Seeking the perfect way to relax and reconnect with the ladies in your life?
Consider a girlfriend’s getaway to Paso Robles.
The region is conveniently located between Los Angeles and San Francisco just a short drive from San Luis Obispo Airport, which has 90-minutes flights from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport daily. In addition to being quickly accessible from the Valley, Paso. Robles is home to more than 200 wineries and 40,000 vineyard acres producing at least 60 types of varietals each year. And because one cannot live on wine alone, there are also dozens of accommodations, restaurants, and truly wonderful ways to bond with one’s besties between sips.
Chief among those outside-of-the-box offerings are at Cass Winery + Geneseo Inn. In addition to boasting a full-scale vineyard, tasting room, and full-service restaurant, Cass also has an ultra-modern boutique hotel made from shipping containers and a series of outdoor adventures ranging from archery, ax throwing, and beekeeping to horseback riding, olive oil tasting, third-wheel motorbike tours, and cooking classes through its Camp Cass program. Think adult summer camp meets luxury wine retreat.
Similarly, Allegretto Vineyard Resort is a multi-sensory mecca. Spread across 20 acres, the Tuscan-style resort features onsite dining, lush gardens, sensational spa, private label wine tasting, meditation, yoga, art tours, and photo opportunities with George, the property’s resident Alpaca.
Paso also has several wineries with their own caves, notably Booker Vineyard. It sits along 100 acres of the western hills of Paso and features a variety of chambers within its caves of varying temperatures and sizes. Guests are offered tours inside followed by a sky-high elevator ride for a rooftop tasting experience that only just opened in 2020. Eberle Winery, whose namesake Gary Eberle is among those who put Paso on the map, also offers an incredible cave tour that culminates with an intimate VIP wine tasting in the cave grotto.
History buffs? Make a reservation at DAOU Vineyards, where guests learn how one family’s perseverance over generations led two brothers to realize their American dream with the opening of this expansive mountaintop winery. The tasting room, complete with art installations tailor-made for photo opportunities, has regular flights as well as culinary enhancements. Pro tip: enjoy small bites and pairings at DAOU and then venture to Adelaida Vineyards & Winery next door, which offers a food and wine program meant to take a deep dive into how food and wine complement and impact each other in an intimate setting within its private Library Room. Le Cuvier Winery also features a bucket-list level culinary experience marrying wines fermented only with wild yeast from dry-farmed vineyards with five perfect bites of seasonal farm-to-table treats.
Need more musts? Do not pass up Paso’s epic wine train or more “spirited” offerings. Halter Ranch, a 2,700-acre nature estate dedicated to land, art, and (of course) wine, has an open-air train that journeys across its land on a private railway for the tour of a lifetime. The tour may be paired with a wine tasting and/or “nature-to-fork” luncheon or picnic. Barton Family Wines features traditional wine tasting but is also home to Grain + Vine Craft Distillery, which opened in 2022 and offers a taste of their specialty vodka, rum, whiskey, and gin as well as signature cocktails. Similarly, Bethel Rd. Handcrafted Spirits + Wine, one of the first businesses to acquire a distilling license in the county, offers Italian-style grappa, gin, and brandy as well as wine, often with live music to boot.
Hungry for more? Paso has some of the stand-alone culinary spots in California, notably La Cosecha, Il Cortile Ristorante, Les Petites Canailles, and In Bloom.
For more, visit PasoWine.com.
Cass also has...a series of outdoor adventures ranging from archery, ax throwing, and beekeeping to horseback riding, olive oil tasting, and cooking classes through its Camp Cass program.
