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Central Coast Food & Wine Journal

Learn about the latest food and wine happenings, as well as our recommendations for dining, wine-tasting, and relaxing.

Farm Tours with Central Coast Food Tours

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Farm Tours with Central Coast Food Tours is always a good time.

Stepladder Farms
Stepladder Farms

We offer these as a private, personal tour created just for your group. My favorite farm we’ve spent time at recently is Stepladder Farm. Stepladder Farm is located in the beautiful hills of Cambria and is a multi-generational farm. While the farm raises goats and makes goat cheese, they also work with CalPoly to procure milk for their cow’s milk Cheeses.

Visiting the Farm

Farm Tours at Stepladder farm are best scheduled once the baby goats (the “kids”) are born.

Baby Goat
Baby Goat

This usually happens around April. This event kicks off the mom’s milk production which lasts usually through September or October. Taking one of our tours to the farm just after the kids are born affords you an opportunity to frolic with the babies. The kids are really too cute, and most curious. Any time spent with these adorable creatures is a treat for children as well as adults.

As Stepladder Farm gears up for their goat cheese production, you’ll get a chance to see how the milking operation works. This is not a large farm. They keep less than 100 female goats for milking. Still, seeing what operating a goat farm and creamery involves is quite an eye opener. On the tour you’ll see how the goats are milked, learn about all the sanitary precautions taken to safeguard the health safety of the cheese, and best of all… taste the cheese! You’ll be given the opportunity to also taste their cow’s milk cheese, and purchase any of the cheese you taste.

Our Farm Tours include everything from artisanal olive oil farms, to vegetable and fruit farms to ranches. Call us to arrange a full day of adventure for you!

Best,

Laura

10 Fun Things to Do with Central Coast Food and Wine Tours

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While there are many more than 10, lets start with the 10 Fun Things to Do With Central Coast Food and Wine Tours:

Pouring wine
Pouring wine

10.  Call Laura at 805.400.9054 to see what tours are available while you are in San Luis Obispo or Paso Robles while you are visiting;

9.   Visit our Farmer’s Markets in San Luis Obispo on Thursday Night after our Thursday San Luis Obispo Food Tour;

8.   Get up early to visit our favorite Templeton Farmer’s Market at 9 a.m., then head over to Paso Robles for our Paso Robles Walking Food and Wine tour at 11 a.m;

7.   Get your Graduation Party on with a Central Coast Food Tour!

6.   Call Laura at 805.400.9054 to find out what festivals are happening when you visit. No charge for these concierge services.

5.   Use Central Coast Food and Wine Tour’s Concierge Services to plan your visit to the Central Coast. We will help you arrange hotel stays, exclusive wine & food tours, and other exciting expeditions in the area.

4.   Central Coast Food and Wine Tours does Birthday Parties! Yes, we can plan a tour to a full weekend of festivities for your birthday group!

3.   Central Coast Food and Wine Tours can arrange a 1:1 visit with a grower/winemaker to learn about growing, making and marketing your wine business.

2.   With the help of Central Coast Food and Wine Tours, work with a Chocolatier to make your own organic, fair trade truffles to pair with wine.

1.    Call Laura at Central Coast Food and Wine Tours to custom design the tour of your dreams as your very own, reasonably priced, private tour!

Call us and discover all the FUN things to do on the Central Coast of California!

Laura

Private Wine & Food Tour in Paso Robles

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Filed Under: Food And Wine Education, Tours
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By now, you know one of my favorite tours is our Private Wine and Food Tour in Paso Robles. I love listening to our guests’ passion for a particular wine, their desire for a certain experience and then allowed to craft the perfect experience for them.

Denner Vineyards
Denner Vineyards

My guests Eric and Debbie from the Detroit area contacted me months prior to craft their perfect experience. I learned all about their wine passions, as well as what they hoped for on this special wine tour. We exchanged e-mails and phone calls as we crafted a wonderful day for this very busy couple, who were taking a day for themselves in Paso Robles.

