As temperatures rise in Palm Springs, its time for us to get back in the RV and back on the road. We’ll be traveling for most of the month of June, returning to some familiar and well loved destinations and hopefully discovering some new favorites. Delighted to have you join us.
This trip began with a few days in Buelton, CA, about 40 minutes NW of Santa Barbara. Buelton lies at the intersection of Hwy 101 and Hwy 246, making it an ideal base for exploring the Santa Barbara County wine region.
A brief wine digression here. The coastal and higher elevation vineyards in the Santa Barbara County wine region produce Chardonnay and Pinot Noir almost exclusively. Those further inland and at lower elevations typically produce a wider variety of grapes, but Rhone varietals such as Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre are the most common. Since I am not a fan of Chardonnay or Pinot Noir, we focused our visits on those wineries which produce primarily Rhone varietals.
The three wineries which I would recommend are: Tierra y Vino, which has a tasting room right in Buelton; Andrew Murray Vineyards, which has a tasting room at its vineyard in Los Olivos; and Blair Fox, which has a tasting room in “downtown” Los Olivos. Each of them produced some excellent wines and all are worth a visit.
We didn’t spend all of our time in Buelton tasting wine. We also went on a lovely hike along the the Elwood Mesa Coastal Trail in Goleta. It is an open space/preserve with walking trails through woods and meadows, all of which ultimately lead to the beach.
After three days in Buelton, we headed up the road to Paso Robles. I’ve spent quite a bit of time there in the past few years, mostly because it often seems to be “on the way” to wherever I happen to be going. How very convenient!
Last year, we discovered a new RV Park in Paso, which has become one of our favorite place to stay. There are usually lots of families with kids staying there, which may be a downside for some people, but I love the energy, and the place is spacious enough and has enough amenities to keep everyone happy.
The main reason to visit Paso Robles is definitely to sample some of the wonderful wine being made there. I usually try to divide my time between discovering new places and returning to old favorites. One of those old favorites that we visited on this trip was Brochelle Vineyards. Their tasting room is located in an industrial building near the highway, but the appearance of the building is deceptive; inside, the decor is quite elegant, and the service is attentive. I have found their wines to be consistently good over many years; they are balanced, complex, rich in flavor and reasonably priced.
More of our visit to Paso Robles in my next post.
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Glad to see both the resumption of your travels as well as their chronicles! I’m having a “more Leslie than Frank” response to the crab 😮
I knew you’d see the crab skeleton my way!