If you get the chance to travel the West Coast of California and explore the various wine regions dotted throughout, you’ll notice both the subtle and significant differences between each. Located just off the coastline, between San Francisco and Los Angeles, the area of Paso Robles is one of the more southerly wine regions in the state, and also, one of the more off the beaten track destinations. This beautiful area offers some fantastic wines and stunning landscapes, best explored with the friendly husband and wife duo at Toast Tours to find the best spots.
Exploring Paso Robles with Toast Tours
Lars and Kristina founded Toast Tours after their discovery of Paso Robles as a world of striking landscapes, passionate winemakers and, of course, fabulous wines. After many years as tour guides in Napa and Sonoma, as well as time in Spain, Toast Tours brings their passion for food, wine and travel together to showcase what is a fantastic up-and-coming part of the Californian tourist trail.
Toast Tours offer several tour options to explore around the Central Coast – a full day “Toast Together” around the wineries of Paso Robles, a half-and-half day of wineries and the famous Hearst Castle, or, if you’re looking for something more bespoke, a private, fully tailored tour with a completely customised itinerary.
Unlike some tour options, do not expect this to be a simple drive and drop off wine experience – Lars and Kristina’s passion for the area and its wines is truly evident throughout your time with them. They’ll give you a fascinating insight into the history of the area, the evolution of its wine making community and be able to answer nearly every question you could ever have as you explore Paso’s wineries.
Pick up on the day is complimentary in and around Paso Robles, and can be arranged from further afield for an additional cost. Their bespoke minibus provides a great social affair, providing an intimate space for groups of family or friends to catch up in between spots, or for strangers to share their stories and make new connections.
On a “Toast Together” day, you’ll typically get the chance to explore around three of their favourite wineries, which tend to be some of the smaller, non-touristy spots with tasting fees usually no more that US $20 per person. You’ll stop off for lunch at one of the wineries, where a sandwich and snacks from a fantastic local deli is included, and in the afternoon you can head to Tin City, where you’ll find some ‘urban’ wineries, or perhaps explore one of the breweries instead.
Discovering Paso Robles' wineries with Toast Tours
After spending several years in and around Paso Robles, Lars and Kristina have built up a fantastic knowledge and passion for the wineries around the area. What’s more, with time spent in the wineries themselves, they have developed excellent relationships with many of these boutique producers creating a truly special experience for the guests they take along for tastings.
As of 2013, Paso Robles was one of the last remaining wine making spots that did not have official sub-regions (called “sub-AVAs”, like St Emilion or Margaux of Bordeaux). One of these sub-regions, named the Templeton Gap, is a fascinating part of the region that goes a long way to explaining the success of Paso’s wineries. Being inland, Paso Robles benefits from warm summer days, often exceeding 40C; but the geography of the Gap draws in cooler coastal air at night, creating the largest swing in daytime and nighttime temperature in the whole of California, perfect for growing grapes.
Templeton Gap, therefore, is one of the best spots to start exploring Paso, and one winery that showcases these wines the best is ONX. As well as having a tasting room in Tin City, you can visit their 127-acre vineyard in the heart of the Templeton Gap. During your hour-long visit, you can taste a selection of their wines whilst exploring different spots around the vineyard; along the way you’ll learn more about their interesting plots and seasonal developments of the vines.
Dotted around the vineyard, you’ll also get the chance to enjoy some of the “oases” that the team have built. These serene and comfy hideaways, with shady patios and outdoor furniture, allow guests to pause and soak up the surroundings. ONX grow a broad range of varietals, largely centred around the Rhone styles. Expect to try a number of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre blends, as well as others like Tempranillo. One of their most unique wines is their L’Autre Femme cuvee, a white blend of Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc, with lovely caramelised tropical notes, and fresh acidity to create a lovely balanced mouth feel.
Heading to the west part of Paso Robles, in the Adelaida District, another great spot to visit is Villicana Winery. Villicana is particularly interesting as it’s not only home to a fantastic winery, but also to RE:FIND, a craft distillery launched by the team in 2011. Firstly, for the wine, you can find a spot beside the bar, where the staff will introduce you to a tasting flight showcasing their range of varietals. Again focussing largely on Rhone style wines, Villicana’s GSM blend is one to look forward to, as well as their fruit forward Zinfandel.
