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| Project Paso |
Paso Robles will always hold a special place in my heart as it played an intrical part in bringing a special winemaker into my life via my family's Five Oaks Vineyard just off Crestin Road. In the rolling hills surrounding this beautiful wine region, where Zinfindels reign, Moonstone Beach beckons, and the elephant seals languish around the tide pools, one can truly be seduced by the allure of it all. It is this backdrop that sets the stage for so many robust wineries in an ever-growing wine destination.
Enter, Project Paso. A class act quietly blending wines in the Paso Robles appellation for 30 years. The families of August Sebastiani Sr. and Sam Balakian started their project by mixing depth, spice, and complexity in an effort to share this region's rustic character in each bottle they lovingly produce.
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| Delicious flat bread with pesto and roasted garlic |
The Women's Wine Council of Temecula began our research of the Project Paso wines with the classic varietal of a Sauvignon Blanc. A crisp white with pleasant aromas of citrus and honey to greet you with first sniffs. Blended with a Semillon to give it a smooth, green apple mouthfeel, this wine paired quite nicely with a bloodorange jam on simple wine crackers and allowed the zesty taste of garlic, pesto flatbread to shine through brilliantly. A fun side note on the Project Paso bottling was the introduction of the
"Zork!" A quirky synthetic cork that is recyclable, reusable, and made in the good 'ole US of A! Peel off the seal. Pop the Zork. Re-stop! Handy dandy!
Next stop was a 2009 Chardonnay that packed a powerful oaky-punch as it was aged for 8 months on half French and half American oak. Light flavors of apricot and Meyer lemon come from the cold marine air that flows into Paso Robles through the Templeton Gap. Alone, it was a bit daunting for this true-blue red lover. But, Ba-Zinga! when paired with a scrumptious (freshly caught!) Alaskan salmon slathered in a dill, cuke, and yogurt mixture.
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| Pinwheel roll ups with a kick! |
Now, for the real stars of Project Paso, (in this Wench's opinion), as we sampled the Old Vine Zin. Ah, yes, Paso Zins as alluded to earlier. The concentrated white pepper, blueberry aromas, and warm indian spices help this Big Zin stand up to your barbiest of BBQ dishes and did a lively dance with our appetizer of cream cheese, shredded cheddar, salsa, dried cranberry, chopped green olive pinwheels that partied past the teeth and through the gums, look out tummy, here it comes. (Yes, I love to mince nostalgia by using good old-fashioned sayings that I grew up on.)
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| Delightful figs with goat cheese, bacon, and drizled in Balsamic |
Being more and more influenced by my own honey's love of blending, the Red Wine Blend definitely took first prize in my book. So delicious that I savored every sip and forgot to even write any tasting notes except that it took my breathe away (Oliver, Oliver, I hear Berlin playing in the background! A little Green Acres reference since the original farmhouse in the opening shots is right up there in Paso). The intense, jammy red cherry sips containing Grenache, Zin, Petite Sirah, and Mourvedre all melded beautifully together with subtle caramel, cinnamon, and walnut nuances strutting their stuff and marching with panache over my taste buds. As I thoroughly enjoyed the exquisite taste of this wine, I was hard pressed to find a befitting hors d'oeuvre amongst our array and succombed to the sensation that some wines are just meant to be savored solo. However, the goat cheese baked figs with bacon bits drizzled in balsamic was working it's way into my favor!
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| Savory bites of chicken with honey mustard and Tabasco! |
The 2009 Cab on our list was definitely noteworthy and one of our Cab lovers in the group proclaimed this to be the best of all. It certainly was a perfect example of high quality Paso Robles Cabernet with a multi-layered nose from dusty blackberry, hints of jalapeno, leather and dried mushrooms hailing from Paso's rich, red soils. So complex was this wine, that the entire group was searching to find the best food mate for our sultry friend. I enjoyed zesty honey mustard Tabasco chicken bites, albeit we unanimously voted a green and black organic dark chocolate bar with almond and currant as the divine match. And, thusly, we closed out another hard day at the office!
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| One of our lovely council members, Carmen! |
Chatting merrily, cheersing away, and hydrating with plenty of natural spring water, The Temecula Women's Council thoroughly embraced the wines from a sister appellation who started from humble beginnings, much like our Temecula region, fought hard and long to gain respectable standings in the world of wine, ditto to Temecula again, and are finally enjoying the fruits of their labors. The Project Paso wines reviewed today retail for a modest $14 and may be found in Temecula Old Towne at Rancho Liquor. For those times when you need to grab & go, Project Paso wines are a sure deal for a great price.
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| Guest member, Robin, debating with Carmen. |
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| Scrumptious homemade chix salad w/ hints of curry & cranberries. |
As the US just surpassed the French in total annual wine comsumption for the first time in history, we cannot sit back and rest on our laurels! NO! Indeed! We still have a ways to go in catching them on amount of wine consummed by individuals...now, get out there and do your part! Drink wine with every meal, toast every special occasion (like, it's a Tuesday and you live in Southern California!), take wine destination vacations, and support your local wineries! Make the USA proud!
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| Our hostess, Corie, with Judy in the background. |
As always, giant thank you to Corie Maue at
http://lifehalffull.co/ and
http://www.docpros.net/contactus.html
And, of course, a huge thank you to our great guru, Linda Kissam, for having the vision (and patience) to pair this group of winey women together!
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| Little Black Riding Wench with her basket of goodies! Delicious salmon in the foreground. |
