Savoring Fall Amidst the Grapes

The Paso Robles wine region is central California’s Tuscany, with its rolling hills, bountiful vineyards, and farm-to-table cuisine. This stunning area is also home to a beautiful, new resort and vineyard, Allegretto Vineyard Resort, and a variety of wineries with sustainable and organic features that make for an elegant visit that’s as good for the earth’s soul as yours.

Allegretto Vineyard resort is a luxurious dreamscape of a resort, with every inch of the property, which has been open just under a year, designed to evoke a Mediterranean style that could’ve been here for centuries. With art work collected from around the world, the serene hotel has public spaces that serve as both museum and comfortable living room; a vast and appealing courtyard; a chapel called the Abbey; stunning gardens that include a labyrinth, a serene pool, and 20 acres of wine grapes, fruit trees, and olives. From fountains to opulent chandeliers, every detail is elegant yet somehow, not pretentious.

The concept of the resort comes from creator Doug Ayres, whose family-owned line of 21 chain hotels is primarily geared toward business travel or quick family visits than a long-term stay. Allegretto Vineyard Resort, which was the result of his personal vision for a first-of-its-kind hotel that is luxurious but family friendly, is a true Central Coast wine country destination resort. Fifteen years ago, Ayres visited the area, fell in love with it, and wanted to build what Linda Parker Sanpei at Parker Sanpei public relations, calls “essentially a bed and breakfast, with 171 rooms and suites. He wanted a place where visitors could experience peace and quiet. He wanted to very consciously lay out the resort for serenity.”

As gorgeous and relaxing as it is, there is even more to be thrilled about here from an earth-friendly perspective. Dining at the resort’s relaxed Cello, whose setting evokes an extremely comfortable wine cave, is one shining example. Daily, local providers arrive with fresh ingredients for Executive Chef Eric Olson to include in his Northern Italian cuisine. Olson visits area farms to ensure that he’s working with organic and sustainable providers; he’s also a forager, looking for wild-growing natural ingredients such as milk thistle, seaweeds, elderberries, mugwort, and acorns throughout the area and on the hotel’s property. The restaurant’s mixologist, Alexandra Pellot, dries her own fruits and makes her own syrups from scratch.

“I look for ingredients that are unique and will educate our culinary team and our guests. I look beyond organic for my sources. I’m looking for places remote from commercial operations, locations with soil that is uncontaminated by any contact with pesticides,” Olson explains. “I also think the water source is important. We look at all parts of the produce we source, all the way to the tips of vegetables we can use in sauces or use for compost.”

Olson has his own chef’s garden and a large compost area. He also keeps a bee box on the property. By next year, he plans a thriving hive. The vineyard on the resort’s property, and its 200 plus olive trees, also make fine resources for the chef’s kitchen.

“We use edible flowers. We source sustainable, certified organic soybean oil for our grills that composts well. We control freshness and where every element in our kitchen comes from.”

Pastry chef Carol Anne Phiopott makes all her pastries and desserts from scratch. Look for desserts such as Phiopott’s airy key lime pie, and coconut gelato with bread pudding.

Not to miss mains and appetizers include flat bread with garlic and edible flowers, raw vegan zucchini noodles, a wonderful risotto featuring wild foraged mushrooms with eggplant and shallots, and a garden salad with herbs fresh from the chef’s garden.

Careful sourcing is also a feature of the fine wines the vineyard resort creates: a Viognier with notes of citrus and honeysuckle, the hardy Spanish grape of the Tenaught, the fragrant rose petal notes in the Zinfandel.

Away from the kitchen and winery, guests can stroll the gardens or the vineyards themselves; or experience a spa that’s built around organic aromatherapy, as well as zero-gravity chairs, infrared detox sauna, massage, facial, and body treatments. The hotel also offers Chära, an onsite holistic wellness program that combines a style of yoga and meditation with aromatherapy and a detox sauna.

