Back in the Groove – Morro Bay, Wine tasting in Los Olivos, and Solvang

The beautiful sunset at Hearst Castle set us back on a positive track. It was only aided by a fantastic late-night taco stop in San Luis Obispo to help get my strength back.

It might have been that I was starving after walking around with an empty stomach all day,
but Pancho Villa's tacos tasted like heaven to me.

By the next morning, we definitely had our groove back and we covered a lot of ground that day. We started off in Morro Bay with a great cup of coffee a very tasty breakfast at the Top Dog Coffee Bar.

Filled with a substantive breakfast, I’d hoped to carry out my desire to kayak here, as the volcanic plug in the middle of the bay, Morro Rock, is supposed to provide some lovely on-water sight seeing. Sadly, the fog did away with this plan once again.

The dense fog did not, however, diminish the beauty of the bay and we had a great morning just walking along the pier.

After this lovely start to the day, we headed out to Los Olivos in the Santa Ynez Valley to give wine tasting another try. Los Olivos is, of course, famous from the movie Sideways and it really is a great place to go tasting. It’s an adorable little town made up of just a few blocks. You can spend all day hopping from one tasting room the next – or as many as your tolerance will allow – and never get in your car.

You might argue that you’re missing out on the vineyard experience, but you absolutely feel that you’re in wine country since the town is surrounded by vineyards. Plus, because there’s diversity in temperatures across this region, there is also good variety in grape varietals that do well here, so there is a good chance of finding something you like.

It was a really hot day and given that I was still wary from my lack of tolerance the day before, we limited ourselves and shared most of the tastings. We hit three tasting rooms, and they were all very different.

Our first stop was Carhartt Vineyards’ tiny tasting room. Their production is equally small, but it reflects an earthy connection to the land. As I read the literature, that impression seems correct, as the owners were ranchers before becoming winemakers. We liked a lot of their offerings, but we settled on the 2008 Pinot and the 2006 Syrah. Despite all the hype around Pinot in recent years, I’m not the biggest fan; however, I liked this one a lot for it’s toasty earthiness and hits of pepper and spice. The Syrah was the kind of wine that made me want a steak (a reaction I usually have more with big Cabs) and in a way it’s kind of like of the Marlborough man, with hints of spice, smoke, and leather.

Next it was onto Saarloos and Sons, another family operations, but of a very different sort. This is a winery with style and panache. The tasting room looks like the Viceroy went to wine country. There is a little romance to the place as well. The labels features family photos and include stories of what inspired the wine rather than tasting notes. I didn’t love everything I tried and here Greg and I tended to be more split on what we liked, however, we did agree on the 194six moon. It is inspired by the love story of the family’s grandfather and grandmother, and thus is a blend of two varietals, cab and syrah, demonstrating feminine and masculine characteristics. It is fruit forward but balanced and rounded out by hints of leather and tobacco.

A quick side note, on the weekends, they also have cupcake and wine pairings.

Tre Anelli was our last tasting of the day. The focus here is on Spanish and Italian varietals. They have a nice selection and quite a few that seemed like they’d pair with well with foods. We both liked most of the reds and we took home two. The first pick was the 2006 Sangiovese, which was fruity up front, but finished dry with a little acid at the end. Selection number two was the 2007 Dolcetto for it’s strong tannic structure and black cherry flavors.

I definitely made sure to get food in the middle of all of the wine tasting. We stopped into the Los Olivos Café & Wine Merchant. Now in my mental wheel of “someday” dreams there is restaurant/wine shop, and this is the closest real world example I’ve seen. It brings together food, wine, and art. There is a small wine store section on one side, and a casual but elegant café on the other. On the walls the day we stopped by were beautiful photographs taken by a local photographer of many of the local winemakers.

Greg and I shared a simple pizza and salad lunch, but it was a very tasty pizza and salad lunch. Our pizza was full of mushroomy, ricotta goodness.

I said we packed this day in, so it did not end with wine and lunch in Los Olivos. From here we moved onto Solvang-- California’s own Danish village.

It kind of feels like this town ran away from Epcot’s World Showcase. It’s hyper-cute and it made me feel like eating pastries. (I was still full of pizza, so I resisted, but the temptation was strong.) There are also statues of Hans Christian Andersen everywhere, and even a little museum in his honor.

Ok, I admit it. I really liked the museum. Because I’m a nerdy bibliophile with a particular penchant for ornate children’s books, I was probably a little overexcited by so many beautiful editions of “Thumbelina”, “The Little Mermaid”, and “The Snow Queen.”

I think, perhaps, that Greg was not as enthralled by all the pretty kid's book as I was.

When we’d had enough of Solvang’s sugary cuteness, we headed to our campsite at Gaviota State Beach. By now we’d camped on a couple of beaches, and while this sounds beautiful and romantic, up until now they’d all been engulfed by fog and pounded by strong winds. We still got a good bit of wind, but this time we also got a gorgeous sunset and clear skies, indicating that we're nearing Southern California once again.

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