The second part of our trip took us north and west from L.A. up to Paso Robles and back again. We had a wonderful time sampling many wines, eating fresh seafood, and enjoying the bounty from various farms and ranches.
WINERIES
Central Coast wineries were unexplored territory for us. We had a number of recommendations given to us by knowledgeable people. We also selected ones that had engaging additional activities.
We selected Presqu’ile at least partly because they offered horseback tours of the winery. Our horses were very sweet and we got to see barn owls and jack rabbits along with the landscape. They started us with wine tasting as soon as we got off our horses, with glasses of their 2016 sparkling rosé (strawberry notes), made from Pinot Noir.
We were then set up on their patio, overlooking some of their vineyards and the valley beyond. We got to sample the following:
- 2023 Aligoté - nice, lightly acidic
- 2023 Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay - lemon cream
- 2021 Presqu’ile Chardonnay - more weighty
- 2023 Santa Maria Valley rosé of Pinot Noir, unoaked - very strawberry
- 2022 Presqu’île Pinot Noir - more fruit, smoother
- 2021 Rancho Ontiveros - more opaque, more pepper
- 2020 Nebbiolo - quite nice, not too tanniny
- 2021 Syrah - blackberries and black cherries
They also served us a “snack”, which turned out to be a giant and delicious platter of food, including:
- garden salad with avocado, strawberries, cucumber, Meyer lemon dressing, fresh mint, garden peas, fennel
- pita bread
- farmers cheese mixed with Greek yogurt, apricot mustard, hazelnuts, and hazelnut oil
- potatoes with bagna cauda
- Italian lorenzina al tonnato (pork with tuna sauce), with capers, fennel fronds, celery, and parsley
- hummus with black kalamata olive oil
And to finish off this “snack” was a chocolate pot de creme with whipped cream on top - quite terrific, not particularly sweet.
Vega interested us because they had both a restaurant and lots of cute baby farm animals. They also focus on Italian varietals instead of the typical cooler weather grapes in this area. Being too full from the largesse at Presqui’ile, we could only manage the Fire Roasted Vega Farm Vegetables: their own farm carrots, beets, broccoli and cauliflower, served with hummus, za’atar seasoning, and pine nuts. Really nice. Too bad we weren’t able to explore more of the menu.
We also shared one of their tasting flights:
- 2023 Albariño, Santa Maria Valley - mainly acidic and grapefruity
- 2023 Viognier, Santa Maria Valley - all right, also quite acidic maybe a touch of nuttiness
- 2023 Dolcetto Vega Vineyard & Farm - chilled, slightly sweet red, a bit odd.
- 2023 Sangiovese Vega Vineyard & Farm - cherries and maybe a touch of thyme, quite lovely; perhaps the best of the bunch.
- (extra) 2023 Del Prato, Santa Inez Valley, Super Tuscan (Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, Sangiovese, Malbec) - full-bodied, but still fairly young.
A wine course teacher had recommended Foley Estates. From the patio, we watched many cliff swallows, a prairie falcon, bluebirds, and quail. All the wines we sampled were very good:
- 2021 T Anchor Ranch Chardonnay - lemon, a bit of vanilla.
- 2021 Barrel Select Chardonnay - thicker, more vanilla, less fruit.
- 2021 JA Ranch Pinot Noir - cherry, pepper, earthy, a bit of cinnamon
- 2021 Bar Lazy S Ranch Pinot Noir - tart cherry, earthy, some vanilla, red licorice
- 2021 Barrel Select Pinot Noir - strawberry and cinnamon, cranberry; this was extra special
Riverbench took us to a different area, with a walking tour of their vineyard. We learned about the benchlands and saw bluebirds, scrub jays, hummingbirds, and phainopeplas.
This time the snack was actually a snack: Spanish cantimpalo (a type of chorizo), triple creme brie, rosemary asiago, rice crackers, Marcona almonds, and very nice green grapes
Our tasting included 6 of their wines:
- 2019 Corkjumper Cuvee - peach coloured, fairly subtle hints of fruit and yeast.
- 2022 Estate Chardonnay - a bit of melon and citrus flavors
- 2022 Pommard Pinot Noir - light and fruity, so much cherry
- 2019 One Palm Pinot Noir - earth and savoury, with soft tannins
- 2018 Blanc de Blancs - charming, more fruity and yeasty
- 2018 Blanc de Noirs - a bit earthier, but still lovely
Alma Rosa beckoned with a golf cart tour of their more hilly property, where we saw wild turkeys. They served a nice cheese platter, which included Mount Tam triple cream brie (from Cowgirl Creamery, one of our favourite cheesemakers), Vermont cheddar, Dutch goat gouda, mixed salted nuts, and dried cranberries.