Of course, a stay in Paso Robles must include wine tasting, and the variety of choices in the region include many that are SIP certified, sustainable, and certified organic. Available to all growers and wineries in California, SIP certification verifies vintners’ commitment to the environment, and the program’s high eligibility threshold prohibits the use of high-risk pesticides, and provides ongoing sustainable performances and practices standards. Among the Paso Robles SIP certified wineries are Villa San-Juliette Vineyard & Winery, Castoro Cellars, Tablas Creek Vineyards – which is also certified organic, and Pipestone – which practices sustainable farming.

Pipestone Vineyards produces Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Viognier and a dry farmed Zinfandel. Owners Jeff Pipes and Florence Wong have built a vineyard that employs Chinese feng shui principles of wind and water usage, and farm with a team of draft horses. Solar powered and a certified wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation, the winery has a variety of native plants, fruits, and nuts planted among the vines, and provides water sources for birds, deer, raccoons, bats, frogs, and deer, among other animals.

SIP certified Castoro Cellars currently has over 750 acres of Estate vineyards, 350 acres of which are certified organic. The tasting room in nearby Templeton has installed solar panels on its roof, with another solar array offering an alternative energy source at their Cobble Creek vineyard. The vineyard uses cover crops as an alternative to pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers.

Villa San-Juliette opened their tasting room in 2008, according to host Melanie Porteny. Created by Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick in 2006, Villa San-Juliette has been focused on sustainability since it began, and received SIP certification in 2014.

The setting in the northern section of the Paso Robles AVA is stunning, creating a tasting experience on a beautiful, sunny patio with Italian fountain, amid roses and a capacious lawn on a 168-acre estate. Growing 11 varietals, stand-outs tasted included a 2014 Pinot Gris redolent of almond, apricot, and lemon; a 2014 Sauvignon Blanc; and a lush Syrah with notes of butterscotch, red berries, and vanilla. Winemaker Dan Smith, whom Porteny describes as a kind of “mad scientist of wine,” mixes 90% Syrah with 5% each of petite Syrah and Grenache to create the Syrah.

In the heart of cozy downtown Paso Robles, Thomas Hill Organics Bistro & Wine Lounge is another area bastion of all things organic and local. This beautiful restaurant offers Central Coast resources as delicious as they are elegantly prepared. Produce comes from area farmers, breads are crafted by local bakers, and the local wines are perfectly selected. Try the gluten-free, house-made, Panko-dipped fried green tomatoes in season, the cold cucumber soup, zucchini from Haussler farms prepared with romesco and mint. For dessert: chocolate torte with cherries, and brown butter cake.

Owner Debbie Thomas says she doesn’t believe in heavy sauces, and under the hand of chef Tim Veatch, they are far from necessary. “Sauces cover things up. Let the fresh local ingredients shine,” she says.

Thomas started an organic farm on top of a hill which she named Thomas Hill Farms, a name and an organic philosophy she carried to her restaurant, with its charming patio and relaxed atmosphere. Leaving a career in marketing in Pasadena, she moved to Paso Robles 11 years ago. “First came the farm, then the restaurant. I was ahead of the farm-to-table curve,” she attests. It was the abundance of produce from the farm that led her to the restaurant. Chef Veatch creates a menu that highlights fresh, seasonal ingredients.

For a delicious, delightful, and eco-friendly experience, Paso Robles has it all, from enticing dining to organic wine to a stunning resort with a commitment to sustainable practices. Tuscany may have nothing on its California counterpart.

Allegretto Vineyard Resort

2700 Buena Vista Drive

Paso Robles, California, 93446

Phone: 805-369-2500

Thomas Hill Organics Bistro & Wine Lounge

1313 Park St.

Paso Robles, CA 93446

Phone: 805-226-5888

Pipestone Vineyards

2040 Niderer Road

Paso Robles, California 93446

Phone: 805-227-6385