Central Coast CA Help

Travel, Wine Tourism, and Restaurants Forum
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Hi All,

I’m traveling to San Luis Obispo for a wedding in April and I’m looking at stopping at a winery on my way up from LA (flying into LAX and then driving up the following morning).

I’ve stopped in Santa Barbara and had the great Pinot from the area and would like to spend some time in Central CA as I’ve never been there before. I was looking at a few cities to stop in and visit a winery on the way to SLO, specifically Santa Ynez, Los Olivos, or Solvang. Unfortunately, due to when the wedding is taking place we’re likely only going to have time to visit one winery. Are there any wineries on the way that you’d recommend visiting?

Thanks,
Robert

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You could just go to downtown Los Olivos and walk to several tasting rooms, including Larry’s. For specific wineries, I’d suggest Sanford (west of Buellton), Andrew Murray (north of Los Olivos) and in Edna Valley both Talley and Chamisal (very close together). The wineries probably all require tasting appts. now.

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I second Los Olivos. With one stop, you can visit a bunch or just one.

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4

We were just in the area for a family reunion and hit Santa Barbara and SLO. You’ll likely want to come back and really explore the area. There is a lot to do wine, food, nature related. SLO is a gem of a town in California.

While in SB, I discovered this tiny wine shop Vino Divino off Da La Vina St. They seem to specialize in wines of the area and at good prices. The owner is very knowledgeable. I ended up buying a couple bottles of wines I was not familiar with from the area at prices in the $20 -$30 range. One was Timbre’s GSM which was really a pleasure to consume. So if you have a few minutes, I would recommend stopping there to grab and go. His collection of local wines was impressive.

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Thanks everyone for the recommendations! Also, I’ll have some downtime between the wedding festivities, so any recommendations while in SLO would be appreciated.

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If you have an hour or so to kill in town - SLO, this tasting room specializes in Central Coast wines. $20 for six pours.

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If you’re interested in tasting at any actual winery/vineyard rather than tasting rooms in LO, consider Beckmen in Santa Ynez. It’s $30/pp and you taste a reasonable amount. The property is nice to explore as well.

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Another vote for Los Olivos. I love it there.

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Should you find extra time or need to stop for a glass or a bite, Branch Street in downtown Arroyo Grande has a few tasting rooms, bars, and restaurants in about a half mile stretch. You should be able to bring in a meal while you enjoy your wine.

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+1 on downtown Los Olivos. Lots of options. We really enjoyed Stolpman.

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If you like sparkling wine, consider Laetitia Vineyards in Arroyo Grande, about 40 minutes south of SLO.

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We enjoy Los Olivos. Tercero and Holus Bolus are great. We liked Peake Ranch near Buellton. Talley and Kynsi in the Edna Valley.

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A visit to Region in downtown SLO would be a good way to taste wines from 25 different SLO County wineries. Each winery has 1-2 different wines on their “Wine Wall” and you can get a taste, half glass, full glass or bottle. And each week a different winery is there in person pouring a flight from their winery.

Full disclosure - our winery is on the wine wall at Region and we will be the featured winery from 4/17-4/23. Maybe we’ll see you there!

Region SLO

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We just got back from a visit to Los Olivos, Edna Valley, and Paso. We stopped at Tensley, Stolpman, Talley, Kynsi, Epoch, and Tablas Creek. Really enjoyed our meals at Ember in Arroyo Grande and Guiseppe’s in Pismo Beach.

My brother raves about the Tensley wines but I thought they were a bit on the jammy side for my palate. Still good. We had a great time at Stolpman. We stopped there on a Tuesday morning and got plenty of interaction with Kate. She was great. Even opened a few bonus pours for us. The wines here are reasonably priced and very good. Talley was top notch as usual. My favorite is their Chardonnays from Olivers, Rincon, and Rosemary. The tasting room staff at Kynsi was great but they weren’t pouring any of their good wines when we stopped by on Monday. I like their Bien Nacido Chard and Stone Corral Pinot. Epoch was a great experience. Wines are pricy here but the tasting room experience is top notch and the wines excellent. My favorite was the 2017 Creativity. Tablas was good as always. Wines aren’t off the charts great but always solid and reasonably priced for the area.

We stayed at Kon Tiki Inn in Pismo. A relic (in a good way) from the 70s. Half of the people staying here have been going here since the 1970s. I’m 54 and felt like a youngster. The beach is great here.

Only bummer about the trip is that Paul kept asking when we were going to see Larry at Tercero but scheduling didn’t mesh up this trip. We will see him next time.

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15

Thank you everyone for your advice!

@Brian_Glas thank you for the detailed review. I believe the Beserkers have spoken and we’re going to head to Stolpman in Los Olivos.

@moliver thanks for the recommendation to visit Region while we have some down time during the wedding.

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16

I know this is late, but in case anyone else is reading this, I recently discovered San Luis Obispo pinot, on a trip up there. Also went to Paso Robles, and visited Tablas Creek, among others. El Lugar was the big discovery of the trip. Really excellent pinot, and good early drinking too. Here is a review I left for the winery on google.

This is stunning Pinot. I was unfamiliar with SLO pinot, other than some Bien Nacido single vineyard pinots, before stopping at their tasting room in SLO. I was stopped in my tracks by their wine. Outstanding sources for coastal single vineyard juice, and excellent wine making by Coby Parker. Many kudos to him and the team. The tasting room is in a warehouse complex. Do not be put off by that. I like that kind of thing, personally. A very small winery operation.

This Spanish Springs and Bien Nacido wines wines were bright, the fruit was gorgeous, they both had a lift, with very silky mouthfeel. Sweet berries, very pretty floral notes, some tea and spice, and plenty of depth. Really an outstanding effort. Though they were very young (2021) they were still approachable. I bought some, and am looking forward to trying them in a couple of years.

From the website:
Coby Parker- Garcia and his wife, Katie Noonan, along with their daughter Callie, have a combined 30+ years of experience in the wine industry here on the beautiful Central Coast of CA.

Coby Parker-Garcia has been on the winemaking side of the industry since 2002 and fell in love with Pinot Noir long ago. Katie and Coby met through working at neighboring wineries and instantly shared a combined passion for good wines, especially Pinot Noir. Katie’s background in the industry stems from 10 years in the marketing and direct to consumer side of the business, so with combined passions and experience, El Lugar was born in 2013!

In 2013 the started with two vineyard designate Pinot Noir’s from Bien Nacido and Russian River. Today they currently have 5 vineyard designate Pinot Noir’s, the popular Pinot Noir Blanc, Rosé of Pinot Noir and a Syrah to offer customers.

After 2 years of planning and construction the new winery and tasting room are open. The production of all wines will be made at the new location next door to the tasting room.

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