Dream Vacation in Zin Country!

WOW! What a wonderful vacation we had in Paso Robles, CA last month. As members of the Tobin James "James Gang" wine club, we hiked out to Paso Robles for the Tobin James end of summer BBQ on September 12th. And, oh yeah, by the way, while we were there, we visited a few (ahem) other wineries and had a blast!

Thanks to traveling with our friends, Nancy and Michelle, the laughs started Thursday night when we arrived in LA and lasted 'til Sunday night when they left us in Pismo Beach as they returned home. The four of us made our mark on Paso Robles for sure!

Here's a few of the wineries we visited:
1. Laetitia: Nancy's favorite. This was our first stop on Friday as we headed north on 101. Good wine. Cool hats.
2. Calcareous: unbelieveable view from the top of the mountain! Thank goodness we went to this winery bright and early on Saturday morning. Friendly counter folks and delicious wine. There were even friendly dogs.
3. Robert Hall: impressive cellar with massive barrels! Good tasting room, very nice and friendly.
4. J. Lohr: probably the largest winery we visited. Lots of choices and really good whites.
5. Eos: All of us liked this winery if only for the port! Oh, and they gave us nice big glasses to take home with us. And we did.
6. Turley: Despite a rocky start in the tasting room, Chris Lasarte saved the day! She offered us a bottle of White Coat as we enjoyed lunch outside at a picnic table and it was amazing white wine!
7. Thacher: Amidst the blur of grapes, we visited Thacher. Can't remember much else.
8. Tobin James: of course! The BBQ was alot of fun and we clearly should have won the "traveled farthest" prize if they had given one out. Good food, lots and lots of wine. Who knew there were so many cowboys in central California!

Our lessons?
1. Have a good breakfast before you head out to wine tasting.
2. Drink water at each winery.
3. Make sure you eat lunch. Really.
4. Ask questions of the folks at the tasting counter---they love it!

This was a fabulous vacation thanks not only to our friends, but also because of the gorgeous weather, the fun people we met along the way, and the delicious wine we enjoyed. Stay tuned for more updates! And more vacations!!! On to France! On to Italy!

This Wine is a Doozy

Let me set the stage....this spring, Amy visited Chicago and really enjoyed a J. Dusi zinfandel at a wine bar. Like a good investigator, she went on-line and found Ms. Jonelle Dusi's winery in Paso Robles, CA. Turned out, Ms. Dusi had just started making her own wine even though for years prior, the grapes from her dad's vineyard were sold to create delicious zins. Wineries like Tobin James, Turley and Four Vines all have produced and marketed a Dusi Zin. And they were all yummy. Yes, we had all of them.

During our recent trip to Paso Robles, we were blessed by the wine gods to come upon two bottles of J.Dusi Zin at a lovely wine shop, 15 Degrees C Wine Shop and Bar in Templeton, CA. Tonight, we opened one of those bottles and it was a doozy!!!

Fruit forward, jammy, and smooth, this zin was delicious. Judging from the 3/4 bottle that the two of us sucked down with our lasagna and turkey meatloaf dinners, it was a winner.

With one more bottle to go, we will be reaching out to Jonelle Dusi and seeing how we can buy more of her new wines!

Wine Club: Sparkling Wines

Last night, our wine club targeted sparkling wines from around the world. We enjoyed seven bottles, only one from the 'authentic' champagne region in France. Being that we all live in Pennsylvania and usually purchase our wines from the state-owned and operated Wine and Spirits Shoppes, our choices are typically somewhat limited, but last night, we enjoyed some interesting diversity.

The clear winner, scoring 29 out of a possible 35, was an 2007 Italian brut prosecco called Hi! Priced reasonably at $16, the wine elicited comments like, "smooth and silky," "good for a toast" and "light and crisp." The wine comes in at 11% alcohol.

Coming in a close second was a Southeast Australian pink moscato, Emeri, with 28 points. This wine was served with dessert and was a great choice with our peach pie and plum upside down cake. "This is a great party wine," said one of our members. Another commented, "This is like having Barbie in a bottle." (OK, it WAS our seventh bottle!) We especially liked the back label where it said, "Don't wait for the celebration, BE the celebration." At 8% alcohol, it was easy to drink.

The bronze medal winner for the evening was a California sparkling wine, Viansa Brut Classico, a Carneros sparkler with pinot noir and chardonnay grapes made by the Viansa Winery in Hopland, California. Scoring 27 points, a particularly eloquent fan of this wine said that the wine provided "a mouthful of air and light." Most of us just who liked it said that "it was good." One of our members invited those who wanted to dump their glass to dump it directly into his! On sale at the Wine and Spirits Shoppe!

The other wines and their scores included:

• Sofia Rose (the "welcome wine")---California, 24.5 points, "beautiful color," "great bottle"
• Voga Pino Grigio, Italian sparkling---24.5 points, "the best bottle" "refreshing"
• Taittinger, French champagne---25 points, "smoky"
• Toso Brut, Argentinian Chardonnay----19 points, "party in your mouth" "light"

Next up for our wine club, Saturday, October 31st. Theme? Wines with ghosts, goblins, witches, black cats, and any other Halloween-centric labels.