Michael Perlis at Zinfandel Festival weekend in Paso Robles – Part 3

This was the 20th annual Zinfandel Festival weekend in Paso Robles.  Lots of activities at wineries, with the big Zin Tasting and Wine Country Auction on Saturday night.  We got in a little early, witnessed some of the set-up as well as the CHP officer addressing the pourers about how to deal with overindulging festival attendees.

Per the website, these were the participating wineries:

Adelaida Cellars

Ancient Peaks Winery

AronHill Vineyards

Arroyo Robles Winery

Bianchi Winery

*Bon Niche Cellars

Calcareous Vineyard

Castoro Cellars

Cayucos Cellars

*Clavo Cellars

*Croad Vineyards

*Cypher Winery

*DAOU Vineyards

Eberle Winery

Eos Estate Winery

Gelfand Vineyards

Grey Wolf Vineyards & Cellars

*J Dusi Wines

J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines

Kenneth Volk Vineyards

Le Vigne Winery

Lone Madrone

Midnight Cellars

Minassian-Young Vineyards

Opolo Vineyards

*Peachy Canyon Winery

*Pomar Junction Vineyard & Winery

Proulx

*Ranchita Canyon Vineyard

Rotta Winery

*Roxo Port Cellars

Sculpterra Winery & Vineyard

Sextant Wines

*Stacked Stone Cellars

*Still Waters Vineyards

*Thacher  Winery

Treana and Hope Family Wines

Villicana Winery

*Westberg Cellars

Wild Coyote Estate Winery

Zenaida Cellars

 

*While I didn’t taste at nearly enough of them, my favorites of the ones I tasted are marked above with an asterisk.

There was also an entire section devoted to dessert wines.

And speaking of desserts, the food [including the desserts] provided by the various culinary partners was as good as the wine. My favorites were from:

Apple Farm [desserts]

Panolivo [desserts]

Two Little Birds Bakery [desserts]

Cattaneo Brothers Beef Jerky & Sausage [sausages]

Odyssey World Café [penne pesto pasta]

 

And special kudos to…

RB Smokin BBQ for outstanding ribs,

Robert’s Restaurant for delicious pork belly,

and Robin’s Restaurant for lamb grilled naan pizzetta that made me want to make a long-overdue return visit to Cambria, where Robin’s is based.

A great way to spend a “dark and stormy night”.

 

But the night wouldn’t have been complete without sharing a bottle of Turley Cinsault with Mike Ortiz in the hotel lobby before turning in.

To be continued….(Part 4, the final chapter, will run on May 5)

Michael Perlis provides outsourced controller services to businesses that do not need a full-time controller. He balances this with his interest in wine: reading and writing about it and, of course, drinking it. He is still trying to figure out how to combine these two pursuits. Feel free to contact him about either at mcpfinancial@aol.com or michaelthezinfan@aol.com.