The highlight of this one day wine tour was the Tasting Room Manager at Denner Winery: David Mills. Dave sensed my guests’ interests in learning more about the processing side of making Denner’s delicious wines. He had the time to offer a most special insider tour. Thanks Dave!

Denner’s Amphoras

While David Mills is my favorite person to go to for Food and Wine Pairings (the guy has an excellent palette), he also has the remarkable ability to read people’s likes and passions. He is remarkable in his willingness to offer up his suggestions for wines, local restaurants, and ‘at home’ wine enhanced meals.

O.K. – Let it be known: I think David is TOPS. Seriously, what a better duo than Denner’s lux wines with Dave’s knowledge of food and wine pairings, and his extraordinary customer service? Under his leadership, Denner has developed a seriously educated, (and Fun), cadre of associates.

The photo you see above is Eric, Deb and Dave viewing the amphoras that winemaker, Anthony Yount, is using to make some of his wine. These are not oak wine barrels, nor concrete containers. They harken back to the Roman times when wine was made in these vessels. I love that Denner and Anthony, as his winemaker, takes these outlier challenges to make (better?) wine.

What I love about Central Coast Food Tours Private Wine Tours is the ability to offer an inside glimpse to the artistry that exists in making wine in this newly established wine region.

Subscribe to our blog and keep up to date with the happenings in Paso Robles, SLO and Santa Barbara wine country.

Cheers,

Laura

Paso Robles Vacation Rental

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Anyone out there looking for a large, beautiful and comfortable Paso Robles Vacation Rental? Well, we’ve got just what you are looking for. As a part of Central Coast Food Tours, our home is in the midst of Paso Robles Wine Country.

Central Coast Food Tours Vacation Rental
Central Coast Food Tours Vacation Rental

This lovely, large home sits on 3 acres with western hillside views. There are 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a large kitchen opening to the dining and great rooms. The house is a perfect respite after a day of wine tasting. You’ll enjoy the outdoor decks, beautiful views, BBQ and serenity of the location.

Living Room Deck
Living Room Deck
Dining room deck
Dining room deck

This Paso Robles vacation rental is great for families, groups of couples, and those with children. There are 4 bedrooms – 3 with queen beds and the master suite with a king bed, ensuite bathroom, fireplace and private patio. The bedrooms are all nicely decorated. The property sleeps 8.

This property is listed on both VRBO and AirB&B and is consistently rated 5 stars.

Prices are $425 Sunday – Thursday and $450 on Friday and Saturday. There is a $150 cleaning fee. There is a 2 night minimum.

Contact us directly for this Paso Robles Vacation Rental through our website and get a 10% discount! Laura: Lauragurreau@sbcglobal.net

Laura

Paso Robles’ Zinfandel

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Paso Robles’ Zinfandel

Welcome to Paso Robles’ Zinfandel! Zinfandel is the heritage wine grape planted before most others in San Luis Obispo County. Zinfandel does exceedingly well in Paso Robles; these full, juicy grapes with their thick dark skins, love the long season and heat of Paso Robles.

2016-westside-zinfandel
2016-westside-zinfandel

Early Days of Paso Robles’ Zinfandel

From the early days (pre 1920’s), Zinfandel was used along with the mission grape. These grapes were used to make wine through the 1700’s and into the 1800’s in the California Missions.

Zinfandel is a versatile and fun grape. Our early Paso Robles wine makers served Paso Robles Zinfandel as a lustful and delicious addition to life in Paso Robles. Very fruity, easy to grow and delicious to drink.

Rediscover Paso Robles’ Rose

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Remember those awful rose wines that were sickly sweet? They were so horrible most of us have since sworn off rose. Well, times are a’changing: I invite you to rediscover Paso Robles’ rose wines.

LXV Heart Note
LXV Heart Note

These are not the sweet wines of yesteryear.  Most of Paso Robles rose are made in the French style, using a direct press method. What makes these wines special are a few things: 1) the grapes are often picked a few weeks early before the sugars allowed to get too high in the grapes and, 2) these rose’s are often made of several grape blends, rather than a single varietal. These two factors lead to a wine that is dry, fresh and crisp, with a bit of complexity by way of the blending of the different varietals.

