Vegas to Paso Robles to Monterey with a stop at Lone Madrone – Day 1 The Scenic Route 2021

Aug 27, 2021

From Paso Robles to Monterey

First return trip into the wild. It had been so long, but it was like riding a bike. Well, riding a bike with a mask on, a few more precautions, and a bit of extra patience checking into hotels…

We finally felt confident enough to get back out there. We had been planning our August trip for a while and crossing our fingers.

This seemed to be a relatively safe adventure. So we packed the car with camera gear, clothes, snacks, hand sanitizer, and facemasks and headed back into the wild.

Okay…it wasn’t all wild. Lots of it was wine tasting, but it was 15 days outside of not just our house, but our state.

Here is our extended version of Day 1 of our adventure!

Day 1 Leaving Las Vegas

Day 1 began as we left Las Vegas to start our 15-day adventure across 3 states and over 15 AVAs. But today, was just about tasting some wine and getting to the coast.

Day 1 The Scenic Route Vegas to Monterey

Before returning home, we would put 3,400 miles on the car and taste wines from at least 55 different wineries!

We were up and out early as the sun was rising. There were clouds in the distance as we headed down past the strip, and Vegas wished us well on our trip with a couple of rare rainbows.

Vegas wished us a good trip with double rainbows

We were off through the desert to Paso Robles. It was a cloudy morning, with rain at times. Sound terrible? It wasn’t. The rain saturated the soil and made the colors more vivid and the clouds allowed the sun to sneak through making for some dramatic desert scenery.

Vegas to Paso Robles and Lone Madrone

We passed through the Mojave Wind Farm in the Tehachapi Pass, and traveled through the rolling hills that look like they are draped in suede that lead you into Bakersfield.

After a brief stop at the Square in downtown Paso Robles, we headed into the western mountains on the winding Adelaida Road.

Lunch found us at Lone Madrone’s Tasting room with a table outside with a view and a delicious cheese plate to taste through these wines by Neil Collins (winemaker at Tablas Creek) and his son Jordan. Oh…and some of their hard ciders also. (I promise you details in full in another post!)

The Pacific Coast Highway and Monterey

After lunch we drove to the coast, picking up Hwy 1, the Pacific Coast Highway in Cambria. With windows down, we soaked in the salt air arriving in Monterey in time for dinner.

Fish and chips and beer on a patio at Old Fisherman’s Wharf with sunset over the boats…yeah, that’ll do for a great end to Day 1.

Sunset over Old Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey on The Scenic Route 2021

But that’s just day one. We have 2 states, 14 days, and miles to go! More adventure to come!

Want the whole story? You can check out our Trip Overview here!

The Scenic Route 2021 – The Overview

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Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.

2017 The year in retrospect

Dec 30, 2017

I’ve started this post at least 3 times. How to sum up a year? My tendency is to go analytical and spin out the year chronologically. But remembering a year doesn’t really work that way. Even scanning through my Instagram feed, I found my mind drifting, one memory taking me to another, rarely chronologically and I would swipe from one end of my feed to the other as the thoughts took me. The visuals, the photos, were the things that drew me in, so that is what I want to share with you.

A Year of #_______Strong and of people coming together

2017…It’s been a year. It was the year of #(currentdisasterousevent)strong. There were so many, it was overwhelming at times. These events, that used to happen in some far away place, to people we didn’t know, suddenly, as we become a global community, have become things happening to people we know in places we have often seen. I had friends in Florida, Houston, in Sonoma, in New York City, in the Dominican Republic. And then of course there was Vegas. That’s home, and while I was not on the strip that night, many people that I work with daily and care for deeply, were. It was a year of stress and struggles, but also a year of people coming together. These events reminded us what is important, they caused us to be in touch with people who are dear to us and let them know they are dear to us.

Nature and home

As I sifted through the photos from this year, the ones I found the most moving, were those I took on our family farm early this spring. No, they have nothing to do with wine, but returning to this place during some torrential spring rains, brought some perspective to the year. The day was wet and rainy, but it only drizzled a bit while we were there. We watched the creek rush overflowing it’s banks, and trudged from the ridge to the meadow and were soaked to the bone by the the dripping trees and wet underbrush by the time we left, but bits of astounding beauty were everywhere.

Fungus on the Farm

My Waterfall

Friends and Wine in Virginia

While we were on the East Coast we were able to catch up with friends and spent a weekend with my best friend and another friend from college as well as their husbands and did a bit of exploring of Virginia Wine Country. A few years ago, we did a girls weekend in Virginia wine country and this was a great opportunity to do Wine Country II, Electric Boogaloo tour with the boys.

I did a bit of research on the history of Virginia Wine Country before we traveled, and we tried to take in a few different areas starting at Chrysalis and Stone Tower in Northern Virginia. Chrysalis Vineyards is the Champion of the Norton Grape, a grape native to North America and have their tasting room at the Ag District Center. The Winery is the vision of Jennifer McCloud who started Chrysalis in the late 1990’s. This is a from scratch business. In Todd Kliman’s book “The Wild Vine – A forgotten grape and the untold story of American Wine” he talks about meeting Jennifer at the Vineyards and riding out with her in her pickup to see the vines. She is the heart and soul of this winery.