Our wines included:
- North Coast (grapes from Bay Area) sparkling, champagne method - charming, with toasty notes.
- 2022 Vin Gris Rose Of Pinot Noir, El Jabali Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills - light, peachy notes and colour, loved it.
- 2021 El Jabali Chardonnay, El Jabali Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills - gentle, fully malo-lactic converted, and vanilla
- 2021 El Jabali Pinot Noir, El Jabali Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills - red fruit, a bit earthy
- 2021 Caracol Pinot Noir, El Jabali Vineyard, Block 9, Santa Rita Hills
- 2021 Grenache, El Jabali Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills - lots of violets, some red and dark fruits
Because of other activities, we only had time for one winery in Paso Robles. Calcareous was another recommendation and it has a gorgeous setting, with beautiful views of the valley. Our tasting flight included:
- 2023 Lily Blanc, a blend of Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, and Piquepoul Blanc - lots of mineral (true to the winery’s name and chalky soils), initially more acidic and citrus pith bitter, but then got gentler, more lemony, with a touch of vanilla.
- 2021 Lloyd, a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, and Petit Verdot - delightful black cherry.
- 2021 York Mountain, Cabernet Sauvignon - a fair bit of tannins, but not harsh, lots of black fruit
- 2022 Moose, mainly Syrah with a bit of Petit Verdot - blackcurrant and blueberry.
They have a full lunch menu on offer, but we wanted to save room for dinner and had just a lovely salad of spinach, applewood smoked bacon, strawberries, candied pistachio, and goat cheese, with a rosé vinaigrette.
SEAFOOD
Being on or close to the coast, we wanted to try seafood that was sustainable and as local as possible. On this basis, we went to Brophy Bros. twice, first in the Santa Barbara location and later in Ventura. The menus were essentially identical and both locations had lovely views of their respective harbours. The food was enjoyable, but not superlative. Their tendency was to cook the fish more done than we would have preferred. This didn’t seem to be kitchen error as it was very consistent. It seemed to be local preference because we had similar experiences at other casual seafood places in this region.
They offer a number of local wines by the glass, so we tried the Stolpman Sauvignon blanc, which was very enjoyable, with grapefruit and maybe pineapple hints. Less engaging was the Hitching Post Pinot Noir, which had some cherries but not much earth or complexity. Better was the Topa Topa Sunburst White Wheat ale, which paired well with fish and had great citrus notes from tangerine peel.
They start you off with a hefty portion of crusty and chewy warm sourdough. This was great for mopping up the dregs of a delicious New England-style clam chowder (with clams from Baja), with lots of clam meat balanced with potatoes and celery.
A special on one day was local halibut, piccata style, accompanied by a choice of sides (we went with a decent creamy coleslaw). Grilled local swordfish with a caramelized shallot butter, with roasted grape tomatoes and sautéed vegetables (onions, peppers, and fennel). Local seabass was dusted in Cajun spices, pan-blackened, and served with drawn butter. All were good, but would have been better a bit less done.
Up in Morro Bay, we went twice to Tognazzini’s Dockside, once for lunch and once for dinner. It sources from local fisherfolk and has a nice view of Morro Rock. It also carries some wines by the glass from wineries in the immediate vicinity, as opposed to Paso Robles. These were generally only OK, but it was still nice to sample them:
- Edna Valley Chardonnay
- Cayucos Cellars Syrah
- Kelsey “BB” Zinfandel, 2021
Better was a local beer: Firestone Walker DBA double barrel aged.
Clam chowder was overly thickened, but otherwise fairly tasty. Much better were barbecued oysters (farmed right in Morro Bay) on the half shell, swimming in garlic butter.
The Mariner is a lunchtime meal-sized salad with mixed greens, grated carrot, chopped tomato, and sliced cucumber, with an overly-sweet cilantro lime vinaigrette on the side. We selected the grilled rockfish to accompany it, which was almost not cooked too much. Another decent lunch option was the 3 grilled pacific cod (soft) tacos, with cabbage, tomato, cheddar, pico, mango salsa, and lemon.
For dinner, a special was black cod al mojo de ajo (huge lake of butter with several heads worth of chopped garlic). The fish was nicely crisped on the edges. Admiral’s combo platter featured grilled shrimp, scallops, halibut, chinook salmon, and fish of the day (rockfish). Again the rockfish was nicely done, while the others were overly done. These dishes were accompanied by zucchini and polenta (two thick buttery slabs).