Private Food & Wine Tour

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When Central Coast Food Tours was called and asked to design a private food and wine tour, we were ecstatic! Unusual and personal tours are the reasons we are here! A lovely couple traveling from Canada were making their first trip to the Central Coast, and they wanted it to be special. We grew up on the Central Coast and love to share our insider takes.

wine tasting view
wine tasting view

We talked about their interests which were, both, in the area of food and wine. They particularly hoped for a “hands on” experience. To our pleasure we were given a full two days of activities to plan.

Paso Robles Food Tour

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The Paso Robles Food Tour is your place to start if you are looking for a delicious entry to the Paso Robles food scene.

Delicious Paso Robles Food
Delicious Paso Robles Food

Our Paso Robles Food Tour is always a delight. We select some of the best restaurants and food and wine purveyors in town, and make sure your experience is up close and personal. Our tours never exceed 8 people and allow for us to make last minute changes to best individualize your tour. Add to this a highly enthusiastic guide who can’t wait to share her knowledge and insights, and you’re off to a memorable adventure!

Currently, the Paso Robles Food Tour consists of 5 stops and includes our beautiful Paso Robles wines at three of the five stops. You’ll enjoy “Farm to Table”, as well as all the locally prepared products such as cheeses, prime rib, sourdough bread, olive oils, organic fruits and vegetables, as well as hand-made gelato; You’re in for a filling and delicious discovery of the culinary side of Paso Robles.

Honeymoon Wine Tour in Paso Robles

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How exciting for us to be contacted by a couple and asked to plan a honeymoon wine tour in Paso Robles!

Honeymoon wine tour in Paso Robles
Honeymoon wine tour in Paso Robles

These folks were from L.A. and just couldn’t afford the time away from their jobs for a full-fledged honeymoon. So lucky for them, a top-notch wine region was just a three hour drive from home! They found a delightfully romantic vacation rental, and a honeymoon wine tour in Paso Robles, by Central Coast Food Tours.

It’s our dream to custom craft wine and food tours for guests of Central Coast Food Tours. This being a honeymoon, the tour had to be extra-special. We picked them up at their vacation rental then drove to the Paso Robles Inn Steakhouse for appetizers and a delicious prime rib sandwich. (Above, you see our guests toasting their new life over appetizers and Castoro’s Cabernet Sauvignon) This was a lovely beginning to a wonderful day in Paso Robles.

Paso Robles Wine Tasting

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A seated Paso Robles Wine Tasting at Tablas Creek is not only delicious and interesting, it’s visual delight as well.

Seated Wine Tasting in Paso Robles
Seated wine tasting in Paso Robles

Tablas Creek winery is one of our favorite wineries. It is often considered the progenitor of the Rhone wine movement in Paso Robles. Their standard tasting is along several bars with staff sharing the wine to groups of about 8. From this main room you look out into their barrel room.

While located a bit far out on the West side of Paso Robles, the winery can get busy.My work around for this is to move this Paso Robles wine tasting up a notch and opt for their “seated wine tasting”. My guests are invited into a special area of the winery where the table is set up exclusively for them. They have the option of tasting a special selection of 6 whites, 6 reds or a mix of three and three. Another bonus is a dedicated staff who eases them through their tasting. This person often sits at the table and makes him/herself available for all the many and varied questions we can conjure.

This Paso Robles wine tasting allows my guests’ access to wines not offered at the tasting bar. Sitting in on these tastings, I’ve learned so much more about Tables Creek. I’d even venture to say, it’s one of the finer Paso Robles wine tasting experiences I am able to offer my Central Coast Food Tour guests.

For more information on Central Coast wine tours visit: www.centralcoastfoodtours.com

For information on Tables Creek visit:www.tablascreek.com

 

Cheers!

Laura