CenCal Road Trip PET

[Mikey]

Since the wine clubs that we belong to in Paso Robles are all getting ready to ship their spring allotments we decided it was time a good excuse to take a road trip to pick them up instead paying the shipping fees. Also a good excuse to visit some wineries we haven't been to before. Also, we had at least a normally wet winter so this is prime time for actually seeing some green, so we decided to avoid the LA clusterfuck and take some backroads, a few of which we haven't been on before.

In the past several years we've driven past the Carrizo Plain National Monument but never had time to stop. So this time we decided to leave on Thursday afternoon and stay in beautiful downtown Taft, so we could stop by the monument on the way to Paso the next day.This is supposed to be the last remaining piece of land that looks like the California inland valley looked before "civilization" arrived.

First day route to Taft:



Taft is a small town west of Neckersfield, and the site of the first oil wells in California and still the most productive area in the state, oil-wise. It sits on the historic Petroleum Highway (CA 33). Not much to see there except a bunch of run down old houses and the "West Kern Oil Museum," which we didn't get a chance to visit because we needed to get an early start on Friday.

This is what it looked like leaving Taft, going north on CA 33:



There are miles and miles of these wells along the 33.




Those hills in the background are the Temblor Range, created by the San Andreas fault, which runs along the base. We'd be driving through those hills to get to the Carrizo Plain.

This is on CA 58, just after turning off the 33. The 58 starts in Barstow and goes generally west through several mountain ranges, until hits US 101 in Santa Margarita, south of Atascadero.




As you climb through the Temblors, things start turning a little more green, at least this time of year.






As you get near the pass, you start seeing a lot of oak trees and wildflowers.



Some of these meadows and hillsides looked like somebody came by with an airbrush and painted them yellow, purple and white.




Next two pictures are looking down the other side, towards California Valley and the Carrizo Plain





The white streak in the distance is Soda Lake, a seasonally dry salt lake that's a major feature of the Carrizo Plain.

More later...

[Y2K]

Nice so far, it's a great time to take a drive this way, took a roadie to Paso and Santa Barbara to see the kid before Easter. The Coast Range is in full bloom. Getting beautiful over here on the west slope of the Sierras as well.

[smackaholic]

Some of those pics remind me of the drive from Yosemite to Watsonville.

[Diego in Seattle]

Some of those pics remind me of the drive from Yosemite to Watsonville.

The drives out on 120 West, 140, and 41 all look like that.

[Mikey]

Nice so far, it's a great time to take a drive this way, took a roadie to Paso and Santa Barbara to see the kid before Easter. The Coast Range is in full bloom. Getting beautiful over here on the west slope of the Sierras as well.

We were in Paso last summer and I had planned then on making a trip in the spring when it's a lot greener. I had high hopes for scenery with the El Nino predictions. I didn't finalize our route until a couple of weeks ago. As you'll see later we definitely took the long way home, but it was worth it.



The Carrizo Plain is pretty much a few hundred square miles of open grassland, with Soda Lake sort of near the middle. Soda Lake Road goes right down the center, connecting CA 58 with CA 166. About 45 miles total, half of it's paved (the northern half) and the rest is gravel. At the northern end is a small "town" called California Valley. It's the site of the first utility scale PV solar farm in CA, about 2,000 acres completed in 2011.

It's hard to get a good picture of the PV panels because they're pretty much at ground level, but you can kind of see them here.




Like I said above, there's not a lot here besides wide open spaces and Soda Lake. There's a boardwalk that goes for a couple of hundred yards along the lake, but you're free to walk into it if you want. A couple of abandoned ranches, one of which has been turned into a visitor center where you can by maps, guidebooks, etc. A couple of primitive campgrounds that you have to travel over gravel roads to reach. Some other gravel roads criss-cross the plain, including one back over to the Temblors that goes to a site where you can get a good look at the San Andreas Fault. My Ford Fusion is unfortunately not set up for this. May have to go back in the pickup someday.

Oh yeah, and a monument marking the entrance.




Across the road from the boardwalk there's a hill you can climb a couple of hundred feet up and get a good view of the surroundings.

Looking north (the way we came in).





Looking west (away from the lake).





Looking south.





Panoramic shot north to east to south.





Pretty much all you hear up there is the wind, birds and crickets.


These pictures are down by the lake.







This is the "overlook" looking back from the lake.




Pahtah would probably appreciate this pillar of salt that my wife caught on the way out.

[Mikey]

Leaving the Carrizo Plain, CA 58 heads northwest across the northern end of the Sierra Madre range, towards the Creston Valley.

This is where we stopped for lunch.




