Paso Robles March 2009

Wine Tasting

Spring break and we decided on a five day jaunt to the Paso Robles wine country and central coast.  We stayed at the Wine Country RV Resort in Paso Robles.  One of the perks we found out is that some wineries give discounts if you mention you are staying there!  We got a 20% discount (same as club member) at two of the wineries.  

There are soooo many wineries in this area that we needed to research which ones to visit.  We decided Italian style was a place to begin, plus the karma factor of whatever winery "just seemed right".

Just down the road was the J. Lohr Winery.  They had a nice zinfandel and syrah under the J. Lohr label and a very nice sauvignon blanc under their second label Cypress Vineyards.  We happily bought a mixed case with our 20% discount.

We visited the Midlife Crisis Winery tasting room in downtown Paso Robles.  Gotta love the name!!!  We bought a bottle of sangiovese and barbera that were pretty nice.

The Eberle Winery had some good stuff and bought 3 bottles of their blend Cotes-du-Robles and 3 bottles of cabernet sauvignon - another 20% discount!

A visit to the Martin Weyrich Winery produced a 1/2 case purchase of sangiovese.

The best find was the Caparone Winery.  This winery was one of the first in the area and has a no nonense approach to producing Italian varietals.  It is owned and run by a father and son, no other employees, and they interrupted their activities to tend to the spartan tasting bar.  The prices are great ($14/bottle) and the wine was FANTASTIC.  Of course, a mixed case was purchased and we foresee future internet purchases.

Hearst Castle

It has been several years since our last visit to Hearst Castle  and we decided on one of the tours we haven't taken.  This tour included the upper floors of the main house, Mr. Hearst's private suite, the libraries and the kitchen.  Flash photography was not allowed, so the photos below were taken with available light.  Not real sharp in detail, but very moody...

Neptune's Pool - glorious as ever.

An antique wooden ceiling imported from Europe and reused in one of the guest rooms.  How green is that!!

The guest room below the ceiling.

I was quite facisnated by the ceilings.

Ahhhhh the glorious view.  

This was William Randolph Hearst's private suite.  Portrait of his mother, Phoebe, on the right.  She was the first female UC regent and the founder of the PTA.  Portrait of his father George on the left above the lamp.

Ceiling in Mr. Hearst's suite.

Suite of Marion Davies, Mr. Hearst's long time mistress.  Very scandalous in the day. 

Mr. Hearst's private library.

This was a guest room for special guests.  It is reported that Clark Gable and Carole Lombard stayed here as well as Cary Grant.

The view from the room.

Here is the huge kitchen.  Quite an operation.

Ovens, pressure cookers etc.

Food prep counter.  I love this picture for some reason.

One of the sinks.

This pool is below the tennis courts.  It was drained recently for maintenance.  I remember this as a child and it is really spooky and dark when filled.  I remember the story that Hearst didn't care for it after it was completed and let the staff use it.

A view from the parking lot.