Wine

Once the most widely planted grape in California, some wineries now describe zinfandel as a “hard sell” on the national market; it sells well in local tasting rooms.

One of the unique elements of the annual Paso Robles Zinfandel Festival each year is the creation of a Collaborative Zinfandel Blend, using juice donated by participating wineries.

In a wine world that seems to be all about chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon, sauvignon blanc and merlot, it’s good to know there are stubborn producers out there who insist on continuing to grow lesser-known but tried-and-true varieties.

At a time when celebrity winemakers grab a lot of attention, Bill Brosseau keeps a much lower profile. You may not have even heard of him. But the soft-spoken Brosseau is one of California’s best young winemakers.

You could call it the company that white zinfandel built. In the 1980s and ’90s, the wine company that came to be known as Trinchero Family Estates experienced huge growth, propelled by the phenomenal success of its Sutter Home white zinfandel.

The Grapev ine

Petite sirah is still a relatively minor player in the California wine industry, accounting for only about 1.5 percent of planted acreage, but it seems to have found a good home in Paso Robles. San Luis Obispo County has the state’s second-largest petite sirah acreage, and the vast majority of that acreage is in the warm northern part of the county.

The Grapev ine

Paso Robles has a long connection with Polish politician and pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski. In the early 20th century, Paderewski bought 2,000 acres west of town, where he later planted zinfandel and petite sirah. When Prohibition ended, he even produced some wine. The city still celebrates his musical legacy with the annual Paderewski Festival.

Winemaker Bob Lindquist and his family just celebrated the one-year anniversary of their Qupé Tasting Room in Los Olivos.

When Doug and Sabrina Kruse started looking for ranch property in the Paso Robles area 12 years ago, they had two priorities. The first was finding a place where they could start a family, a place without the congestion, pollution and pop culture of their Southern California home.

Much has changed over the past two years since Ali Rush Carscaden opened her Templeton wine bar named 15 degrees C.

Ever since James Thurston Judd’s great-grandfather planted grapes on his Utah ranch and started quietly making wine for the Mormon Church, farming and wine have been Judd family traditions.

Rabobank recently hosted a wine industry event in Paso Robles to discuss the economic effects of the recession on both the sale of wines and vineyard real estate.

For the past three years, the Nipomo Wine Group has been selling its Phantom Rivers Wine through its wine club and Web site, local wine retailers and a handful of restaurants stretching from Los Angeles to the Bay Area.

It’s a common practice for new tasting rooms to open just prior to major event weekends so that as many customers as possible are exposed to a new winery and its wines.

It’s a 10 in Olympics judging, an 800 when taking an SAT or a 300 when bowling. It’s the perfect score. In wine, that perfect score is a 100 — particularly when judged by the Wine Spectator critic Robert Parker. And it is that perfect score that Justin Smith of Paso Robles’ Saxum Winery received last month for one of his 2007 wines.

When Signe Zoller started her custom winemaking service just over three years ago, she had no clients, no equipment, no staff and no office — except the one in her house. Much has changed in the last three years.

The adage, “two heads are better than one,” applies to solving problems and creating new products. It also applies to winemaking, according to Russell From and McPrice Myers.

Since Coy Barnes started his wine tour business, The Wine Wrangler, in summer 2004, he has been in relentless pursuit of growing the wine tourism industry in Paso Robles and promoting the awareness and understanding of Central Coast wines.

When Cris Cherry started Villa Creek Cellars in 2001, it seemed like a natural move. He had already found success in the restaurant business with Villa Creek in Paso Robles, which he started with his wife, JoAnn, in 1998. And food and wine go hand-in-hand, right?

If you ask Shannon O'Neill how many wines he makes, be prepared for a long answer. "I do seven cabs a year, five syrahs, three French blends, petit, merlot, a couple of zins, muscat, four desert wines, and a couple of whites," he answers. Is that it? "Oh, and we have malbec and tempranillo, too."

Now that the weather has started heating up, I find myself turning more to white wines. Here is a mélange of choices for white-wine drinkers.

Planning to throw some meat on the grill this Memorial Day weekend? Then you’ll probably be in the market for a full-bodied red. Here are three bottles — two merlots and one cabernet — from Paso Robles wineries that you should consider.

You would think Steve Goldman had it made as a future winemaker.

As summer approaches, you may be thinking about throwing a nice steak or piece of tri-tip on the grill. One of these Paso Robles cabernets would be a delicious companion.

Jack and Mary Novak purchased a historic Napa Valley wine estate named Spottswoode in 1972. Jack, a physician in San Diego, “wanted to stop being a doctor and drive a tractor,” says his daughter, Beth Novak Milliken.