its loft-like feel, inviting leather chairs and couches and bank of fancy enomatic wine-dispensing machines made in Italy that look like something out of The Jetsons’ kitchen. The enomatic system sucks the air out of an opened wine bottle, thus extending it’s shelf life–up to three weeks–after it’s opened. Ryan’s enomatic center dispenses nearly 50 different wines (about a hundred more are available by the bottle), with a refreshing focus on young labels and young/upstarty wine makers (one is called Chronic).

Ryan’s goal, beyond keeping those leather sofas full and that enomatic system pumping, is for Wine for Water to install more than 100 wells in Ethiopia over the next 18 months, so start sipping! If you’re in Paso Robles on August 22 (and you should be because that’s the same weekend the annual and aweseme Olive Festival plus free concerts in the park and the city’s ), stop by the Downtown Park Ballroom (1232 Park Street) from 4-6:30 for a special fund raiser for Wine for Water. Forty (tax deductible) bucks gets you in the door where you’ll enjoy tastings of area wines from Booker, Saxum, L’Aventure, Torrin, Jada, Terry Hoage and others plus hors’devours and a really warm and fuzzy feeling inside (from helping such a worthy cause, not from the wine).    

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