Paso Robles Wine Country Getaway - June 2007

Paso Robles has officially arrived as a wine country destination spot. Proof of this can be found in the fact that since our last visit, about a year ago, there are 4 additional tasting rooms in downtown Paso Robles, 13 new wineries in the countryside, and the Hotel Cheval, a luxury hotel just off the City Park in Paso. There is also a battle waging to divide the Paso Robles into AVA's or wine appellations. One group calls for two regions dividing Paso into west and east AVA's with Highway 101 as the divider. The other proposal and one mostly favored by the winemakers is to divide the region into eleven small AVA's. An important part of an AVA is that 85% of the wine varietal listed on the wine must come from that specific AVA.

Restored Paso Robles Clock Tower

We spent three days exploring Paso Robles wine country and discovered some new spots and revisited others.

Our recommendations should you travel to the Paso Robles Wine Country:

Where to stay: There are many lodging establishment in Paso Robles, but the best place to stay is near the City Park where all the action is. The Paso Robles Inn offers the best price without sacrificing comfort. The new Hotel Cheval is quite luxurious but rooms are expensive at $400 plus per night on weekends.

Where to eat: In town, our three favorites restaurants are the Artisan, Bistro Laurent, and the Buena Tavola See our review of recently opened Matthews and Artisan.

Where to deli: Panolivo Restaurant has the best take out including panini sandwiches

We visited these wineries:

Castoro - Best picnic spot Four Vines - Tasting room only, but excellent wines Rabbit Ridge - Beautiful Tuscan style winery Penman Springs - Friendliest tasting room Cass Vineyards - The Rockin One wine, picnic area Tolo Cellars - Young winemaker Josh Gibson Pipestone - Best Rhone wines we tasted on this trip Laura's Vineyards - Temporary tasting room J Paul Rosilez - Adobe style tasting room Our favorites and ones we'll visit again are Pipestone, Four Vines, Rabbit Ridge, Cass, Penman Springs, and Tolo.

Tolo Winemaker Josh Gibson

Restaurant Reviews

Artisan Restaurant

The Artisan opened in October of 2006. Reservations are a must because this place has become the Paso Robles hot spot and the place to dine on weekends. The decor is very inviting and sets the tone for the whole dining experience. The wine list has plenty of local wines at good prices. The corkage fee is only $10 and waived if you purchase a second bottle. There were six of us for dinner and everyone in our party raved about their meals. Our server was great and put up with our bad jokes. Our dinner bill for the six of us came to $287 without tip.

The Good: Excellent menu and atmosphere
The Bad: Very popular, need reservations on weekends

Bistro Laurent

This is the best food in town. We have dined here several times and never had a bad experience. Corkage a year ago was free, now it is $20. There is an extensive wine list and we think the prices are just a tad on the expensive side.

The Good: Outstanding French cuisine
The Bad: $20 corkage, expensive wine list.

Matthew's Restaurant

This location has been five different restaurants in the past five years. Matthews is destined for the same fate unless they get their act together. For example, no web site information, sample menu handout is that of their other location, and there is no menu in the window and no information about hours it is open. The service was poor. When we asked about a certain white wine, the answer was "I drink red wines only," with no offer to find out about the wine in question. Despite all that, we have to say our meals were delicious and well prepared. The chicken dishes are very good. We will try Matthews again, but in the meantime cannot recommend it.

The Good: The chicken items on the menu.
The Bad: Unorganized and poor service.

Where to Eat Breakfast

There are a few traditional breakfast spots scattered around town but we think the Panolivo restaurant offers the best fare. They make really good coffee and have some healthy choices for breakfast. We tried the Chelsea bookstore one morning where the Novella coffee shop is located in the back. Bad choice, that is all can we say about our experience.

We outline our list of top wineries to visit on our Paso Robles wine region