A glass full of wine tasting tickets, the aroma of Greek cooking, and rowdy country rock music—you’ll find it all during the annual Paso Robles Wine Festival this coming weekend, May 19-21. Our historic and shady park will host 12,000 visitors heading for wine tasting, music and picnics. You can also visit our breezy hilltop at Dover Canyon, and put your feet up in a shady spot under the trees.
Question #1: What are grilled bonitas, and is there a cost?
Grilled bonitas are ‘little good things on the grill.’ This weekend we will be be serving tritip fingers and grilled Portabella mushrooms glazed with balsamic vinegar and stuffed with Gorgonzola. We will also be serving excellent cheeses, walnut pesto from our walnut orchard, roasted pepper pesto, homemade saffron bread, and award-winning olive oils from Willow Creek Olive Ranch. When it’s my turn at the barbecue I also like to grill oil-brushed peppers and chunks of saffron bread. A hot, toasted cube of saffron bread topped with melting cheese and a sliver of grilled pepper is great with syrah.
There is no charge for our open house appetizers, and we generally serve between 11:30 am and 4 pm. We encourage you to get a sample of wine in the tasting room and then wander outside to the grill for an accompaniment. Winemaker Dan Panico mans the grill in person for most of the weekend, so it’s also a great opportunity to talk with him.
Question #2: Why aren’t you pouring at the Grand Tasting in the City Park?
With a total production of only 2,500 cases, and a wine club established in 1997, our releases sell out quickly. We’ve poured at the grand tasting until 2004, when spring releases started selling out within a few months.
Although our hilltop site is always balmy and breezy, downtown Paso Robles is framed by steep western hills that block the ocean winds. The buildings surrounding the town square also limit air flow, so weekend temperatures in the park may be in the upper 90s. For those of you who will be joining us for the weekend, here are my Top Ten Tips for enjoying the Paso Robles Wine Festival in style.
Bring lots of layered clothing. May mornings are cool, afternoons quite hot, and evening events may be downright chilly.
Go to the bathroom early. "Go" before you come to the park, and then go again early in the afternoon, before the porta-potties heat up and the lines get long. You’ll be a happy camper.
Eat a healthful but light breakfast. Pancakes and sausage, for many of us, are not a good idea on a hot Saturday morning. Bring a small basket of your own food to the park. Vendor food will be excellent, but lines are long, and the servings are sometimes too small to offset abundant wine tasting on a hot afternoon. Blankets, chairs and coolers are not allowed in the wine tasting area, but a few simple food items tucked in a roomy canvas bag will tide you over between wine booths. Snacks like grapes, crackers, soft cheeses, and prawns will keep you full and primed for wine tasting. Of the vendor offerings, I prefer sushi platters, baked elephant garlic, pickled prawns, and the gourmet mini-pizzas.
Which leads us to tip number four. Share with strangers—it’s a gracious way to meet people and introduce yourself to winery personnel and volunteers.
Taste the reds first. Paso Robles is well known for the quality of its red wines, but after you’ve tasted 10 chardonnays, it’s 2 p.m. and the reds are warming up in the shade where it’s only 95 degrees, I don’t feel our reds will leave you with their best impression. Take a nap, have a snack, and finish the afternoon with a leisurely tasting of whites, which will have been chilling comfortably in ice.
Be original. Wine pourers are already primed for questions like, "What is your percentage of malolactic?" and "Where do you get your grapes form?" They can recite that stuff in their sleep It’s a lot more fun to test the graciousness and mettle of winery personnel (especially after late-night winemaker dinners) with offbeat questions like "Do you blend the pinot and the noir?" or, "Do you have a buttery cabernet?"
Visit the wineries on Saturday instead of Sunday. The wineries are relatively quiet during the tasting in the park, and staff will generally have their feet up and look surprised when you walk in the door.
This is a good time to scout the Paso Robles area if you are considering purchasing land here and planting grapes. Although vines usually grow faster.
Get to know the people behind the wines. After all, vintages change from year to year, but our wine personalities are as recognizable and distinctive as our vineyards
Enjoy wine in moderation. Enjoy life to the fullest. Enjoy our Paso Robles Wine Festival and the wineries of Paso Robles.
Comments