Wine Sediments

I recently attended a wine tasting of Paso Robles wines at Anthony’s Pier 4 Restaurant in Boston, MA.  The wineries present were on tour with the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance. 

Their website states that Paso Robles has more than 170 wineries and 26,000 vineyard acres focusing on premium wine production.  Their micro-climates and diverse soils, combined with warm days and cool nights, make growing conditions ideal for producing more than 40 wine varietals.  Their grapes range from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petitie Sirah, Syrah, Roussanne, Viognier, and Zinfandel just to name a few.  I think my favorite style of wine from this region would be the blends made from Rhone grapes.

Here are a few of my favorite wines from the tasting.  For a complete list of my Paso Robles reviews and recommendations you can visit the Paso Robles region page on my website.

The Clayhouse Vineyard 2004 “Estate” Petite Sirah is probably one of the most food friendly Petite Sirahs you will encounter.  I rated the wine Very Good .

Villa Creek had 2 wines that I considered Excellent.  The 2005 Willow Creek Cuvee is a stunning blend of 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah, & 20% Mourvedre.  This terrific wine is smooth as silk.  The other wine was the Mas de Maha.  This wine is made up of 60% Tempranillo, 25% Grenache, & 15% Mourvedre.  I can’t say enough about these 2 wines.  Just find them, buy them, and enjoy.

The Austin Hope Winery had a winner with its 2003 Syrah.  This wine stood out as clearly the best wine from this producer.  This is another wine you should go out of your way to find.

On the value side, there where 2 wines from J. Lohr that I thought were Very Good.  Both the 2005 “Seven Oaks” Cabernet Sauvigon & the 2005 “Los Osos” Merlot were very nice values.

For you white wine fans, I would suggest the 2005 Tablas Creek “Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc”.  This wine is made from 70% Roussanne, 25% Grenache Blanc, & 5% Picpoul Blanc.  It was is nicely concentrated and tasty.

It’s always nice to finish with a dessert wine.  The 2005 EOS Dessert Wine is called “Tears of Dew Late Harvest Moscato“.  It is made from 100% Muscat Canelli.  This wine is a nice finishing wine.  It will be a real crowd pleaser.  I know because I tasted some folks on this wine a charity event I recently attended and everyone enjoyed it.

Paso Robles Wine Country is centrally located between San Francisco and Los Angeles along California’s Central Coast.  If you can’t make it out to this fast growing wine region, make it a point to seek out their wines.

Cheers,

Ken