One of the people working in his tasting room has a tiny operation where she makes wine with her husband. Could be them as they don’t have their own facility. Don’t know.
But I was thinking that might be a little business in itself - set up a facility where people without their own tasting or crush facilities can at least show their wines. They could rent bar space within the facility, kind of like hairdressers rent a station. I wonder if there would be enough interest to make that viable.
If you are ever in Southern California, try Camarillo Custom Crush - exactly that model. Used to be about 50+ labels in one small wine facility. Tasting room tends to rotate through the various labels.
I just did a private tasting with at Torrin yesterday. We actually sat outside because the weather was phenomenal. The hostess was wearing a mask or keeping her distance. Great experience. The 2017s are great and surprisingly approachable. I agree that the 2017 Banshee was my favorite of the lineup.
Are most of his wines $85 like this one? Yikes - definitely getting up there and more ‘special occasion wines’. Great winemaker for sure.
Cheers
The Torrins are all $85/bottle, which for me is for a special occasion or at least good company. Their Pinots, which I love, are $70, and their Chardonnay is $65. These are probably my 2nd favorite wines out of Paso, after Saxum… although, I still have a lot to taste.
Great write up - as a wine nerd I wouldn’t stop at Justin a second time just because the wines are everywhere in the local stores (lots at CostCo) but the property sure was beautiful. We went to Tablas Creek as well but the tasting itself was not that fun of an experience. It was crowded and the tasting room had a weird vibe.
On our second trip we visited Epoch, Halter Ranch, Clos Solene, Booker, L’Aventure and Windward. I was pleasantly surprised that good pinot noir could be grown in Paso and especially liked the 2016 Windward Monopole which had a unique smoky flavor. I always need some pinot noir on my trips as I typically don’t drink rhones as much. Epoch and Clos Solene were the highlights, Halter Ranch was solidly priced and laid back but Booker and L’Aventure were somewhat disappointing given the high praise and prices to go with it. We’re going to stay in Cambria this time around rather than close to downtown Paso for a change of pace.
We went the last Sat in June and had a great time at Kukkula with their unique Rhône-style blends. Really good people. Tablas Creek expanded their patio and is now 100% outdoors. Not as much wine geek talk with the person pouring as usual, still a very nice experience.
Halter Ranch won’t open until the this weekend, so we missed sitting in their awesome member garden. +1 on Windward and the positive Pinot surprise. Give Fratelli Perata a try as well if you’re down in that corner.
Can’t add much to what has already been said. Calcareus has a great location on a hill with views. Wines were decent 10 years ago, not sure now, but a nice place to have a picnic. Saxum visit is a must if you can snag it.
If one was staying in Cambria on the coast, any food or other recommendations of things to do after a day of wine tasting in Paso?
We used to stay in San Simeon and enjoyed the Black Cat Bistro in Cambria, but it was some years ago. Still good?
Robins has excellent food. They make a curry that’s fantastic. Also Wild Ginger has excellent casual SW Asia food.
If the Elephant seals are there, that is a must see. The beach is just up the road from Cambria.
Thanks for all of the tips above!! I visited paso for a month, and knew nothing about it before arriving. Here are my notes:
epoch - favorite overall tasting, very scenic location. they serve more library wines than anywhere else I visited (all of the reds were 2011-2016). 2014 Ingenuity was my favorite. $30 tasting fee waived with $100 purchase.
torrin - favorite single wine of the trip was tsundere. their tasting menu was 1 chard, 2 lagom series pinots, and only 2 “torrin” label reds (tsundere and akasha). They did offer a bonus 2018 new release red that had been returned by a member, but not sure how common that is. scenic outdoor tasting patio, worth a stop. The tasting fee was 30 and only waived if you become a member.
turtle rock - don’t miss this if you’re in tin city! wines were top notch, several reds sourced from james berry and/or g2. clyde’s cuvee was my favorite. I believe the tasting was “officially” $20 waived with 2 bottle purchase but they seemed generous about waiving tasting fees with any purchase.
desperada - another excellent tin city stop! really interesting red blends, crossing rhone/bordeaux features in ways that work surprisingly well. This was probably the top qpr winery I visited. Reds are very reasonably priced around $40. $20 tasting fee waived with 2 bottle purchase.
l’aventure - excellent traditional style rhone blends. really pretty tasting area tucked back in the hills. Reds are in the $80 to $110 range with the exception of optimus ($60). $35 tasting fee only waived if you become a member. Good tasting list, including a few member only bottles like cote a cote. I like that they give you all 6 pours at once (as does epoch). I don’t buy many $80+ bottles, and for a splurge bottle I’d probably go with torrin. l’aventure was a little more in the direction of old world style than others I tasted.
denner - very pretty outdoor tasting patio, and excellent rhone blends. Reds are on the high end at $70-90ish. the 2018 dirt worshiper is worth seeking out, and they had some discounts on 2013 library bottles available when I visited. $20 tasting fee waived with purchase of one bottle.
halter ranch - really pretty location (probably my favorite in terms of scenery). $35 tasting fee waived with 2 bottles, several decent bottles available in the $40s. My favorite was the 2018 CDP. They make a lot of different wines, and are generous about customizing tastings to your preferences. Fun experience, not sure the bottles will be a repeat purchase for me at retail prices.
Other tip:
Paso Market Walk (downtown) has a great little wine shop “Paso Robles wine merchant” with an excellent selection of well-priced pours by the glass (including epoch, library nicora, etc). Bottle selection is small but well curated, focused on some of the smaller local producers. Also a good vegan cheese shop for pairings. Nice outdoor seating. Highly recommend!!
Your comments are spot on. Paso Market Walk also is the home of Momotaro Ramen, which is very good.
Thanks for the notes! Were the two whites at Torrin Lagom Chardonnays from different vintages? That’s the only white wine they make, to my knowledge.
Good catch, my mistake. I found the tasting card and it was 1 chard, 2 lagom pinots, and 2 torrin reds (tsundere and akasaha). Everything was 17 vintage except the bonus pour (18 le devoir).
Curious, no fans of Austin Hope or Daou? Maybe this shines a spotlight on my newbie badge, but figure there’s no harm in asking.
Torrin was our favorite stop on our last trip. Enjoyed the chardonnays and pinots, and some of the syrah blends. Can’t blame them for not pouring their 100 pt wine!