Breakaway Blog

Good News!

A recent TIA survey on culinary tourism shows that the future is bright for our foodie friends and wine enthusiasts. The survey showed that 17% of American leisure travelers participated in some sort of culinary or wine-related travel in the past three years. The survey also showed that the number of people interested in culinary based travel has increased to 60%, which is much higher than the current number of culinary travelers. Why is this great news? With growing interest in the area of culinary travel, the quality and diversity of our nationally and internationally recognized wine regions will grow and prosper. This will in turn bring more opportunities to the table for our fellow wine enthusiasts.

Here is some more great news. According to the study, wine and culinary experiences are a big driver in a traveler’s consideration of destination choice. Types of culinary tourism with the greatest focus include winery tours, tasting local wines and touring popular wine trails. Can you see where I’m going with this? It seems as though Breakaway’s private and custom wine tours in the Santa Ynez, Edna Valley and Paso Robles wine regions are in line with what our fellow wine lovers are looking for. Wine is our passion and we look forward to sharing this with more culinary travels in the future.

Bye Bye Firestone, Hello Foley!

Firestone Winery, the first to create estate wines in the Santa Ynez Wine Region has sold not only its estate winery in Santa Ynez and Paso Robles, but its name as well. Foley Wine Group, which owns Foley, Santa Ynez and LinCourt Wineries in Santa Ynez, has taken over rightful ownership and is now the biggest wine conglomerate in that wine region. Both of the Firestone Wineries will keep their name and their excellent staff, so much will seem unchanged. All except the absence of our delightful celebrity Andrew Firestone whose fame was made on the ABC show The Bachelor. Now, your best chance at finding the family that has made its mark on the region since 1972 is at their boutique Curtis Winery and at the Firestone Breweries.

Edward Sellers, What a Treat!

This Saturday I stumbled upon the Edward Sellers tasting room in downtown Paso Robles. Conveniently located a block from the central park, I highly recommend stopping by and tasting their absolutely delicious wines. I walked out with the 05 Cognito, Sarah and Le Theif.

Not only are their wines delightful, but their people are a real treat. While we tasted, we were joined by the winemaker Amy Butler who offered insight on the wines and the industry in general. The tasting room manager Kendall also shared information on their vineyards in Paso Robles and offered us incredible hospitality. All together, Edwards Sellers offered a wonderful wine tasting experience to our group. If you would like to discover Edwards Sellers for yourself, let us take you there!

Congratulations to the Garretson Wine Company!

Food & Wine Magazine recently released their top white wine blends of 2007 and named Garretson Wine Company’s 2005 G White in their top three examples. Priced at a modest $14 per bottle and located in Paso Robles, we are proud to celebrate the good news. It is always a treat when our neighbors are recognized on a national level. Congratulations! Let's all  celebrate with a glass, shall we?

15 Degrees C Grand Opening

Imagine a place where you can taste local, west coast and international wines before you buy them while sampling world class cheeses, nuts and chocolates. Did I mention you can also taste and purchase specialty beer and sake? The place is called 15 Degrees C, named after the ideal chilling temperature of wine, and it's located near the Paso Robles wine region in Templeton, CA. This weekend was the Grand Opening and it was phenomenal! The store itself is very modern, with a wine bar on one side and bottles for purchase on the other side. The owners Ali and Alison are very knowledgeable about their products and are the type of people you want to share a glass of wine with. I highly recommend stopping by the store to have a glass and browse the wonderful selection of wines, beers and sake. Also, don’t forget to ask them about their tasting and cooking classes.

http://15degreescwines.com/

The Central Coast in Wine Spectators Top 100

Every year Wine Spectator magazine releases its top 100 wines of the year. The wines are rated by judges and then given a correlating score. Of the wines that made the top 100 list for 2007, 20 were from California. Of those 20 California wines, four were chosen from our very own Central Coast wine region. Not too shabby considering the monster regions to the north of us. The four wines are:

#29: (92 Points) Wolff Vineyard, Chardonnay, Edna Valley, Mount Eden 2004
#41: (93 Points) Four Vines, Petite Sirah, Paso Robles, The Heretic 2004
#58: (94 Points) Alban, Syrah, Edna Valley, Alban Estate Reva 2005
#82: (92 Points) Loring, Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills, Clos Pepe Vineyard 2005

It is always fun to see our local wineries make the list, but I usually don’t give too much weight to the scorings and point allocations of wine. The truth is, we all have our own unique palates and I always encourage that we follow our own taste buds. If you would like visit these wineries and taste for yourself, let us know and we’ll be happy to take you. =)