After trying the wines, you’ll head next door to the distillery. Launching the RE:FIND brand was driven by the team’s desire to increase their own sustainability and, more specifically, using the discarded grape juice from the winemaking process in their distilling process to make something special. The result is a range of fantastic spirits, from a delicious sipping vodka (sure to win over even non-vodka drinkers), a limoncello liqueur and a unique whisky barrel aged vodka.
Another great spot in the Adelaida District, Parrish Vineyards, is a family affair, whose history and credentials speak for themselves, let alone the delicious range of cuvees they’ve developed. Owner and winemaker David Parrish, spent most of his early career developing Napa Valley into the world-class wine region it is today with his innovative planting techniques alongside names such as Robert Mondavi.
On returning to Paso Robles, Parrish took the leap of opening his family winery, fulfilling the dream of his grandfather who planted vineyards in the area over a century ago. Nowadays, you can visit the vineyard and tasting room, set within a delightful white ranch, and take a seat on the wraparound porch overlooking the vines. Cabernet Sauvignons are Parrish’s passion and the versions you can taste here are among the best in the area. Enjoy these alongside other fantastic varietals including a Malbec and Zinfandel.
Although the world of Paso Robles wines will be new to most people, there is perhaps one winery whose name people may have heard of – DAOU Vineyards. The product of two Lebanon born brothers, who, on their first sighting of, what is now, DAOU Mountain, bought the land on the spot. Their winery is today one of the larger and more touristy spots you can visit in Paso Robles, but with panoramic views from the open air tasting area at the top, it’s definitely worth a visit.
Standing at an elevation of 2,200 feet, the striking Mediterranean-style tasting room and manicured gardens at DAOU stand in awe of the valleys beyond. The tasting experience here is one of the more expensive in the area, and their wines are more “Napa” in style, with notable use of new oak, in contrast to some of the other winemaking styles you’ll try in Paso where terroir is central to their expression. Alongside the classic Cabernet Sauvignon blends, their Malbec-led Cuvee Lizzy is a standout wine, with blueberry and pepper notes and a lengthy finish.
Key Information about Toast Tours
How much does a day with Toast Tours cost?
The classic “Toast Together” tour including three wineries and some time in Tin City, costs US $119 per person, whilst the Hearst Castle tours plus three wineries costs US $144 per person. They can also put together a more extensive plan or a custom itinerary for private tours, such as a three-day adventure on the Central Coast at US $769 per person (including accommodation).
All the full day Toast Tours include complimentary pick up around Paso Robles, all your transportation during the day, bottled water and snacks for the road (including a yummy cheese board!), and a deli lunch. The price does not include tasting fees, which are usually around US $10-20 per person, but are often waived with a purchase.
Which wineries does a Toast Tour visit?
For custom private tours, the whole itinerary for the day will be designed around your preferences and budget, and they’ll make some suggestions ahead of time based on their favourite spots (which are well worth heeding!). For group tours, the itinerary will be planned by the team with a selection of different wineries showcasing Paso, although if you have a strong preference about certain spots, let them know and they can try to incorporate them into the plan.
Can you buy wine to take home on a Toast Tour?
Buying bottles during your tour is highly recommended as many of the wineries you’ll visit don’t distribute outside of their tasting room, so a visit is the only place you’ll be able to find them. What’s more, most wineries will waive the tasting fees on purchase of a bottle or two, making it a very economic choice! Toast Tours also have wine skins and shipping boxes that you can buy from them, making it super easy to safely transport your wine home at the end of the day.
Our final thoughts on... Toast Tours
Exploring the wineries around Paso Robles is such a different experience to a day around Napa Valley, with friendly, boutique producers who are keen to share their passion for the area and their wines – there’s no traffic jams here either! Lars and Kristina have thoughtfully designed tours, which are small and intimate, where you can meet new people, hear some fascinating stories about Paso and most importantly, have a great day out exploring Paso Robles.
Find Out More…
Toast Tours – https://toasttours.com
Explore more from Paso Robles and California.
Many thanks to Toast Tours and all the wineries for hosting our wine tastings during our time in Paso Robles. As always, all thoughts and opinions expressed here are entirely our own, we wouldn’t recommend something if we didn’t love it!
