Getting Around Paso Wine Country with The Wine Line

by Tina Swithin,Travel Paso Robles Alliance

 

There are very few things in this world that can beat an afternoon of wine tasting in Paso Robles.  I recently had the pleasure of spending an afternoon wine tasting with my best friend, Meadow, and we discovered a new way to meander through the local wineries.  The Wine Line puts a new spin on wine tasting by offering a very unique service with the tag line of, “Hop on…hop off”.

 

I was intrigued when I stumbled upon their brochure and was eager to see what sets them apart from the rest.  For a very reasonable price, they pick you up at your home in a very comfortable passenger van and your adventure begins.  There are a few different tours to choose from- Westside, Downtown or the East Side.  In total, there are sixty available wineries to choose from—not too shabby.  Even as ambitious as I am, I opted for three.        

Once you have chosen your route, you then choose your wineries.  The vans run in a constant loop on each route and they check in with you every 40 minutes.  If you are having a fabulous time or a picnic (which was what we did) then you can decide to stay another 40 minutes- or longer!          

Our first stop was Summerwood where we had the pleasure of meeting the Tasting Room Manager, Elizabeth Ellsworth who kept us laughing non-stop for our entire visit.  I also fell in love with their 2005 Private Reserve which is a Bordeaux-style red blend that I highly recommend. 

The next stop on our list was Eagle Castle- they had me at “castle” (see picture at left).  It was magnificent- what a place!  We were introduced to Gary Stemper, Founder of Eagle Castle.  As it turns out, Gary has quite a history in Paso Robles and was instrumental in developing the very first Wine Festival in Paso Robles.  In my opinion, those are huge bragging rights!         

Next, we “hopped” back on and set sail for Kenneth Volk Vineyard.  Picnic in hand, Meadow and I arrived at the tasting room and decided to purchase a glass of wine and enjoy our lunch outside.  Kenneth Volk shares the tasting room with Lone Madrone Winery so you can actually accomplish a lot in one place (I’m ambitious like that).  I opted for the 2007 Pinot Noir—silky with aromas of strawberry and cherry.  De-licious!

Our picnic was cut a little short when a light rain started—we were troupers and decided to pretend it wasn’t happening.  The drizzle turned to rain which was harder to ignore.  We decided to hang tough.  All was well in the world until little pebbles of hail started to pelt us.  It made for a good laugh and the end of our Wine Line adventure.  Matt was waiting as we wrapped up our picnic and he delivered us right back to the starting line- home.

The Wine Line can be reached by calling 805-610-8267 or online at www.hoponthewineline.com

Tina Swithin is the Blog Manager for TravelPaso.com where she writes Pairings in Paso and other blog-a-licious Paso Robles articles.  Follow the Paso Robles Insider to get the inside scoop on all the haps in Paso Robles Wine Country.