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ing ride. Pedal past ancient oak trees and sun-drenched
wineries. If this appeals to you, take a journey with Central Coast Outdoors, a tour company based out of San Luis Obispo that offers halffull- or multi-day tour packages that will have you biking all over the Central Coast. Keep in mind that your mileage may vary; trips range from 10 to 40 miles for the half- and full-day tours, respectively, and multi-day trips have tours that can take you from San Francisco to Los Angeles. To find the right tour for you, check out californiabicycletour.com.
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Hot spots for food and drinks. With an abundance of great food and fine wine avail-
able to chefs, it’s no wonder that the Central Coast has so many excep-
Le Vigne Winery
The Italian heritage of the Filippini family is quite evident at Le Vigne Winery. From the tasting room design to the grapes in the vineyard, the history and feel of this winery are quite Old World Italiano. The Filippini family has been in the Paso Robles region since the early 1960s. They converted their land from raising hay and cattle to growing wine grapes in 1982. Le Vigne (the vineyard in Italian) began producing wine several years later, and opened a state-of-the-art winery in 1995. Winemaker Jac Jacobs is a Southern California native who has 30 years of experience in California wines. He has been working for the Filippini family since 2003 and is passionate about making high-quality wines in the Paso region. The winery produces a wide variety of wines including merlot, cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel and blends. Wine isn’t the only thing that owners Walter and Sylvia Filippini produce. They own Peacock Cheese, one of Californian’s first importers of fine foods that distributes gourmet cheeses from around the world. Le Vigne has a wine club that not only offers deals on wine but also on private parties, cheese and chocolate pairings and free shipping on member’s birthdays. They have a beautiful setting for weddings for up to 400 people. levignewinery.com — Don Martin
tional restaurants. Novo Restaurant and Lounge in San Luis Obispo is one of these places. Utilizing locally sourced and globally inspired food, the chefs make culinary magic on a daily basis. The downtown restaurant’s creekside patio seating makes for an intimate setting. Peruse the menu at novorestaurant.com. Another SLO standout is Cafe Roma, where authentic Italian cuisine reigns supreme. With its signature family-style recipes and a mixture of Roman, Tuscan and Lombard specialties, the dishes are fresh, crisp and make you want to eat more. Find out why Cafe Roma has been around for more than 30 years at caferomaslo.com.
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Bakersfield Life
June 2012
Cass Vineyards and Winery
Off the beaten path on the east side of Highway 101 sits Cass Vineyards and Winery, a fun and quirky boutique winery, in the loosest sense of the word. Tucked among the rolling, centuries-old, oak-studded hills between Paso Robles and Creston, just east of the Templeton Gap, there’s a warm, casual and rustic feel here. All of the wines are estate grown in the vineyard that surrounds the contemporary Cass tasting room inside the mission-style winery. Their Rhone grapes are grown ENTAV certified, which is based on L’Etablissement National Technique pour l’Amelioration de la Viticulture, the French agency responsible for the quality of wine grape varieties. The tasting room offers picnic fare to enjoy with pairings either inside or outside beneath the oak trees for a complete wine country experience. The tasting list is not extensive, but make sure to sample the 2011 viognier or roussanne, or the 2010 Rockin’ One blanc, for a bit of the flavor from this unique winery. casswines.com — Lisa Kimble
Terry Hoage Vineyards
Terry Hoage Vineyards
Photo courtesy of Terry Hoage
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Hop on a bicycle for a relax-
This 100 percent organically farmed estate is home to Terry Hoage Vineyards, located just off Highway 46 in Paso Robles. Former NFL football player Terry Hoage (whose career spanned 13 seasons and a 1992 Super Bowl win) and wife Jennifer, an interior designer, purchased the property in 2002 and took a few years to build their winery. “Terry literally built the winery, put in the irrigation, built our winery equipment (press, shaker tables) and worked every aspect of the vineyards and winemaking,” Jennifer said. She describes the winery and tasting room as an old country barn — the sides are made of 150-year-old barn wood that came from three Iowa barns that were being torn down. While the down-to-earth couple used to do everything themselves, they now have help running their winery, which makes their lives a little easier since they still do all the winemaking. Terry Hoage Vineyards is most known for its syrah, which Jennifer said is probably because it’s the wine they’ve produced the longest. The Hoages use a minimalist approach in their winemaking using only French oak to make their wines. No packing, fining or filtering is involved. Pay a visit to this hilltop property that offers spectacular views and Rhone-style varietals that include Grenache, picpoul blanc and roussanne. terryhoagevineyards.com — Hillary Haenes