Looking for a grown-up Halloween? These 6 SLO County haunts have wicked good wines
Let’s be honest — Halloween isn’t just for the kids. Plenty of adults like to dress up, eat, drink and be scary, too.
Lucky for us, a handful of San Luis Obispo County producers make frightfully delicious wines perfect for All Hallows’ Eve.
Here are a few killer bottles to scare up before the big night.
Pick your poison and have a Happy Hallo-wine!
Graveyard Vineyards
6990 Estrella Road, San Miguel
805-467-2043 or graveyardvineyards.com
Paula and Rob Campbell-Taylor were dead serious when they started Graveyard Vineyards, named for the 150-year-old cemetery at the bottom of the hill where their winery sits.
More than a decade and many awards later, they’ve started having fun with the name — especially at Halloween.
Conjure images of graveyards with bottles of Mortal Zin zinfandel and Tombstone red, white and pink. And don’t miss the Edvard Munch-inspired Scream, featuring a ghostly glow-in-the-dark apparition.
As the Campbell-Taylors say, this is “wine to die for.”
Chronic Cellars
2020 Nacimiento Lake Drive, Paso Robles
805-237-7848 or chroniccellars.com
Chronic Cellars salutes the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos with labels depicting fanciful skeletons ideal for Day of the Dead celebrations. Dead Nuts and Sofa King Bueno make a festive couple, while Purple Paradise and Spritz & Giggles blend kindly and spooky.
A past Halloween party lives on with Unteachables, emblazoned with skeleton versions of founding brothers Josh and Jake Beckett and the artist behind their linocut labels, Joe Kalionzes.
Sans Liege
2995 Limestone Way, Paso Robles, and 870 Price St., Pismo Beach
For a more classical take, look to the reserve line at Sans Liege, wrapped in haunting images from Dante’s “Inferno.” The closer you look at the collages of Gustave Dore’s 19th-century engravings, the eerier they feel.
Shadowy figures adorn bottles of En Gedi and Prophetess. Gripping, unconventional storytelling in the tasting notes adds another element.
Fableist Wine Co.
3005 Limestone Way, Paso Robles, and 5036 El Pomar Road, Templeton
805-246-1431 or fableistwine.com
Sometimes the simplest designs make the boldest statements.
The scorpion adorning Fableist Wine Co.’s zinfandel is downright creepy. Pair it with the axe on the tempranillo and snake on the merlot to deliver a starkly ominous message.
Each wine represents a classic fable — and if that doesn’t strike you as foreboding, remember that those tales get rather dark. Remember the scorpion who stings the frog as they cross a river, dooming both to drown?
Shadow Run Vineyards
2720 La Panza Road, Creston
805-227-0554 or shadowrunvineyards.com
A single raven silhouetted in the sky, shadows stretching out across a dim landscape. You’ll find these classic images reminiscent of a spine-tingling Edgar Allan Poe tale among the offerings at the Evans family’s small operation in Creston.
Quaff the Raven as you quoth Poe’s “The Raven.” Or prepare to set out after dark with Moon Shadow’s twisted tree and lone figure casting spooky shadows under a moonlit sky. Either way, you’ll set the stage for an unsettling evening.
Rabble Wine Co. and Tooth & Nail Winery
3090 Anderson Road, Paso Robles
805-369-6100 or rabblewine.com
Scenes of destruction unfurl across Rabble’s labels, making them a must-have for apocalyptic gatherings. Woodblock prints from the 1500s depict nature’s wrath: tempests, volcanoes, tsunamis, dragons, medieval cities in flames. Harbingers of doom take the form of Medusa and siren mermaids.
Another winery label, Tooth & Nail, showcases struggle with menacing animal prints from John James Audubon. The castle-themed winery provides a suitable setting for Halloween outings.
This story was originally published October 24, 2017 at 11:06 AM with the headline "Looking for a grown-up Halloween? These 6 SLO County haunts have wicked good wines."