"Paso Robles - a wine stop" a Paso Robles Travel Page by trvlrtom

My mother in law, who grew up not too far away in Solvang, says Paso Robles is a cow town. Well, some years ago it was. But now it would seem very different to her. Paso still holds to its agrarian roots, but vineyards have spread across the landscape and the town is now a destination for a different, more cosmopolitan set of visitors.

As recent as the mid 1990s there were only about 30 wineries in the region. Now there are well over 200! A lot of money has come in, with investors and wine lovers with money buying up property and building their new little empires. With so many to visit, it would be difficult to objectively say which to choose from when you make a brief visit.

Personally, I have little interest in visiting a new place that looks like a faux French chalet, or a silly little dream castle; let the rich folks have their fun, but I prefer to discover a winemaker who practices his craft and focuses on wine rather than trying to impress people by building his or her version of a primo vineyard and McMansion.

Paso Robles itself is a charming town, centered around a green plaza framed by local businesses. Several old buildings on the north side of the plaza collapsed in the earthquake of December 2003. My wife and I happened to be there that morning, and had breakfast in the building that fell down two hours before the quake hit. We felt it in Solvang, some miles to the southwest.