Turning off the 58 at La Panza Road takes you through Creston and towards Paso Robles.

There are probably a couple hundred wineries in the Paso Robles area, not even including Santa Barbara and Santa Maria. Most of them are pretty small and make their sales directly from the wineries, through mail order, and some local retail outlets and restaurants. Only a few have any kind of national distribution. Usually you go into the tasting room and you can get sips of a half dozen or so choices for $10, which is waived if you buy a bottle or two.

Stopped at three wineries on the east side of 101 on the way in -

Chateau Margene
Tobin James
Vina Robles

Got wine but no pictures...

Next post:
West Side

[atmdad]

Nice picks Mikey. I've made that drive a couple of times, it is nice.

Not to hijack, but have you ever driven the 25 from just north of Paso Robles up to Holister or vice-versa. It is about as close to driving along the San Andreas Faultline as your going to get. Similar scenery and if you look carefully and know what your looking for there is alot of surface evidence of fault rupture/slip etc. Pretty cool drive to put on your bucket list if you have not done so. I think there are some wineries in the valley as well if you need further prodding.

[Mikey]

Nice picks Mikey. I've made that drive a couple of times, it is nice.

Not to hijack, but have you ever driven the 25 from just north of Paso Robles up to Holister or vice-versa.

Nope, that's one area I haven't driven much in except to pass through on the 101. Looks like a nice drive though, with access to Pinnacles. It will go on my list. Another one I want to make in the near future is from Carmel to King City via Carmel Valley Road. Supposed to be very nice drive, also with some wineries (which provide a nice excuse for the detour).

We came home on Sunday via 101 to CA 166 in Santa Maria, east to CA 33 and then through Wheeler Gorge past Ojai and into Ventura. That was an INCREDIBLE drive, and one I had never been aware of.

It's amazing how long I've lived in this state while missing so much by not getting off the main highways.

[Mikey]

Nice pics, but you sort of fucked yourself out of Big Sur didn't you?

Big Sur is farther north and not on our route this week. Been there, done that, years ago. It's beautiful, but definitely a long tiring drive. Twenty something years ago we went all the way from San Diego to Sonoma, on CA 1 starting in Malibu, in a single day. Almost killed us.

One of the advantages of driving through the coastal ranges on the back highways is that you sometimes can go for hours without seeing another car.

Point Lobos, just south of Monterey, is one of the most spectacular spots on the coast.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Quality PET. Nothing like a drive through the countryside on a nice day.

Those pics almost make you forget how fucked up California is.

[Dinsdale]

I always dig a roadie PET.

And reminds me that I take for granted the scenery where I live. SoCal doesn't do much for me.

[Go Coogs']

Rack the hell out of that PET.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[Dr_Phibes]

The roads are well paved and all the dividing lines appeared straight and gleaming with paint. Well done California. Definitely.. an exciting road trip.

[Dr_Phibes]

Far right of the pic, level with the sign, there's a darkish spot. Is that a bush?

[Mikey]

And reminds me that I take for granted the scenery where I live. SoCal doesn't do much for me.

Understandable, and to each his own (Paso is actually considered Central Coast).

Unlike most of the country, "green" has become a more and more unusual commodity around here. Also unlike most of the country, it starts in the winter, peaks in mid-spring and is pretty much gone by summer. So, we have to enjoy it while we can. As a consequence of so many micro-climates we do have the most diverse array of native flora in the US, and its subtlety and ephemeral nature are part of what makes it interesting.


The west side of Paso (divided by US 101) is a lot hillier and a lot greener than the drier east side. There actually are 11 distinct sub-AVAs there and a lot of good wines on both sides...

Typical on the west side are moss covered oaks and green meadows.






This is an old walnut grove.





Stopped at three wineries on the west side on Saturday.

Halter Ranch Vineyard for a member's "pick-up" party. Hundreds of people there picking up their allotment and getting free "gourmet bites," but we pretty much got our bottles and left. A decent cab, an excellent Syrah and "Ancestor" which is their signature Bordeaux style blend.

The property was purchased about 20 years ago by some Swiss billionaire. Something like 1,200 acres and I think 25% or 30% were put into production with the rest remaining as open space. There's an old Victorian farmhouse on the property, and they must have put millions into the winery and tasting rooms. Parked on the old landing strip for the party.





Next stop Tablas Creek Winery. Pretty well known for their sustainable practices and excellent Rhone-style blends, which they sort of pioneered in California.




Lone Madrone is up the road from Halter and Tablas. It's owned by the winemaker and vineyard manager at Tablas Creek and his sister. At Lone Madrone he gets to make some more "interesting" blends, like combining zinfandel with Rhone or Bordeaux varietals.