Norton Grape Vine at Chrysalis Tasting Room

Stone Tower Vineyards, is something completely different. You drive up Hogsback Mountain to find an impressive Estate with a “stone tower” hence the name. Part of the property had been in the family for 40 years and in 2005 they added to the property when a neighboring farm was available. Many of their vines are still too young to yield fruit, so their winemaker brings in juice from California for some of their wines, which are labeled under “Wild Boar Cellars”. Regardless, the wines were all beautifully made and the Estate wines made from grapes grown on site are really exquisite. The tasting room at the vineyard in Loudoun County is expansive and beautiful and as such is overflowing with wine tasters from the DC area on the weekends, so go early!

Stone Tower Winery in Virginia

We ventured south from here to meet my dearest friend at Barboursville Vineyards in Central Virginia. This Vineyard is on a historic estate between Monticello and Montpelier. On the property lies the remnants of the home designed for James Barbour by Thomas Jefferson. In 1976 the Zonin Family, who command a portfolio of 9 wineries in 7 regions of Italy, acquired the property.

Barboursville Vineyards

We then headed to Charlottesville (this was early in the year, before they needed a #CharlottesvilleStong). We had a great dinner on the Historic Downtown Mall and then planned our morning trip to Monticello.

Jefferson wanted so desperately to grow grapes and make his own wine. He was a renaissance man and as such tended to get wrapped up in some things to the detriment of others. The property is beautiful, the house unique and quirky, with it’s wine elevator among other things and the gardens are lovely, if filled with non native species. The vineyards speak to the longing to make his own wine and on this spring day, in the mist, they seemed to echo this.

Monticello

Vineyards at Monticello

We had lunch at the historic Michie Tavern and visited a few other wineries, a standout being Blenheim Vineyards, owned by Dave Matthews.

How much California Wine Country can you see in 6 days?

August took us on a Flash Tour of the California Coast and it’s wine regions. We spent 6 Days traveling the coast hitting Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, Monterey, Napa, Sonoma, the Livermore Valley, and Santa Cruz. You can check out our travels here. The trip was amazing, here are some visual highlights.

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Other highlights

Those are the big highlights, but we were busy all year.

At the beginning of the year I did a tasting of Natural Wines with Matthieu at the farmers market.

We did a Superbowl Wine Party How to pair with Everything! And we did pair with everything!

In April we did a Virtual trip to the McLaren Vale in Australia with our friend Dean being our Wine Reporter at Large

In May and June we dove into Rosé with some basics and tastings. July saw us drinking lots of bright whites, as you would expect in the summer in Vegas, and then

We found ourselves back in Santa Barbara again in October and spent time in Lompoc in the Wine Ghetto, Solvang and downtown Santa Barbara.

Beyond that we traveled closer to home and did some amazing at home pairings. Including a wonderful Grenache Vertical and some Wine and Chocolate bark pairings.

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Onward to 2018

And what about 2018? I love the New Year. It always feels like a clean slate. Will there be good wine and some wine travel? Yes! Adventures and meeting new people and sharing their stories is what we are all about, and we get better at this all the time. Plans are in the works for this year, but who knows where the wind may blow us. I look forward to more spontaneous trips this year.

And I have been inspired seeing people post their “power words” for the new year. Mine…”Exploration”. I love research and if I want to be more spontaneous this year, it actually probably means chasing tangents down the research rabbit hole, and I’m okay with that! I do have a few things on my list. Expect to see more on French wines and wine regions this year. Between trips to wine regions, we will be taking some virtual trips to France and digging in deeper to it’s wine regions. There is a reason that when people think of wine, they first think of French wine. I am also anxious to search out more “natural wines”. I know, I know, it’s a really open term, but I love pét-nat and I want to explore deeper into this movement and I’m anxious to see how this category of wines develops and evolves. And then of course there will be the tangents. I always start the year with plans, and I will be sitting down soon to create my list for 2018. By the end of 2018 I am sure that I will have happily strayed from it.

Happy New Year! I’m off to make my exploration planning list. I should probably pour a glass of wine as I head down the rabbit hole.

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Flash tour Central Coast Wine Country and Beyond – Day 1

Aug 11, 2017

6 days…where to go in wine country?

Well if you have a Prius and can get to California fairly easily, you don’t have to choose. Join us on our journey through California’s Central Coast Wine Country and a little beyond.

Day 1 Las Vegas to Monterey

We left Vegas before dawn and drove to the coast. We skipped LA and hit the coast in Ventura County. Day 1 was mostly driving with a bit of sightseeing along the way, with the final goal being Monterey.

Santa Barbara – the city

We took a break in Santa Barbara by Sterns Wharf to soak up some of the ocean and the morning. Santa Barbara, the city, has plenty to do for an entire vacation and if you love wine, we can enjoy plenty here without leaving the city on the Urban Wine Trail. Sterns Wharf is home to The Conway Family’s Deep Sea Tasting Room; The Funk Zone (the hip area close to the beach) has lots of great laid back tasting rooms and the El Paseo further in the historical district has even more tasting rooms.

