Laura and I went to one of our favorite destinations last weekend. We drove to Paso Robles for the Zinfandel Festival. Zinfandel has become my favorite varietal and they sure make some good Zin in Paso. We met our friends Denny and Jodi at Tobin James winery, visited with our friend Tim Booth, and drove west on highway 46 for a few more stops.

First up was Zin Alley. Frank Nerelli is the owner and he makes a superior wine in very small quantities. Frank is very down to earth and makes you feel right at home.

Our final stop of the day was at Jada Vineyard. Operations manager Susan West had arranged a private tour for us and it was something we'll never forget. We walked down to the barrel room and were shown the new wine "eggs" that they have begun using in addition to the wooden barrels. The eggs are made of concrete which allows the wine to "breathe", something it can't do in stainless steel.

The egg is to the right of the wine barrels.

We then got in Susan's car and drove around all of the vineyard. It was a glorious spring day and the views were magnificent. We went back to the winery where Susan had a table set up for us. We tasted barrel samples of their various wines paired with different cheeses. If you visit Paso Robles, make sure you stop at Jada.

Later, Laura and I returned to Tobin James for their James Gang Reception. Food from about 20 different restaurants, live music and lots of wine. They had a new product called "plush puffs", flavored marshmallows that we got to roast over a flame.

Steve Anglim makes excellent wines which you can sample in the tasting room of Anglim Winery in the train depot downtown. That was our first stop Saturday morning. We sampled some of Steve's wines while we nibbled on salami and cheese and visited with Steve and his lovely wife Steffanie.

Next stop, four blocks down on Pine Street was the Mid Life Crisis Winery.

Jill and Kevin Mittan are the owners and winemakers. During the week they work in Hollywood. Jill works in post production on the TV series 24. It was great to visit with Jill, sample some more fine wines and pick up some sparkling wine for our upcoming wedding.

From there we went to Zenaida Cellars where they were celebrating a "Zen" fest. Flute music was playing, and we entered the candle-lit barrel room, where they offered "library" tastings of their different wines, vintages from 2003 to barrel samples of 2007 wines accompanied by delicious hors d'oeuvres. Winemaker and owner Eric Ogorsolka was on hand along with cellar master Tyler Russell.

The wildest part of the afternoon was at Four Vines Winery. Shortly after arriving, winemaker Chris Tietje led a group of about thirty of us into a dark barrel room, lit only by candles. He told us about his wines, mostly Zinfandels, and we tasted barrel samples. The last taste came from a glass carafe that we held above our mouths and let the wine flow in - extremely bizarre. Make no mistake though, Four Vines makes superb wines.

Sunday morning we drove to the end of Vineyard Drive and began the day at the fabulous Carmody McKnight Estate Vineyards. Laura and I found this place last year on our first visit to Paso and we just love it. We passed a bicyclist on the way and we met him when we were parking the car. It turns out he was winery owner Gary Conway. You may remember him as an actor from Burke's Law or Land of The Giants. We had a nice visit, then proceeded to the barrel room where winemaker Greg Cropper was just getting ready to sample the barrels for the days' visitors. We were extremely happy that he asked ask to taste along with him. Carmody McKnight's wines are world class and the work Greg puts into them really shows.

We had two last stops to make. We discovered Dubost Winery on our last visit and met Kate Dubost then. Kate's son Jacob is the winemaker, and he is one of the very talented new winemakers making his presence felt. Jake's making some delicious wines, and we also enjoyed some very tasty barbeque before heading down the road for our final stop.

Finally, we pulled into Starr Ranch. Owner Judy Starr sells grapes to many of the area wineries. She opens her gates a few times a year. We've been lucky enough to be there on two occasions when she's been open. Laura is very fond of her Gypsy Rose. I'm partial to her Cabernet Franc and Odysseus blend.

Phil Stevens was on hand and he is just getting ready to release wines under the Del Real label. He gave us a great tour and let us taste several barrel samples including his phenomenal Zinfandel.

We're already looking forward to our next visit to the Central Coast. We'll be staying in the winemaker's loft at Zenaida cellars. You can see a few more photos if you visit my photo blog.

Murrieta Real Estate Expert – Tom Plant, REALTOR® - Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage – Active Rain Ambassador  (951) 907-9701

It would be my honor to show you the incredible Temecula Valley, a place I’m very proud to call home.

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