spaswinefood: Great wine at Paso Robles greener wineries

Oaks and vineyards dot the landscape around El Paso de Robles, California. Paso Robles American Viticulture Area (AVA), San Luis Obispo County is California's third largest and fastest growing wine region. There are over 180+ wineries in this appellation area. With so many wineries to visit you need a plan. Spaswinefood's plan was to check out Paso Robles's green wineries. In the end we visited the following:

1. Halter Ranch Vineyard (SIP Certified)

2. Tablas Creek Vineyard (Certified Organic)

3. Pipestone Vineyard (Sustainable Agriculture)

4. L'Aventure Winery (the winery's use of solar power is in the spirit of Sustainable Agriculture)

5. Castoro Cellars (SIP Certified)

A California winery, which uses sustainable agriculture must meet certain requirements to be Sustainability in Practice Certified (SIP Certified). Requirements must also be meet for organic and sustainable farming certification. Groups like the Central Coast Vineyard Team are actively engaged in promoting sustainable vineyard practices on the Central Coast.

Three of the wineries visited (Halter Ranch, Tablas Creek Vineyard and Pipestone Vineyard) are part of "The Far Out Wineries" of Paso Robles. They collectively describe themselves as "Off the Beaten Path and Worth the Drive ...".

Paso Robles greener wineries © Spaswinefood

Exploring Paso Robles greener wineries © Spaswinefood

Spaswinefood's first two winery stops (Halter Ranch Vineyard, Tablas Creek Vineyard) are on Adelaida Road.

Halter Ranch Vineyard

Halter Ranch 8910 Adelaida Road is a SIP Certified winery. The 960-acre ranch has 240-acre estate vineyard that is planted with 20 grape varietals. They produce Bordeaux and Rhône style wines. Kevin Sass is the winemaker.

Halter Ranch Vineyard © Spaswinefood

The Halter Ranch Vineyard is an historic property. When we visited there was construction going on in the main building. The tasting room was moved temporarily to the barn.

Halter Ranch Vineyard © Spaswinefood

We tasted 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, 2010 Rosé, 2010 Côtes de Paso Blanc, 2008 Côtes de Paso, 2008 Syrah, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 Ancestor Estate Reserve and 2008 Vin de Paille (see description and tasting notes). We especially liked their Cabernet Sauvignon and the Ancestor Reserve. Reviews of some Halter Ranch wines are on Snooth. Visitors to Halter Ranch Vineyard have commented on Yelp.

Halter Ranch Vineyard © Spaswinefood

At Halter Ranch we were greeted by a very friendly cat. We also found the staff very welcoming.

The reception cat © Spaswinefood

Covered bridge near winery entrance © Spaswinefood

Tablas Creek Vineyard

Our next stop was Tablas Creek Vineyard 9339 Adelaida Road. Tablas Creek Vineyard is an organic vineyard. Tablas Creek Vineyard has a unique history and partnership. The winery has a wine making model, which uses select Rhône varietals to produce wine.

Tablas Creek Vineyard © Spaswinefood

We tasted 2009 Grenache Blanc, 2009 Roussanne, Espirit de Beaucastel Blanc, 2010 Rosé, 2009 Côtes de Tablas, 2008 Espirit de Beaucastel, 2010 Vermentino and 2007 & 2008 Syrah. I especially liked their Syrahs. Tablas wines gets good reviews by wine critics. Robert Parker's Food and Wine article (October 2007) noted "In fact, there has been a succession of very strong vintages for the winery in the past six years, starting in 2000." According to Vine Crowd the August 2010 Wine Advocate announced Parker's awarding of 90 points or higher to 17 of Las Tablas wines. You can also see visitor's comments on Yelp.

