PEAR VALLEY VINEYARDS
is Pear Valley’s Inspiration blend, a GSM mix of Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah, that is dedicated to those battling cancer. For every bottle sold, the winery donates $1 to the Cancer Research Institute, totaling $4,881 last year. The wine also happens to be Kathleen’s personal favorite at the moment. “It’s just light enough, you can chill it a little bit,” she said. “Some heavier wines taste bitter when you chill them, but a GSM is lighter. It’s Grenache-based and Grenache is a light wine, so you can chill it a little bit. So this time of year it tends to be my go-to wine. A chilled wine is nice right now.” Kathleen says they will also be putting out a new blend soon that is similar to Distraction, but lighter and not quite as expensive. “If they liked Distraction, but maybe it was a little heavy for them, this would maybe be the answer,” she said. “Plus you can keep it a little less expensive. It can be a little less expensive if you’re not putting it in dedicated new oak every time.” Distraction costs $35 per bottle, Inspiration costs $22 per bottle, and Kath-
VINO Central Coast Edition
leen says that the new, as of yet unnamed blend, will cost $21. The blend was just bottled this summer and the first bottles will be released in October. On Saturdays and Sundays the tasting room offers meatballs, along with a marinara sauce that features a different Pear Valley red wine each weekend, and also a selection of cheese and crackers. “We’re not intending to feed people lunch, but it’s enough to keep body and soul together,” Kathleen said. “And some wines, like a Sangiovese, are very acidic and hard to drink without a little food. Cheese will work instead of meat, you just need any kind of fat because it coats the tongue and makes it taste sweet instead of acidic.” With all of their wines being estate, Kathleen says it gives wine tasters a good opportunity to see how weather can affect a vintage. “It’s a good chance to taste more of what the weather does,” she said. “Every single vintage is different because of the weather. Some companies want their wine to taste always the same, and we try to
Published by the Paso
make that vintage the best it can be, but it will be different. We want to get the best we can out of each vintage and let nature show herself as to what she wanted you to have that year.” Kathleen says that this year has been challenging with a major lack of rainfall in the area and she and Tom have been taking classes on how to manage their vineyard during the drought. One of the techniques they learned is to prune fruit that isn’t doing as well so that the fruit that is thriving can do even better. Kathleen adds that even with the new measures, their berries are very small this year. “It’ll be very powerful wine because there’s less juice and still the same amount of flavor components,” she said. “When we first release it, it might be a little powerful, but as it ages it’ll be better and better. The winemaker says it’s going to be a good year.” Pear Valley Vineyards is located at 4900 Union Road in Paso Robles and can be reached at 805-237-2861. Tasting room hours are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days per week.
Robles Press
Fall 2014
33