After lunch, I went to 3 more wineries in the Paso area. First was L’Aventure. L’Aventure describes itself as “Bordeaux meets Rhone”. It was a nice change from the straight Rhone varietals and blends. I tried 8 different wines from L’Aventure: 2005 Roussanne Estate ($35), 2005 Rose ($15), 2000 Zinfandel ($25), 2003 Rim Rock Syrah ($45), 2003 Optimus ($45), 2003 Estate Cuvee ($68), 2004 Cote-Cote ($75), 2004 Cabernet Estate ($75). The last 2 are usually not open for tasting, but they were both great and at $75 each, they should be. The Zinfandel was velvety and elegant, which was a nice break away from the big jammy Zin’s of California. The Estate Cuvee had interesting berry flavors and good tannins, but pricey.

My next stop was Windward which was pouring a vertical of their Pinot Noir Monopole. I tasted the 2002 ($35), 2003 ($30), 2004 ($30). Of the three, I think the 2002 was the best, probably because its had to mellow out and age a bit. It was a complex wine with flavors of strawberry and cherry. It had finese and a nice lengthy finish - overall probably the first good Pinot I had in the area.

My final stop was Summerwood. Now, its the end of the day and my taste buds are probably tired of all this wine, but I was not crazy about the wines at Summerwood. I didn’t think they were special or interesting so I’m going to keep this short. They were pouring the 2005 Viognier ($28), 2005 Syrah Rose ($24), 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon ($30), 2003 Vin Rouge ($26), 2003 Syrah ($32). The last Syrah was good, but I wasn’t about to spend $32 on something that is just good - especially when I had a lot wine to try.

Sadly, I didn’t pick up any bottles in the second half of my day, but I still had a few days to fill my suitcase with great Central Coast wines….

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