We had just enough room to try a local specialty: olallieberry pie. Olallieberry is a cross between youngberry and loganberry. While a bit corn starchy, it wasn’t too sweet, allowing you to taste the berries well. The pie was made by Linn’s in Cambria, where we subsequent picked up some fine olallieberry preserves.
Needing a light meal between the two of us, we split a dish at Andria’s Seafood Restaurant in Ventura. This a casual place where you order and pay at a counter and then wait until they buzz you to pick it up. We tried grilled Pacific white seabass, which was similar to halibut in texture and a bit more done than we like it. Fresh and nicely flavoured though. It came with a nondescript rice pilaf, a forgettable roll and butter, and a hefty portion of somewhat tired green salad. Unfortunately they had only disposable plastic cups for water and we had neglected to bring our own reusable water bottles.
FARM TO TABLE
Pico is housed in a spacious and nicely refurbished general store in the middle of relatively tiny Los Alamos. With a focus on local producers and wineries, it was a great way to experience the region gastronomically. Service was also excellent .
Since the restaurant is also the tasting location for Lumen winery, we started with a flight of 3:
- Chardonnay, Santa Maria Valley, 2022 - pleasantly lemon and apple, not very oaked
- Pinot Noir, Rancho Real, 2020 - quite tart cherries, a bit of earth
- Grenache, Santa Barbara County, 2022 - raspberries, cranberries
We then ordered a glass of Lumen’s Essence, Pinot Gris, Santa Maria Valley, 2023 - an orange wine full of stone fruit and our favourite.
We started with Finley Farm (Los Olivos) warm (deep-fried) broccolini salad, with kale, pepita, Parmesan, fried shallot, and a smooth lemony dressing.
Our other starter was Motley Crew (Lompoc) rabbit carnitas, with jalapeño cream, and pickled onions - very moist and beautifully flavoured meat in crispy tortilla shells.
We then had Channel Island line-caught Pacific snapper in a coconut lemongrass curry, with jasmine rice - very fragrant and flavourful sauce that was just a tad oversalted.
Our other main was Winfield Farm (Buellton) mangalitsa (Hungarian pig) ragu, with housemade pappardelle, aged Parmesan, and fresh rosemary and basil - supple pasta and gorgeous sauce.
For dessert we had panna cotta with Quail Canyon lemon curd, and fresh strawberries - refreshing and light.
Equally delightful was a scoop of mulberry (from their garden) ice cream - lots of fruit and a great creamy base.
For the fanciest meal on this section of the trip, we booked Six Test Kitchen, located in the Tin City section of Paso Robles. It’s a small place where everyone sits at the chef’s bar and gets to watch all the prep over the evening. The food was generally excellent, emphasizing the seasonal and local, and allowing the pure flavours of the feature ingredients to really shine.
We had our choice of teacup, into which was poured clarified gazpacho, featuring tomato, bell pepper, other veggies, red wine vinegar, crushed olives, and basil, a couple. Like drinking a fresh garden.
Next came our first pairing: Gaston Chiquet, Cuvée de Réserve, brut, Champagne-Vallée de la Marne, NV, bottle-fermented 7 years - gently bready.
Our first course was comprised of three small bites:
- Raw oyster on the shell from Grassy Bar in Morro Bay, slathered in kiwi, lime, Thai chili - the gentle seaweediness of the oyster matched well with the fruit.
- Smoked steelhead with a savoury dill meringue and trout roe - exquisite canapés on a bed of multi-coloured heirloom corn kernels.
- Patachou of dry-aged wagyu beef tartare, burnt onion purée, shaved dried miso-cured tri tip, shaved Central Coast ‘Ewenique’ sheep cheese - airy beef and cheese
Our second pairing: Lieu Dit, Chenin Blanc, Santa Ynez Valley, 2023 - like a sec vouvray, light, low acid and creamy; with food it was suddenly floral, very interesting. It accompanied dry-aged and lightly cured vermilion rockfish in kombu vinegar, Meyer lemon kosho, shiro ponzu gelée, radish, and bits of grapefruit, Cara Cara orange and mandarin - light, fresh, and a treat for the eye.
The third pairing was Von Winning ‘II’ , Trocken, 2023, a Sauvignon Blanc from Pfalz! - flint, graphite, citrus and very tart. It complemented a rich and complex take on chawanmushi: a custard based on pork broth, pork jus, and preserved yuzu, with a pour over of clam emulsion (“garum"), roasted shimeji mushrooms, whitefish roe, sea lettuce, and purple radish - perhaps my favourite of the night.
