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.