Hello folks! I have toured Napa, Sonoma, and Santa Cruz Mountains already. This year we are flying into San Jose, and heading to Monterey/Carmel for a few days, then slowly driving south. Our last 3 days will be in San Diego lying on the beach, but before that we want to visit wineries, I would say Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills, Santa Barbara area, anything close to there.

I buy from Loring, Clos Pepe, Bonaccorsi, so I am trying to set up something with them. I love Pinot Noir, Syrah, Italian varietals, Sauv Blanc, but will drink anything that is good. Where else should I go? We will be driving right through "Sideways" country, but don't want to travel with the crowds, unless one of those wineries is truly worth a visit. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

on your way from SJC to Monterey I'd recommend stopping at Leal and Windy Oaks. South of that, well others no better than I, although I personally would make sure to stop at Tablas Creek.

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Originally posted by tlily:
on your way from SJC to Monterey I'd recommend stopping at Leal and Windy Oaks. South of that, well others no better than I, although I personally would make sure to stop at Tablas Creek.

These are wineries that I do not know, which is VERY cool! Thanks for the input, I am going to look them up.

A developing area to try is Edna Valley, which is a small detour off of the 101 near San Luis Obispo. Domaine Alfred and Talley make very good pinot and chardonnay, and Edna Valley, Tolosa and Baileyana are all solid as well, mostly featuring those same varietals.

Just off the 101 in Paso Robles, Turley is a nice tasting room to visit if you like zinfandel, and a friendly and good little winery in a beautiful hilly area nearby is Dover Canyon (they make cab, cab blends, zin and Rhone whites). Also near there is Windward, which makes interesting pinot noir in more of a ageworthy and leaner Burgundy style.

Laetitia is not an exceptional winery, but it's wines are fairly good, and mostly it's a nice and scenic place to stop, stretch your legs, use the bathroom and taste some wines right next to the 101 freeway near Santa Maria. Sure beats a rest stop or a fast food restaurant.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: P Monty,

Ohhh, I like these also! I have recently heard of Windward, but never tried, and I didn't know Turly was in the area. Thanks much!!

For those of us not buying large quantities off the mailing list, visiting Turley is your best opportunity to buy some of their wines at reasonable prices. Most stores who get any to sell mark them up considerably. They usually have 3 or 4 zins available to taste and buy at a given time.

Another good idea is, when visiting wineries and chatting with the pourer, ask for other recommendations in the area. They're usually pretty good resources for pointing you to other interesting places to visit nearby, often places you haven't heard of and wouldn't have thought to try.

Have a great trip, I'm sure you can hardly help but have a terrific time.

There are some nice places to taste in Carmel valley as well.

Georis (love their merlot)
Bernardus (full lineup all fairly ggod)
Galante (they have a tasting room in carmel I believe)
Chateau Julien (full lineup)
Heller Estate (full lineup)
Talbot
Joulian

If you are in Carmel Valley, see if you can get to Parsonage. They do not have a wine tasting facility, but we were able to see them at their property after being referred out of Bernardus's tasting room. And I think they now may have their wines available in a common tasting room in the area. A local should be able to point it out. Low production, family run by mom, dad, three daughters and their husbands, very good wines. Very friendly people.

These are all wonderful suggestions, thanks so much. Good tip on Turley, I would bet I cannot afford to be on the allocation list, so this is a great idea. I don't know Carmel wineries, so it will be fun to check some out. I am heading to Niagara-on-the-Lake this weekend to drink some icewine, but the Cali trip is all I can think about these days.