The tasting room is in an old barn.




After Lone Madrone it was time to drive over the hill to watch the sunset from the beach in Cambria. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) the fog rolled in and there was no sunset.

[Y2K]

Looks like Vinyard Drive
Opelo is up there, one of my faves.

[Mikey]

Looks like Vinyard Drive
Opelo is up there, one of my faves.

Good call. The white picket fence is on Vineyard Drive. The other two pics (as well as all three wineries) are on Adelaida Road in the same area.

Opelo is one we haven't been to yet, but it's on the list. We usually get to a couple of new ones on each trip. So much wine to drink, so little time to do it. We tried to stop for lunch at Niner, which is on CA 46, but it was a zoo and 20 minute wait for a table so we got sandwiches at Ralph's.

[Dinsdale]

I think most people don't realize that most of the oldest harvested grape vines in the world are in California (there's a reason, which I could explain in long-winded (aka dinsdalesque) fashion).

[Mikey]

I think most people don't realize that most of the oldest harvested grape vines in the world are in California (there's a reason, which I could explain in long-winded (aka dinsdalesque) fashion).

Are you talking about the mighty zin, or phylloxera - or both?

[Goober McTuber]

[thread hijack]Hey, Dins, you familiar with this Oregon wine:

Our email deal this week is the 2012 Foris Vineyards Pinot Noir. Foris Vineyards was established by Ted Gerber over 40 years ago on a hillside site in Oregon’s Illinois Valley. This valley is located in the southern part of the state and is tucked next to the Siskiyou Mountains. Initially, Ted grew grapes for sale to other wineries until deciding to launch his own brand of wines in 1986. Since that time, Foris Vineyards has grown into a family-run enterprise encompassing 5 different vineyard sites with higher altitudes than most of their contemporary producers.

The 2012 Foris Pinot Noir has a vibrant, ruby garnet color to the wine. Aromas of delicate dew soaked violet petals, red plum, Cerise liqueur, red raspberries and spiced pie crust can’t help but get the mouth watering. The silky smooth mouth feel, cascading red berry fruits and soft, supple tannins are what sealed the deal for us. A velvety wine to enjoy by itself or pair it up with baked salmon, pork loin or Muscovy duck.

[/thread hijack]

[Mikey]

Hey, Dins, you familiar with this Oregon wine:

Wouldn't this be more appropriate for a cheesehead like yourself?

[Goober McTuber]

Hey, Dins, you familiar with this Oregon wine:

Wouldn't this be more appropriate for a cheesehead like yourself?

Looks like some sort of U&L blend. Probably be a lot more interesting that 90% of what Cali produces.

[Mikey]

Probably be a lot more interesting that 90% of what Cali produces.

If it wasn't I'd say it was way over priced, seeing as how 90% of what "Cali" produces is basically jug wine.

But, hey, if you have to ask Dins what's good you probably wouldn't know the difference anyway.

[Dinsdale]

Are you talking about the mighty zin, or phylloxera - or both?

Phylloxera.

Short story -- it's a bug that kills the roots of grape vines. It's native to North America (which has the highest number of native grapes of any continent). But, North American grapes (Vitis labrusca varietals being the most common) are immune to the effects. So now, pretty much all the vines in Europe (and elsewhere) are grafted onto labrusca rootstock...

but not always. Yet another perk of the Left Coast (California and Eastern Washington/Oregon being the best off), is that phylloxera doesn't do that well in the soil/climate combination (although the Willamette Valley is somewhat prone, and I winery I spend time in (working) just paid a pretty penny to replant after phylloxera (allegedly) wiped out the vineyards). California has very little issue with phylloxera, although they have their own set of fungi/pests to deal with.

[thread hijack]Hey, Dins, you familiar with this Oregon wine:

No.

Rogue Valley (Illinois Valley is part of the Rogue Valley, but I thought they had their own AVA) is Southern Oregon. Southern Oregon wines (with maybe the exception of the Umpqua Valley) usually ripen quickly (it's freaking hot there), which leads to their signature "jammy" notes, which is a big problem with pinot (which explains the lack of much quality pinot from California). Even the hot-climate stuff gets jammy in Southern Oregon.

There's not a lot of vineyards in the Applegate Valley (also a tributary of the Rogue), but it's much closer to the coast, and gets much cooler air at night (like the lower Umpqua Valley), which makes the Applegate AVA bar far the class of Southern Oregon.

Probably be a lot more interesting that 90% of what Cali produces.

Because 90% of what Cali produces is corporate dreck (Chuck, Ernest & Hoolio, lots of boxes). And the remaining 10% is still more than any other state produces (I think), and accounts for some of the finest wines in the world... there is that.

