Day 5

Woke up in Paso Robles and saw a hot air balloon out the window. Waited for Lois (owner of the B&B) to set out my coffee and planned out today. We figured we were good for at least one more tasting in Paso and Lois gave us a freebie at Justin. Justin is high-end stuff on the local menus so it was a good bet.

Justin was way out in the county but worth the effort. Nice place! They host an inn on site as well as a small grocery with tables and excellent grounds. They offered the usual Rhone whites which were pretty good. The hit was the "Isosceles" which was a Bordeaux style blend. They offered a wine club only reserve

version of this as well, but it is very scarce (and pricy.) We bought

the Isosceles for a fair price considering I later saw it on a menu at $135.00!!!

The drive from Paso Robles to Carmel Valley took us through the Salinas River Valley. Much migrant labor at work harvesting veggies and fruit. Remember to take your mp3 player if you drive out this way. The local radio is stinko.

Carmel Valley is quite nice and higher in elevation than most of what we've seen. Big money up here judging by the wheels on the street. Wine is tasted at strip-mall style shops owned by the vineyard as opposed to the on-site tasting rooms we're used to seeing. Still, the shopkeepers are very gracious with the pours and bottles. None of the three we tried here stayed on the tasting menu. Everything they had was poured generously.

Bernardus was first. Great everything except for the mouthy lady who tasted at the other end of the bar. Crypes, she knew everything and told the shopkeep all about it. They spotlight their "Marinus" bordeaux style blend which was quite good, but not as good as Justin's Isosceles. They were selling some of their bottles at half price so we took them up on their chardonnay.

Joullian was next. I didn't like anything in there but will say that we sampled 11 (yep 11) different wines. I liked the shopkeep and her gracious attitude. It didn't hurt that she was tasting too...

Last was the gem.. Talbott. They make only chardonnay and pinot noir. They do not need to do anything else as their examples of each are world class. I almost wish I didn't go in there. I now realize what we can't get back home. The pinot... oh my. The chardonnay is very unlike anything else. I now have to ask why all vinters can't make chardonnay this good. It has the nose of a pina colada and the palate of a beach resort. The shopkeep swears it's not fortified with anything.

What's more, they make three different high fruit versions, each more complex than the last. We own one now. It won't last. Probably won't make it home.

The Jabberwock Inn is an old bay mansion with plenty of 60's style flair. Nice owners with heavily planted grounds. Very well located with excellent view of Monerey Bay. Dinner was fair but we had a much better lunch at a Garmin GPS find of a small pizza joint owned by a nice lady in

Carmel Valley.