Good Bottles of Wine Off the Beaten Path of San Marcos Road
We stared into the blue sky, white clouds and a snootful of ruby red wine on the table top in a world turned topsy turvey. But even disoriented, days like this are for savoring the perfume of a good bottle of wine at the visual and tactile banquet of wine tasting.
Editors Note: As of January 2022 the main estate facility is closed and tastings are to be held in their new downtown Paso Robles venue (13th & Pine.) However as of February 1 it is closed as well. As of May 1 they are now open but rebranding their wine and adding spirits. As of Fall 2022 they are closed and appear to be out of business. Wow, quite a long journey.
In the northwestern Paso Robles quadrant you’ll find San Marcos Road and a number of consequential wineries. This road is the northern roadway leading westward to good bottles of wine at Justin Vineyards and Adelaida Family Estate.
Enroute to these tasty treats, just off California Highway 101, you’ll find reopened Rabbit Ridge Winery. They recently arose from post Covid lockdown. We attended the first tasting of 2021 and things were a little tenuous but the owners Joanne & Erich Russel were on site sharing wine with friends and guests for the first time in a year.
If you follow these pages you know we wrote about them in 2013 and enjoyed their Zinfandel’s and Chardonnays. This trip was no different.
The wines are well worth collecting. Their Chardonnay is Joanne’s favorite because wine making husband Erich doesn’t put much acid into the wine during production. For those of you with Silent Reflux or Acid Reflux this is a wonderful wine for you.
The local media is abuzz with the winery’s impending bankruptcy auction. The auction allegedly finalizes June 10. Visiting with Joanne she shares another version, telling us the media was not telling the whole story. According to a release Joanne shared she and Erich sold the land and wine making facility, “Now we work for the company and still make most of the decisions. We make the wines to our style and liking, but the new owners are in charge of growing Rabbit to a larger volume for distribution levels.”
We’ll see what happens after June 10 and keep you posted.
So, here’s what we tasted:
2019 Chardonnay $30 ✰+ + (and purchased)
2019 Carignan Shady Lane Vineyard $30 ✰+
2018 Zinfandel $25 ✰+ +
2017 O.V.Z. (Zine, Petite Sirah) $40 ✰+
2018 Misfit (Cab Franc, Petite Sirah) $60 ✰+
2017 Seventy (Cabernet, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot) $85 ✰+
You’ll find them at 1172 San Marcos Road, Paso Robles west of the Highway 101, north of Paso Robles.
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