Pairing number 4 was Sandhi, “William Hines”, organic Chardonnay, Santa Rita Hills, 2022 - - mineral and green apple; nice we got to try this one as the winery had been recommended to us. It had the acidity to cut through the richness of dry-aged black cod from Morro Bay, with smoked carrot sabayon, English peas, spring onions, and pea tendrils; beside which was a little teacup of smoked bones consommé with kombu oil - rich flavours and my wife’s favourite.
Switching to a light red, we had a Pinot Noir from Roar, Sierra Mar vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands, 2023 - delicious, cherry, earth, and almost minty. This paired with Sonoma Duck in Three Parts, which also highlighted wild bay leaf, beet, and pistachio:
- Breast with BBQed and pickled beets, duck jus, and a green dollop of wild bay leaf purée
- Taco of duck leg confit, tortilla made of pistachio flour, dollop of beet and herbs and flowers from the garden
* Duck liver tartlet, with roasted fennel mole (with cumin and coriander), dotted with roasted pistachios and candied yellow beets.
All were excellent, with the win perhaps taken by the tartlet.
After being handed knives from Athens, Georgia, made of recycled ball bearings, copper wire, cherry and maple wood, we were served our 6th pairing: Malvirà, Mombeltramo, Nebbiolo Riserva DOCG, Roero, Piedmonte, 2009 - soft tannins and candied cherries, lovely. This came with aged pork loin with tiny chives in bordelaise sauce, tarragon purée, dollops of black garlic purée, asparagus with egg yolk and fresh thyme, and nasturtium leaves - gorgeous.
We transitioned with Kracher, “Auslese Cuvée”, Chardonnay plus Welschriesling, 2021, Burgenland, Austria - fresh honeycomb, candied citrus, floral, and passionfruit. The palate cleanser was a gorgeous satsuma and mandarin sorbet, EVOO, shiso granita, and whipped white chocolate foam.
We were back to bubbles with Champagne René-Geoffroy, “Empreinte”, extra brut, blanc de noirs, Cumières premier cru, 2017 - brioche and a bit of red fruit. This matched rice koji ice cream (fun, like mochi ice cream), with a strawberry swirl on top and gelée underneath, whipped chamomile, and toasted white sesame seeds.
To finish off, they served us petit fours:
- Locally grown passion fruit pâte de fruit
- Earl Grey milkshake inside cocoa butter and white chocolate, with preserved kumquat and lemon thyme on top
- Salted caramel with wild candy cap mushroom, milk chocolate and peanut butter crunch
SANTA MARIA BBQ
We couldn’t visit the region without trying Santa Maria BBQ. The problem was that we only had one opportunity to fit this in and had to make a choice of which place to try. We went with Shaw’s Steakhouse and I’m sure we’ll be hearing from you that we should have picked somewhere else instead (we had several more on our list).
The decor was family restaurant from decades ago. There was also a glassed-in area where you could watch them BBQ the meats over the oak logs. Once seated, they immediately brought you salsa, butter, carrots, celery, sweet pickles, and black olives.
To start we ordered the linguiça sausage, which came with cubes of garlic bread and a sweet chili sauce. The sausage was delicious, juicy, with hints of garlic and paprika. All mains came with either salad or soup. The chili cheese soup was OK but too salty. The garden salad was serviceable.
We ordered the early bird, smaller-sized dinners, which were still large enough that we had plenty of leftovers for breakfast. Top sirloin (the original cut historically) was served unsliced, nicely rare in the centre, and charred and salty on the edges, and perfumed with smoke. Tri tip (the more popular cut over the past many decades) was served sliced and was fattier and richer, and delicious in its own unique way. Both came with hefty baked potatoes with sour cream, chives, bacon and cheese. They also came with a little pot of savoury pinquito beans, which were unremarkable. We had zero room to consider dessert.
MISCELLANEOUS
In Cambria, we stayed at the Olallieberry Inn, a lovely B&B in a historic house. They served generous breakfasts of coffee, orange juice, a fresh fruit bowl, yoghurt with olallieberry jam and housemade granola, little coconut scones with olallieberry glaze, cupcake shaped Denver “omelettes” with home fries. They also served wine and snacks in the afternoon, but we were not around for that.
For a day trip to Santa Cruz Island, we picked up boxed lunches from On the Alley (run by Brophy Bros.). We both had blackened chicken breast, crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado, mayo, and provolone cheese, all wrapped in a spinach tortilla - pretty tasty overall. Sides were two enormous boxes of homemade potato chips (very good), a massive blueberry scone wedge (only OK), and pieces of somewhat green and not-quite-skinned mango.
And that’s it for part 2 of the trip.
