Vintage Paso: A teeth-staining weekend
-By Mira Advani Honeycutt
Barton Wines at Grey Wolf. Photo by Mira Advani Honeycutt.
Some 140 local wineries participated with individual events from March 18-20
–It was a teeth-staining weekend. The three-day Vintage Paso: Zinfandel Weekend festival laid out a full spectrum of big bold Paso reds for wine aficionados who converged here for gourmet wine dinners, local artisanal food, rare library wines and new releases. Some 140 local wineries participated with individual events from March 18-20.
Gary and Marcy Eberle. Photo by Mira Advani Honeycutt.
Since it began in 1992, Zinfandel Festival has experienced multiple incarnations. Two years ago, the festival rebranded itself as Vintage Paso allowing the region to showcase the diversity of wines that range from Bordeaux and Rhône to Spanish and Italian varieties.
“Zinfandel has never been a major grape, I don’t know why it was called the Zinfandel festival, maybe it was an earlier grape,” said Gary Eberle of Eberle Winery. “There’s more plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah,” said the Paso Robles pioneer, sipping his Cabernet.
Assisted with his team of helpers, Eberle was manning the Santa Maria grill at his busy winery on Saturday. The barbecue party is one of the highlights of the festival. “I would make more money selling parking spots today than wine,” said Eberle. Indeed, morsels of grilled meat were scooped up by eager guests as soon as they got off the grill. A total of 18 racks of ribs, 18 pounds of duck sausage and 20 pounds of tri-tip meat were dished out during the afternoon.
Howie and Cindy Steinbeck. Photo by Mira Advani Honeycutt.
A few miles east another pioneer, Howie Steinbeck, patriarch of Steinbeck Vineyards was busy cooking venison sausage, ribs, tri-tip and garlic bread on the grill that he built (a sideline business). “I also built Eberle’s grill,” he noted. Is it a Santa Maria grill, I asked? “No, it’s a Paso Robles grill,” he chuckled. “We build them to last a long time.”
The festival kicked off on Friday with Zinposium moderated by master sommelier Fred Dame. Wineries participating in the Zin-focused seminar included ONX, Epoch, Ancient Peaks, Chronic Cellars, Grey Wolf and Tobin James. The seminar was followed by the screening of “SOMM: Into the Bottle,” as part of the San Luis Obispo film festival. The film’s after party Z-Nigh Cap held at the Paso Robles Inn ballroom brought together 16 wineries pouring some of their top-notch Zinfandels and blends. What better to pair these big red wines than chocolates?
There was a good selection of sweet-bites, ranging from Heaven Squared brownies laced with Zinfandel and ghost pepper to pepita seeds and persimmon brittle by Chocolate Stache, Bridge Brand chocolates and the ever popular Brown Butter Cookies.
Joe and Jenny Barton in their 60s get-up at Grey Wolf. Photo by Mira Advani Honeycutt.
Paso Robles rocked with evening soirees such as the ’60’s-themed groovy bash at Grey Wolf Cellars. ”We are following the vintage theme,” said Joe Barton dressed in a wig and 60’s style white suit, his wife Jenny in a white mini dress and go-go boots. Guests dressed in hippy duds danced to Beatles and other British Invasion oldies performed by the Unfinished Business band.
Le Cuvier hosted a four-course dinner prepared by chef Rob Halperin. Chef Meagan Loring whipped up a wild boar chili at Niner Estate, campfire ‘smores were toasted on open grill at Hammersky and August Ridge paired Italian wines with a spaghetti western dinner.
The celebration at Tobin James. Photo by Dick Mason.
Delicious food accompanied many tastings with the big bold Zinfandels and blends. Lambsicles at Dover Canyon, Zin-infused sausages at Calcareous, wieners by Diva Dogs at Red Soles, artisanal pizzas at Peachy Canyon and tri-tip sandwiches at Sarzotti.
Brochelle Vineyards’ Michelle and Brock Waterman hosted events at both their tasting rooms: assorted cheeses on the porch in their westside tasting room and a collaborative block party with neighbors HUG Cellars, Rendarrio and Pay Dirt at the eastside tasting room. Over in Templeton, the Hart family of Ambyth offered their biodynamic/organic wine range of Zinfandel, Tempranillo, Sangiovese and Rhône blends.
No-Zin Zone at Wine O Clock Tasting Room – winemaker/musician Denis Degher of Domaine Degher. Photo by Mira Advani Honeycutt.
But there was a lot more than just savoring wine and food. At Turley winery, Christina Turley conducted a one-hour presentation on tracing the origin of Zinfandel that was followed by an outstanding lineup of Turley Zinfandels accompanied by beef tacos.
Other weekend activities ranged from vineyard walk-arounds at Pelletiere, Mitchella, Burbank Ranch Vineyards and Brecon Estate; painting sessions with a featured artist at Tooth and Nail Winery, cavern tours at Robert Hall and Eberle and wine blending sessions at Cass and Wild Horse.
Then there was the “No-Zin Zone” in downtown Paso. At LXV Lounge, owner Kunal Mittal presented his new releases of Bordeaux style blends. Nearby at the newly opened Wine O’Clock tasting room, Denis Degher of Domaine Degher poured his complex Cabernet Sauvignon and Enrique Torres winemaker of Diablo Paso offered a delightful selection of Spanish wines.
After a weekend of big bold reds, it was a relief to find some palate cleansers — sparkling wine at Clautiere Vineyards and a refreshing Rosé at Tablas Creek Vineyards.
