Pacific Coast Wine
Trail (pacificcoastwinetrail.com) - This
group represents a rebirth of a small group of wineries near Cambria, on the
Hwy. 1 coast, thirty miles north of San Luis Obispo. I previously referred
(first part of this series, Sept. 24, 2012) to what was once called the Cambria
Wine Trail appearing to have gone away. But it has come back as a group of six
wineries that grow and purchase a wide variety of grapes from the Paso Robles
and Monterey areas. Some of the offerings include Tempranillo and Albarino
along with Rhone varietals and Cabernet plus Chardonnay and Zinfandel. The
tasting rooms begin on the south at Harmony Cellars neat the junction of
Highways 1 and 46W, continue into the village of Cambria with Blackhawk and
Moonstone Cellars, the new Stolo Family Vineyards, Twin Coyote Winery and ends
with Hearst Ranch Winery.
There are several wineries in San Benito County but no active marketing group. Some can be found
by a search for San Benito Wineries but a good general search tool for the
various regions in California, including this area is found at cheers2wine.com .
Santa Cruz (santacruz.winecountry.com
& scmwa.com) - Most of the actual wineries in Monterey County are actually
south of Monterey, along the San Lucia range. Even though Santa Cruz is on the
north side of Monterey Bay, the wineries are in the mountains north of the
town. Therefore the clusters of wineries are more than an hour from one
another. So, I struggle a bit in considering it part of my Central Coast focus.
Yet there are some excellent wines there and if you are coming from San
Francisco, it can be worth a side trip to some of the tasting rooms. I'd also
suggest looping up to the 380/280 (if from SFO) south on the 1 to Pacifica and
on to Half Moon Bay. There you can take Hwy. 92 back east to the 280 or take
the scenic and winery friendly Skyline route (Hwy. 35) which offers several
options. One being going through Saratoga to Los Gatos and Hwy. 17 into Santa
Cruz and then Hwy. 1 toward Monterey along the bay. A very scenic drive will be
your reward.
The first web site shown is an offshoot of Wine Country Magazines, these being
regional in nature and noted below. The second site listed has over eighty
members with links to each. Both sites offer general touring information on
things to do and places to enjoy in the area.
Santa Clara (santaclarawines.com)
- What was once open farm land and orchards, most of the county has been
covered up by progress, in the guise of San Jose. There are twenty two tasting
rooms in this group, which is centered on the Hwy. 101 corridor from San Jose
to Gilroy. Locations include Saratoga, Watsonville and Morgan Hill. There are
some fine options that work well for the mostly travelling but tasting prone
folks using this major pathway to or from the Bay Area.
Livermore Valley Winegrowers
Association (lvwine.org ) - Not so many years ago, the gravelly hillsides
around Livermore was open land, best known for the Lawrence Livermore
Laboratory and a growing bedroom community for the cities on the east side of
San Francisco Bay. Forty wineries are involved with the association and there
are more than fifty wineries in the AVA, which was officially recognized in
1982. For some time, since the 1880s when Wente, Concannon and Wetmore built
wineries in the area, the first two (who survived Prohibition) were about the
only know producers. Livermore wineries led the trend to varietal labeling of
wines and in experimenting with less well known wine grapes. It is said that
over three quarters of all the chardonnay grown in California traces its roots
back to the Wente clone, originally planted in Livermore.
Contra Costa County - Tucked behind the east bay hills
and north of Livermore is an area that was not well known as a source of good
wine until recently. There is no official organization but the source wine-searcher.com lists four actual
wineries in the area and there are many growers in the region. Details on the
wineries can be found on the web site listed.
Ventura County Winery Association (vcwines.org)
- Many people only know about Ventura from a song that said a highway went
there. But the association lists six members and there is also a Ventura wine trail .com) with seventeen
wineries listed. It includes Malibu to Ojai in that group but is a good source
for other tourist needs such as hotels and dining.
Malibu (malibuwineries.com) - While
the beach colony and celeb lifestyle gets most of the attention, there is a
large amount of lightly settled land in the hills and canyons above the beach.
Most of the Santa Monica Mountains are federal lands but tucked away are
several fairly new wineries. If your plans to visit the Central Coast include
landing in L.A. consider that it is sometimes faster to take the
"PCH" (Pacific Coast Highway - Hwy 1) to connect to Hwy. 101 in
Oxnard, about 1/2 hour SE of Santa Barbara. Hwy. 1 actually borders LAX on the
east but includes a lot of city surface driving of little interest. Get the 405
(Californians refer to many roads as the "the"), then west to Santa
Monica on the 10 and north on the PCH. Doing this offers the chance to check
out Malibu, including wineries and some excellent places to eat and comes back
onto the 101 close to Ventura (above) and the many labels worth a stop in Santa
Barbara.
Resources and Guides -
Nearly every association offers newsletters, email blasts and on-line or by
mail brochures. There are also various monthly or quarterly tourism based
publications, some of the best know are listed below.
A good
option for general information, especially for lesser known areas or wineries
that don't work within an association is Californiawineryadvisor.com as is
calwineries.com.
Central Coast Food Tours
(centralcoastfoodtours.com) - An interesting foodie concept that you may wish
to utilize.
Wine
Country This Month, (winecountry.com) a magazine available in many
tasting rooms, also provides an excellent source for maps in a larger format
than some area brochures. It covers the San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara
County wineries and offers a monthly e-letter at www.winecountrythismonth.com.
Discount coupons for tastings and product are a nice feature. Different
wineries (due to advertising basis vs. organization membership) are provided on
these maps. Though there is a lot of overlap, wineries that use the magazine
may not belong to the larger regional marketing groups. A recent edition, for
example, showed about forty fewer PRWCA wineries that were listed in that
association's guide but included an equal number of wineries in the AVA that
were not members of that group nor on their brochure map. This can be helpful
in locating wineries you may be looking for or make for a geographically easier
group of visits.
Visit
Paso Robles (visitpaso.com) - The Chamber of Commerce visitors guide
and travel planner covers many of the usual food, wine and lodging (many
B&B) options but also branches out to farm stand and equestrian
suggestions, spas/salons & family
fun ideas. Relocation help is also featured along with a wide ranging annual
calendar of events.
VINO (vinopasorobles.com) - Fairly new on the scene
and five issues under their belt, this is a seasonally (1/4ly) published
magazine addressing wine and the associated lifestyle. Paso area events are
covered, winery listings and a well done map are included. Other articles
feature local chefs, dining options and profiles of those in fields related to
the main theme. For example, a piece on an artisan vinegar producer is in the
current issue.
SLO Visitors
Guide (slovisitorsguide.com) - A quarterly magazine format publication
focused on all the SLO County, going town by town. That includes the Paso
Robles AVA south through the San Luis Obispo wine region as well as coastal
wineries. The format offers a more
general overview of wine touring, lodging, restaurants, local
attractions and events than wine association brochures. It is in wide
distribution in hotels and many wineries.
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