In the midst of planning our return trip and you all were such help the first time around so I thought I’d ask some advice again. This time we have a few couples we are bringing along for the ride. A couple of them aren’t the biggest wine drinkers so looking for a good mix of wine and ambiance and not necessarily the expensive higher end tastings at $40 a pop. To get our tastes ones we are hitting for sure due to being in their clubs are Denner, Zenaida, Brecon, and MFN. My husband tried to join Levo and found out after the fact they don’t ship to Michigan.
Debating between Adelaida vinyard or Alta Colina (or do I try to squeeze in both)
Turley vs J Dusi–Currently i’m a mailing list member at Turley but debating if I should drop and maybe join J Dusi and hit there for a tasting instead. J Dusi gives 4 tastings vs Turley’s 2.
On the higher end debating between Fulldraw vs Torrin vs Law. (We hit Th Estates last time and loved it so looking for something similiar)
Any good places for lunch in the main winery area other than niner? We loved the food but though their wine was just okay. I have Halter Ranch for our lunch stop on one day. Right now i’m leaning towards driving into town for Jeffrey’s and then driving back out to the wineries on the second day.
I just spent 6 weeks in paso this fall. My #1 rec is go to turtle rock if you can! The wines are crazy good and reasonably priced. They’re fairly generous about comping tastings if someone in the group buys something. It’s in tin city, so the ambiance is not as good as torrin or denner. I also love torrin, but had the same experience as JulianD with low availability.
Paso market walk is also nice, and the wine store has a good selection of bottles and glasses. It’s a good stop for a mixed crowd (with ice cream, cheese, beer, ramen, etc).
One of our favorites in Paso is L’Aventure. They are on the higher end, but imo worth it, plus it’s right next to Booker/MFN. If you stop at Turtle Rock, I’m sure you could find a lunch place somewhere in Tin City.
Not a winery, but a must stop for us next Paso trip is Somm’s Kitchen. The place was absolutely amazing. Ian, the chef/somm, prepares and serves 8 courses paired with 8+ wines. Both the wine and food were top notch. He only has 12 seats, so your group would have the majority of the seats. We can’t wait to go back.
$15 for Turley vs $20 for J Dusi, Turley opens at 10:00 so i’m leaning making that that our first stop and then maybe have the group meet up with us at the second stop. (they move slower than we do in the morning. When my husband and I taste we are committed and read to go first thing lol)
Last trip it was between L’Adventure or Clos and we did Clos. It was nice but we weren’t blown away for the price point. For some reason my beginner palate just does’t really care for French or French inspired wines. For that reason I’m hesitant to do L’Adventure.
We did Turtle Rock last trip and most likely our third day will be at Tin City or maybe the afternoon we head in.
We hit the Paso market coming out of Paso last year and really liked it, that would be a good spot too. I think i’ll forgo trying to fit a winery/lunch on the route during the second day and just take a little extra time to drive into town and back out. I think the group would enjoy that.
Sit down tasting at Tablas Creek is great. Also liked Adelaida and Law is very nice for a high end tasting experience. Would stop at Dao just for the views!
Turley- I think they waive tasting with 2 bottles.
We tasted at Law years ago and Torrin last year. Both were really nice tastings. We haven’t been to Fulldraw. You might consider Epoch. We always enjoy tasting there.
Food/Lunch- We like to stop at Vivant Cheese downtown before a day of tasting and have them put together an assortment of cheeses to take with us. They have sandwiches, as well.
If you want to venture to the east side, Cass Winery has a cafe, so you can order food with your tasting. I remember the food being really good. It’s been awhile since we’ve been there.
L’Aventure has as much in common with French wines as the average Paso winery (where as I can see a bit more of a French influence on some of Clos Solene wines). It’s very much new world, and I wouldn’t let any disinterest in French wine dissuade you from trying L’Aventure.
Out of these 3, I’ve only been to Torrin, but it’s probably my favorite place to visit in Paso (although, there are a ton of wineries I haven’t been to yet). As a member, I’m usually able to taste most/all of the wines when I visit, but it’s true that they’ll sell out of some of their Torrin wines early and not offer them in the tasting room, so I would check (although, I think their Lagom wines are usually great too).
We did Tablas last year and while the wines weren’t for us they were hands down one of our favorite tastings. I highly reccommend to check them to others for a first time Paso trip.
-I think Adelaida is a clear winner to add this trip.
-We did Epoch last year and really enjoyed the tasting. I highly reccommend to others.
-Good idea on the Vivant cheese stop, I was trying to remember which wineries use them but even better to just grab on our own.
-One of my biggest regrets last trip was not fitting in Cass when our b&b was so close, not sure I can make it work this time around either.
L’Aventure has as much in common with French wines as the average Paso winery (where as I can see a bit more of a French influence on some of Clos Solene wines). It’s very much new world, and I wouldn’t let any disinterest in French wine dissuade you from trying L’Aventure.
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Good to know, I’ve really been waivering on this one. If I nix Alta Colina I think Ican make L’Adventure work.
Tablas is my favorite winery in Paso. The have a diverse selection of wines, all of which are very well made. It is one of only two wineries that I just take what they ship me.
Did a Paso trip with the Mrs, best friend and his wife a few weeks ago. We visited L’Aventure, Fulldraw, and Turtle Rock. Of the three Fulldraw was by far everyone’s favorite. The 2018 Honey Bunny was already drinking really incredibly and was everyone’s favorite wine of the trip. We liked Turtle Rock second and L’Aventure was our least favorite (though still quite good). I would definitely go to Fulldraw: they have great wine, beautiful facility, lovely staff, and also some fun wines to try that took me (by no means anything close to the knowledge of some on this site) by surprise like M.E.M. a 100% Mourvèdre.
This is my first post ever but wanted to comment as we liked Fulldraw that much.
If you like port, visit Paso Port. It was a fun stop last time we visited the area. They have some good wine too.
I love Denner’s Cab Franc. It was a nice visit as well.
The most memorable, and what we all considered the best find for the entire trip was RN Estate. The tasting was at the owner/winemaker’s home, west of town. Great Pinot’s and red blends. Reasonable price point too.
Our next visit to the area will defiantly include a day at Tin City. It was in the early stages of life the last time we were in the area. I’d love to see it now, after watching the NetFlix show on it the other night…
Another vote her for RN, great visit (you need an appointment), great wines. Does he still have a Great Dane? I’m sure the one we met is long gone, but Dane owners tend to stick with the breed
Another, slightly odd recommendation for a place you might otherwise drive right past: If you like BIG (and I mean BIG), rustic, no-holds-barred Zinfandel, give ZinAlley a quick stop. High ABV, full throttle, spicy, rich Zins - not for those looking for an elegant experience, but I do enjoy these crazy wines from time to time. Pretty good Zin port too.