[Goober McTuber]

Probably be a lot more interesting that 90% of what Cali produces.

If it wasn't I'd say it was way over priced, seeing as how 90% of what "Cali" produces is basically jug wine.

But, hey, if you have to ask Dins what's good you probably wouldn't know the difference anyway.

Yeah, he said that Cali produces some of the finest wines in the world, so I should probably disregard that.

[Mikey]

Probably be a lot more interesting that 90% of what Cali produces.

If it wasn't I'd say it was way over priced, seeing as how 90% of what "Cali" produces is basically jug wine.

But, hey, if you have to ask Dins what's good you probably wouldn't know the difference anyway.

Yeah, he said that Cali produces some of the finest wines in the world, so I should probably disregard that.

You obviously didn't get the point. My taste for wine may differ from Din's (I'm sure we agree on a lot as well), but at least he knows what he's talking about.

I can make up my own mind. You, maybe not.

[Goober McTuber]

I asked for an opinion from someone whose opinion I sometimes respect. Then you jumped into the conversation.

BTW, I can make up my own mind. I had already ordered two bottles.

[Dinsdale]

I'm sure we agree on a lot as well

That zin (a renamed Italian varietal) should be bigger-than-life, chewey, and black?

I would hope we agree on that.

[Mikey]

bigger-than-life, chewey, and black?

~swoon~

sin,
Goobs

Oh, and yes, a good zin needs to be pretty damn big otherwise why bother.

[Mikey]

BTW, I can make up my own mind. I had already ordered two bottles.

Good choice.

If you decide you like it you'll want that second bottle.
If not you can "gift" it.
Either way, one generally isn't enough.

[Goober McTuber]

BTW, I can make up my own mind. I had already ordered two bottles.

Good choice.

If you decide you like it you'll want that second bottle.
If not you can "gift" it.
Either way, one generally isn't enough.

You catch on really quick.

[Mikey]

On the last day, Sunday, we got an early start on the drive home, but it was pretty socked in so I thought this pic would be appropriate:



Usually the fastest way home is straight down US 101 and then on the 405 through LA. But we decided to take another scenic route, turning east on CA 166 through the Cuyama Valley, then south on CA 33 over the Sierra Madre range and through Sespe Gorge, Wheeler Gorge, past Ojai (where Jamie Sommers used to live), and picking up the 101 again in Ventura. We had never taken that route before so I wasn't really sure what to expect.




This is early morning on US 101, south of SLO, looking south toward TVO-town.




This is a big rock that I saw heading into the Cuyama Valley.





The valley starts out pretty green but turns brown and flat as you go east towards the CA 33 junction.






Top of the first hill on CA 33 looking back the way we came.




This is Sespe Gorge. Not nearly as dry as the other side of the hill. Lots of ceanothus and other stuff in full bloom now. The cottonwoods were pretty green as well.











There was a sheer cliff with a bunch of rock climbers on it near where we stopped, but no pics.


This is looking down into Wheeler Gorge, over the next hill. You don't really get the impact from these pictures, but it's like the highway is completely lined with these yellow flowers. Drive with the windows open and you almost get bowled over by the fragrance. We saw very few cars going either way on CA 33 or CA 166. Fair number of bikers on CA 33 though.







Unpacking.

[smackaholic]

Enjoy your few weeks of green and a few other colors before it all bakes out to its usual brown.

[Mikey]

Raining here right now.

[smackaholic]

Raining in April?

Climate change.

This winter has been really climate changey in the U&R. Overall, very mild. One weekend it got colder than it has ever been here in my lifetime (-15). Last time it was that cold was 1957. This past week though we have gotten a nice little April fools joke. About 5-6 inches of snow, cold and shitty. Kinda weird seeing it still light out and 7PM with a snow cover. Prolly be 85 next week. Gotta love New England weather.

[BSmack]

Just woke to a dusting of snow. Then again, May snow has happened before. Supposed to be in the 60s on Monday.

[Mikey]

Raining in April?

Climate change.

Supposed to rain all day today, heavy rain tomorrow, and more rain over the next week or so.

I think El Niño's just making a late arrival. Prolly got delayed at San Ysidro.

[Mikey]

Looks like some roads I'd love to ride.

You probably would love it. There were a lot of bikers out here on Sunday, but at least not obnoxious. And very few cars. We tend to drive pretty slowly on these roads because we want to enjoy the scenery, but I'll always slow down and/or pull over for somebody who's not sitting right on my bumper. Mostly they wave as they go by.

[4kingguy]

[Mikey]

I didn't pick up any Merlot.