The Paso Robles Wine Festival - California Wine Country

The interior coastal valleys of California, from Santa Barbara to Mendocino County far north of San Francisco, are home to some of the world's finest vineyards and wineries. The climate of warm summer days and cool nights plus mild winters is ideal for wine grapes.

The highly scenic region is an endless succession of oak studded hills and valleys, low hillsides covered in grapevines, gorgeous country roads canopied by big trees, well-kept small cities and towns, and attractive, lushly landscaped wineries, many of which are open to the public for wine tasting and purchases. The beautiful and idyllic lifestyle is uniquely Californian. Some of the loveliest scenic country driving - and outstanding red wines - may be found in northern San Luis Obispo County, west of Paso Robles. The area is locally called Westside Paso Robles.

The quaint city of Paso Robles, just inland from the California coastline, is the hub of one of the state's oldest grape growing regions. Spanish missionaries started to cultivate grapes for wine here in the 1790's. The area's unusual microclimate (summer temperatures often exceed 100°F by day and always drop into the 50's at night) results in the production of very outstanding and very robust red wines.

Many cultural events relating to wine are staged year round in the area. One of the most popular events is the Paso Robles Wine Festival, held every spring in the town's lovely downtown park. The areas vintners set up booths in the park and offer tastes of their latest wines to ticketed adult guests. Local bands provide entertainment and food vendors offer a wide variety of meals and snacks plus soft drinks for the kids.

While the wine and food and music and perfect weather provided a fine and mellow time, the downtown area made a strong impression: the old-fashioned and well kept downtown area is built around the park. The old clock tower (above) reminded me of the mythical 1950's town in the movie "Back to the Future". (The clocktower and its 1892 building were destroyed in the December, 2003, earthquake. During our September, 2006, visit, their reconstruction was nearing completion.)

The festival included much more than just an afternoon in the park. Besides the formal dinners and golf tournament, there was a Sunday afternoon of open houses and cookouts at many of the area wineries. This provided an opportunity to explore some of the area's lovely backroads while visiting some of the more rural wineries.

The wineries' visitor centers were of course all very beautiful and consistent with the idyllic pasttime of wine tasting. Generally they consist of an attractive building set in the vineyards and surrounded by extremely lovely landscaping. Some memorable locales are shown below.

The modest family-owned Poalillo Vineyards (left) is on a steep hillside shaded by huge oak trees. The vines are in fields at the base of the hill.

The Justin Winery (right) is large, well-known, and very upscale. It includes a bed and breakfast with a small, private dining room. The grounds feature a spectacular arbor with the finest landscaping. Hills of grapevines extend in every direction.

The three day Paso Robles Wine Festial is scheduled annually in mid-May. For more information or tickets to the Paso Robles Wine Festival, visit the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance's website or call them at (805) 239-8463.