Tablas Creek Vineyard, Grenache Blanc 2009 © Spaswinefood

Tablas Creek Vineyard, Rosé 2010 © Spaswinefood

Tablas Creek Vineyard, Vermentino 2010 © Spaswinefood

Pipestone

We arrived at Pipestone Vineyards at the end of the day. It was a special treat to visit a family run vineyard. Jeff and Florence run the farm and do the wine making. They bring a dedicated earth friendly vision to wine making. Their vineyards produce hand-made Estate Grown Rhône-style wines.

Pipestone Vineyards © Spaswinefood

After arriving at the gate we drove a short distance to the tasting room.

Pipestone Vineyards © Spaswinefood

At Pipestone we tasted 2009 Viognier, 2007 Grenache, 2007 Rhône Style Red Wine, 2007 Syrah - Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007 Syrah and 2006 Chateauneuf du Pipe. We liked their wines and especially 2006 Chateauneuf du Pipe. Reviews of Pipestone wines are on Snooth. Visitors to Pipestone have posted their comments on Uptake and Yelp.

Wine tasting at Pipestone Vineyards © Spaswinefood

Pipestone Vineyards © Spaswinefood

They have great Grenache. Grenache is most commonly blended with other wines and so a pure Grenache is a special treat.

Pipestone Vineyards © Spaswinefood

As we left we passed the beautiful sign on the gate again.

Pipestone Vineyards © Spaswinefood

Pipestone is an excellent model for green wine.

The next two wineries we visited were L'Aventure and Castoro Cellars.

L'Aventure Winery Stephan Vineyards

L'Aventure Winery 2815 Live Oak Road is a picturesque winery on the west-side of Paso Robles. The owner/winemaker Stephan Asseo has been described by some (such as Robert Parker) as a superstar.

Stephan Vineyards at L'Aventure © Spaswinefood

After arriving at the entrance to L'Aventure Winery we drove a short distance to the parking lot where we saw the sign for the tasting room.

Tasting room is colorfully painted.

We tasted 2010 Côte a Côte Rose (64% Mourvedre, 26% Grenache, 10% Syrah), 2006 Optimus 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Syrah, 5% Petit Verdot), 2008 Estate Côte a Côte (40% Grenache, 40% Syrah, 20% Mourvedre) and 2008 Estate Cuvée (50% Syrah, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Petit Verdot). We loved the wines, especially the Estate Côte a Côte and Estate Cuvée. Unfortunately, we could not buy many because they are on the pricey side.

Robert Parker's Food and Wine article (October 2007) describes the winery as " . . . producing remarkable Cabernet Sauvignon. . . . . This is the single best Paso Robles Cabernet and competes with the best Napa Valley Cabernets. Asseo also produces an intriguing Grenache-Syrah-Mourverde blend, Côte a Côte, that's a dead ringer for a top-notch Southern Rhône wine." You can see visitors comments on Yelp.

After tasting I captured photos of the beautiful setting. Here are a few of the ones I took.

Later I discovered the significance of the layout in the vineyards.

Castoro Cellars

Since Spaswinefood visited Castoro Cellars Winery Templeton in December 2010, this post will only highlight its green efforts. Castoro Cellars is a winery, which uses sustainable agriculture in the production of its wine. It produces over 75 acres of "organic certified" wine. Castoro Cellars is also high on my list due to the fact that it consistently produces good wines.

What is happening at Castoro Cellars, Halter Ranch, Pipestone, L'Aventure and Tablas Creek in Paso Robles is an excellent illustration of the attention being given to green wine; the fact that "green wines" are also great wines. This year's third annual Green Wine Summit shows an increasing trend towards green wines in California. Paso Robles Wine Country is a good source for further information on Paso Robles wineries (see also TreeHugger's article on sustainable wineries). The California Winery Advisor is a great source for overall information on California wineries and Paso Robles in particular.

I invite you to join me in my travels in California and elsewhere at Spaswinefood, or you can visit my travel column at the Examiner.

Sharon

June 2011

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See other Spaswinefood posts on Paso Robles:
1. Best Restaurants in Paso Robles
2. Castoro Cellars Winery

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Saturday, July 9, 2011

Great wine at Paso Robles greener wineries

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