October 20, 2004
Paso Robles!A great find up in Paso Robles is The Vintner Vault. I’m taking Norm Yost’s class in winemaking at Allan Hancock, and I went up with another student to pick up bottles for our wine class at Vintners Vault in Paso, A bit hard to find the first time, but what a wealth of inventory for both the professional and home winemaker!
Owner, Ryan Horn, told me the store is open 9 to 5 Monday through Saturday. During harvest, which is practically over now, the store has special hours seven days a week.
They sell barrels and racks, presses, pumps, bins and lids, lab equipment, tanks and stands, chemicals and yeast, warehouse equipment, safety equipment, fittings, wine hoses, for starters.
The store is located just north of NAPA Auto Parts at 3200 Riverside Avenue, Suite 140. Coming from Santa Barbara County, take the Highway 46 East exit, and turn left onto 24th Street. Go up to Riverside and turn right. Phone (805) 226-8100, or visit their website at www.TheVintnerVault.com
Good Eating!
Another nice find in Paso is the restaurant, Buono Tavola. (They also have a restaurant in San Luis Obispo on Monterey Street next to the Palm Theater.)
I had their saltimbocca with a half bottle of the ’00 vintage Qupe Bien Nacido Vineyard syrah. What a deal for $18! Half bottles are smart on restaurant wine lists-a perfect amount at lunch, or if you are alone.
Like the wine list at American Flatbread which I wrote about several weeks ago, Buono Tavola has an extensive list and more than reasonably priced.
Here are some of the gems from the list: DomaineAlfred chardonnay in half-bottle, $22; Perbacco, $30; Talley Vineyards, $38; Navarro Vineyards (Anderson Valley) gewurztraminer, $30; and Verdad dry rose, $18.
Notable reds from California include Domaine Alfred Chamisal Vineyard pinot noir, $42; Turley “Old Vines” zinfandel, $45, Tablas Creek “Esprit de Beaucastel,” $45; ’98 and ’99 Alban “Reva” syrah for $65 and their grenache-’00 for $85 and the Hospice du Rhone “Seymour’s” ’98 vintage for $95! Some of these prices may sound high, but they are quite close to retail prices, if you could find these wines in retail stores.
The restaurant also serves tasty and interesting ports by the glass, vin santos, and grappas, including one of my personal favorites-Mosby’s Grappa di Traminer. Vin santo, by the way, is a style of winemaking in Italy where the wine is made from grapes that are dried on straw mats. The French equivalent of this wine is called vin de paille (wine of the straw) not to be confused with vin du pays (wine of the countryside).
Bon appetit!
Wine lover and Santa Maria Times Wine columnist, Bob Senn, lives in the bucolic Los Alamos Valley and owns the Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium.