: Deep Sea Tasting Room on Sterns Wharf in Santa Barbara

: Grassini Family Vineyards in the El Paseo Central Coast Wine Country

: Au Bon Climat Tasting Room in the El Paseo of Santa Barbara

: The El Paseo in Santa Barbara

: Funk Zone Murals

: The Valley Project Elkpen Mural (previously AVA Santa Barbara)

: Jamie Slone Wines in Santa Barbara’s El Paseo

: Margerum Tasting Room

Los Olivos

On this trip however, we kept driving. We took the 154 into Santa Barbara Wine Country. We drove through Los Olivos, with the plan to return. This town houses multiple wine tasting rooms and some great restaurants. It is a great place to park and walk, taste and eat. You are highly likely to run into winemakers in the tasting rooms and restaurants.

: Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe

: Beautiful Tree outside the Kaena Tasting room in Los Olivos

: The Larner Tasting Room in Los Olivos

: Stolpman’s Little Red Cottage tasting room in Los Olivos

: tercero Wines Tasting Room in Los Olivos

: Crawford Family Wines Los Olivos

Los Alamos

We drove onto the 101 from here, heading north past Los Alamos, which is another great spot to do weekend tastings. There is another Municipal Winemakers tasting room in town as well as Casa Dumetz Wines. Full of Life Flatbread is a great dinner spot and if you need beer, Babis Beer Emporium (same owner as Casa Dumetz) is a perfect spot to sit outside and enjoy some really great local brews. On the weekends there is often music and Casa Dumetz has a Friday night “Words to Live By” speaker series which covers a wide range of topics with an eclectic group of speakers! But yeah, we didn’t have time to stop here either….on we drove.

: Casa Dumetz Winery

: Casa Dumetz & Babi’s Beer Emporium in Los Alamos

: Full of Life Flatbread in Los Alamos, where you are bound to run into a winemaker

SLO – San Luis Obispo

Next to drive through is SLO (San Luis Obispo). You begin by passing Laetitia where they do Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and have an amazing sparkling wine program that is Méthode Champenoise (that’s the really good tiny bubbles). Further in you will find more wine trails and downtown SLO which has beautiful tree-lined streets, lots of art and great food.

: The View in the distance of the Ocean from the Vineyards at Laetitia in SLO Wine Country

: Claiborne & Churchill in SLO Wine Country where they do beautiful Alsatian Whites

: The Barn at Kynsi Vineyards in SLO Wine Country

Paso Robles

Paso Robles is up next and there are so many wineries here that I won’t even try right now. They recently divided into 11 AVAs (American Viticultural Areas). Before dividing, this one area was the Paso Robles AVA and covered about 614,000 acres. (for some perspective, Napa is only 1/3 of that size). This place deserves a bit of your time. Take all 6 days here. It’s close enough to the beach that you can spend a day tasting and a day on the coast and then back. We do stop here on our way back…we’ll get there on day 4.

: Spring at Tablas Creek Vineyards in Paso Robles

: Artisan Restaurant in Paso Robles

: Villa San Juliette Paso Robles

: A beautiful West Side Paso Vineyard in the hills, green with spring.

Monterey

We kept driving to arrive in Monterey for the first evening and with limited time, we went to Cannery Row to enjoy the view, taste some wine and have a bite at A Taste of Monterey. You can taste at the bar or get a table and do a flight and order food. We found a great table with a view (and a seagull companion) and enjoyed a couple of flights along with some bacon wrapped dates and…pardon me I drool when I talk about these… Inzana Farms Almonds & Pistachios, which are roasted in olive oil, brown sugar, cayenne, thyme.

: Dinner companion at A Taste of Monterey

: Flights and a view at Taste of Monterey

: Applewood Bacon Wrapped Dates at A Taste of Monterey

: Almonds and Pisatchios at A Taste of Monterey

: Monterey Bay from Cannery Row

: View from A Taste of Monterey

This is a flash trip so there are more areas to discover and explore that we passed by. Yep, the Central Coast is full of great wine country. In Santa Barbara County you can also visit, Buellton, Lompoc and it’s Wine Ghetto, Santa Ynez and then the many wineries all around the county. For more information on the Santa Barbara Wineries visit Santa Barbara Vintners. San Luis Obispo Country also has great tasting rooms out at Avila Beach. While we didn’t visit those areas this time, you can find more about them here at Crushed Grape Chronicles, just do a search!

The Santa Barbara Vintners Celebration of Harvest is coming up September 29th to October 2, 2017 and it is a great time to visit. You can attend the Taste of Santa Barbara Wine Country Event and enjoy wines from 50 of the different wineries in the region on September 29th in downtown Santa Barbara. And there are event all over the region during the weekend where you will learn more about the wines, wineries and winemakers.

Day 2 takes us from Monterey to Napa and Sonoma! Come back for more of the trip!

Keep up to date on all of our posts by following us on Crushed Grape Chronicles . You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

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Vegas to Paso Robles to Monterey with a stop at Lone Madrone – Day 1 The Scenic Route 2021