Liquid Assets

Nestled in the foothills behind the Hearst family castle lays California's most exciting up-and-coming viticultural area: Paso Robles. It starts in the foothills of the Santa Lucia Mountains and moves east across Highway 101 taking up a space of 24 square miles with almost 26,000 acres devoted to wine grapes. What makes the area a winemaker's dream is the dry climate, the dramatically changing landscape – from steep mountainsides to flat plains – and the incredible diurnal temperature shifts from the 100-degree afternoons to the 50-degree nights.

The good news for us is that Paso Robles is still relatively undiscovered, which means the wines aren't fetching the premium prices of Napa and Sonoma wines, and the quality level is almost uniformly high.

The godfather of Paso Robles is Gary Eberle, a pioneering soul that started making Paso wine in the 1970s and is responsible for smuggling the first Rhone plantings into the area. He's a big, generous man with a happy outlook on life, which is reflected in his wines. Where other wineries have important – frequently Latin – sayings on their front doors, Eberle's says, "The difference between wine and children is you can sit down and reason with a bottle of Cabernet." His wines are definitely reasonable, though I'd choose his lively and powerful Steinbeck Vineyard Syrah ($19) above all, especially with Gary's signature grilled pork ribs.Ê

Tablas Creek Vineyard is the perfect demonstration of why the whole world is watching Paso Robles. It's a joint venture between famed importer Robert Haas and the world-renowned Jean-Pierre and François Perrin, owners of Château de Beaucastel in the Rhone Valley of France. Hass and the Perrins searched for the best vineyard land in the U.S. to produce Rhone-style wines. They chose Paso Robles. A taste of their top-of-the-line red, Esprit de Beaucastel ($30), proves the point. It's complex in the French manner yet immediately pleasurable with peppery, smoky flavors perfectly suited to braised short ribs or duck sausage. Their Côtes de Tablas ($18) is another red blend with everything turned down just a bare notch. It would go with pasta and mushrooms or a pizza rustica.

EOS Estate Winery makes a great Zinfandel, spicy, full-bodied and a bargain at $15. Their marketing maven, Chris Vix, did time as a lead-guitar-toting singer in Austin's early Nineties scene, something he still misses. He consoles himself by drinking the EOS French Connection ($18), a Bordeaux blend that shames a lot of Napa wines at three times the price.

Don Brady is another Texan in exile. After spending time as the winemaker at Ste. Genevieve and Pheasant Ridge, he moved to California working at a few huge operations. Then he got a call from Robert Hall, who was opening a state-of-the-art facility to make top-quality wines. The Robert Hall Winery produces a baker's dozen wines in all price ranges, but the best are all $18! Hall's favorite is the Merlot, a big jammy-style wine with lots of character. My favorites are the Syrah and the Rhone de Robles, both filled with ripe dark fruit flavors and spicy aromas.

Last on my list of not-to-miss Paso Robles wineries is Peachy Canyon Winery. Unlike the others I've mentioned, you can find this one everywhere. Peachy Canyon spent a few years under the iron grip of a French winemaker who "classed up" their rustic wines, much to their detriment. The family is now making the wine again, and the results are the best wines to come from their estate in its 17-year history. The wine you'll see most often is their Incredible Red ($12), a dazzling wine for the money. But save your shekels and go for their Westside Zinfandel ($18), a glorious wine reminiscent of what used to be great about Sonoma Zinfandels. Once hooked, make the final move to their best wine, the Old School House Zinfandel ($25), a rich, peppery mouthful of Paso Robles-style happiness.