Tassajara
www.tassajaracellars.com
Rounding out our visit to Silver Horse was tasting the wines of Tassajara Cellars. Tassajara is the name of the tallest mountain in the Santa Lucia range, which separates Paso Robles and the Pacific Ocean. Winemaker/owner Craig Reed, who used to be the winemaker for the Martin & Weyrich and York Mountain wineries, focuses on food friendly wines, and obtains grapes not just from the Paso Robles area but from other regions of California as well.
Jennifer Baeza poured us the following wines in the tasting room:
2010 Grenache Blanc / Chardonnay [the Grenache Blance is from Paso and the Chardonnay is from Edna Valley]
2010 Edna Valley Chardonnay
2007 Pinot Noir [from the Ward Family Vineyard in Contra Costa County]
2006 Rousse Rouge [71% Syrah, 20% Grenache, 9% Mourvedre]
2001 Syrah
Contributing Editor Michael Perlis
We hadn’t had a blend of Grenache Blanc and Chardonnay before, and found the combination interesting and very tasty.
In addition, Jennifer was pouring samples of their 2005 Rousse Rouge which they were closing out at some ridiculously low price. It was drinking beautifully.
As we said our goodbyes to the three wonderful ladies who hosted out tastings, we felt we had been provided with an excellent introduction to San Miguel wines. We are looking forward to spending more time in this area of Paso Robles Wine Country.
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.