Location 14: Paso Robles, California

By Betty JohnsonFebruary 19, 2020

“Pass of the Oaks” or Paso Robles is a small resort town in central California’s San Luis Obispo County, also known as SLO. Paso is known for its hot springs, olive oil, and wine, wine, wine. There are over 30,000 planted vineyard acres and the area is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel wines. We love the area and explored, tasted and soaked.

Some of the things I love about wineries are the oaky aroma, the passion of the staff from the maintenance person to the winemaker, the warm, welcoming atmosphere and simple beauty. We spent a memorable morning at Daou Winery, located atop the fertile vineyard hills with spectacular views. We nibbled on meats and cheeses, Brian tasted wines, I shot photos. Amaris was a wonderful hostess, making this one of our best tasting experiences ever. If you get the chance, DO THIS.

We also visited Peachy Canyon, Austin Hope, Herman Story, Turley, Adelaida for wines and Paso Olivo for olive oils. Brian favored the wines at Adelaida, Austin Hope, and Herman Story. My favorite olive oil was the buttery Tuscan variety, which goes oh-so-well with a nice fresh sour-dough baguette and a little pink Himalayan salt. It is safe to say that we are immersing ourselves in the local cuisine and culture quite well.

My new favorite wine tasting term is chewy. Who knew this term described wine? I am here to tell you if the wine is chewy, bold, heavy, deep, dark, extracted, inky, brooding, fruit-forward, full of body, and dark blue then it is the type of wine that Brian seeks and enjoys:) It took some work, but luckily we found a couple of said wines.

For Valentines, we took part in hot mineral spas, choco strawberries, and the Bruno Munro Sensario Field of Lights exhibit. There was live music and food/wine trucks at the field. We watched the sun go down and the solar field of lights come up, what fun.

We took a couple of drives up and down Coastal Highway 1, visiting small towns like Morro Bay and Cambria. We were entertained by the smelly elephant seals near San Simeon. Highway 1 is as high and curvy as ever, what a scenic and somewhat harry(for those not fond of cliffs and heights) drive. We were constantly amazed at the bicyclists, making amazing and challenging rides.

We stayed at the new Cava Robles RV Park. This park is great with nice views, dog parks, pools & hot tubs, fitness center, kiddie parks. Brian defeated me at Bocce Ball while the dogs visited the near-by dog park. It was their first dog park experience in 14 years – they did not know what to do and cried for us to let them out. The live oak tree pictured below was at the back of our spot.