We next headed for a region that bills itself the “Far Out Wineries of Paso Robles.”  The tasting rooms are all a bit of a drive heading northwest from downtown.  However, one winery makes the extra driving effort worthwhile: Calcareous Vineyard.  (The unusual name will be familiar to geologists.  “Calcareous” refers to the limestone formations in which the grapes are grown.  Limestone imparts a unique flavor to pinot noir. 

Since our last visit, the owners have built a fine new tasting room with walls of glass which look out to this winery’s stunning view of the Sierras to the East. (Their prior tasting room was quite nice, but cozy and can you believe it -- didn’t have any windows except into the barrel aging warehouse.!) They also have increased the guest capacity of their picnic facilities which are now extensive, now have nice sun umbrellas, and still all savor the stunning mountain views. This is a great place to enjoy a bottle of wine with your party, but please stay long enough to sober up, cause the drive home is a two-lane blacktop!

With our dinner in downtown Paso Robles Friday night, at Artisan Restaurant, we drank a bottle of Calcareous “Twisted Sisters” blend. At the winery we tasted 2006 Twisted Sisters Meritage ($36 and worth every penny),a wine which evokes all the qualities of a good Bordeaux: aromas of dark fruit, toasty oak and spice. Ripe red cherries on the palate end with soft fruit characteristics.  We also noted the 2004 zinfandel ($26 but on sale for $17 per bottle to clear out the remaining inventory as of June 18, 2009).  Light strawberry nose, dark fruit and spice on the palate, an excellent representative of the lighter style zinfandel.  The 2005 vintage zinfandel exhibits more youthful exuberance and could use a year or two of aging.   Finally the 2005* Paso Robles syrah ($34), about which my notes say simply, “Yummy.” (*My notes say this is the 2006 syrah, but the Calcareous web site lists only 2005.  I suspect the error is mine.)