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Paso Robles starting to bloom in California’s central valley
(The following story was published in the June 25, 2006 editions of the Dayton Daily News)
By Mark Fisher
Staff Writer
PASO ROBLES, Calif. - The “Paso moment” occurs on our first night in the central California wine-producing region.
We’re minding our own business, sitting at a table at McPhee’s Grill in Templeton for an early dinner, just starting to groove on the bottle of Linne Calodo zin-syrahmourvedre blend before the oak-grilled steaks arrive, when some guy strolls past, his wife and kid walking ahead of him.
He pauses at our table, points at our bottle and asks, “Hey, what do you think of that wine you’re drinking?”
We like it a lot, we reply. Why, perchance, do you ask?
“Because I made it.”
Turns out the mystery man was indeed the owner and winemaker of Linne Calodo, Matt Trevisan, genuinely curious about what a couple of out-of-towners thought of his wine.
This is exactly the kind of thing that might have happened 20 or 30 years ago in Napa or Sonoma - the regions we Ohioans know as California Wine Country - before those areas were developed and paved over with dozens of bed and breakfasts, frou-frou restaurants and mid-life-crises wineries, not to mention a wine train or two. Sure, visiting those tourist meccas is still fun. But you’re about as likely to have a winemaker stop by your dinner table in Napa to see what you think of their wine as you are to buy a house at a reasonable price anywhere in California.
The Paso Robles wine region isn’t close to anything - it’s smack dab in the middle of the state, pretty much equidistant from San Francisco and Los Angeles - and for now, it has a distinctly schizophrenic nature, seemingly unable to decide whether it wants to remain a collection of bucolic, backwater ranching towns hundreds of miles away from civilization, or to evolve into a premier wine-producing region that could someday rival California’s finest.
For now, it’s a little bit of both. The hills here are dotted with new vineyard plantings, many in the steeper terrain on the west side of U.S. 101 . But this is still a place a wine geek - I mean, enthusiast - can enjoy the undivided attention of the tasting-room staff, if not the winemaker.
The most exciting wines coming out of Paso Robles are Rhone varietals, particularly stunning whites made from viognier, marsanne and rousanne. Among the reds, syrah and mourvedre plantings are on the rise, while zinfandel and cabernet sauvignon also flourish.
None of the wines lacks in concentration or flavor - Paso is not a land of wimpy wines - and the region has long been a producer of quality juice . According to the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, about two-thirds of the wine grapes that Paso produces are sold to wineries outside the area, leading the alliance’s marketing minds to proclaim Paso Robles grapes “the secret ingredient in other California wines.”
That’s a tad much, but there is a real sense that Paso Robles is poised to carve its own distinctive identity. The number of wineries has already tripled in the last 10 years, to more than 100. Quality and enthusiasm are both growing.
Here’s hoping they can pull off this Renaissance while maintaining the charm of a place where the winemaker still stops by your table.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2258 or mfisher@ DaytonDailyNews.com.
A Dayton connection, of course
Dr. Kedrin Van Steenwyk, the Dayton-area physician who oversees an OB-GYN residency program for Kettering Medical Network/ Grandview Southview hospitals, is the daughter of the founders of Adelaida Cellars, one of Paso’s up-and-coming wineries. Kedrin’s mother, Elizabeth Van Steenwyk, serves as Adelaida’s president and general manager.
Dr. Van Steenwyk’s medical career blossomed in Dayton - but she has quite a soft spot for Paso Robles.
“The area is growing and the land spectacular,” she said. “It hasn’t lost its very natural appeal and has not yet been overly commercialized, probably because it’s not easy to get to - but that makes its allure even stronger.”
- Mark Fisher If you go to Paso
Check out …
www.pasowine.com for information on (and links to) the region’s wineries.
Eat at McPhee’s Grill in Templeton (www.mcphees.com) or Villa Creek in Paso Robles (www.villacreek.com).
Both are open for lunch and dinner, and feature plenty of local wines.
Stay in downtown Paso Robles if you want to be within walking distance of restaurants and a very cool town square.
Or save some bucks by checking out the motels in nearby towns .
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