In the last 100 years, Paso Robles has been a hot springs retreat, a cattle ranchers’ town and a haven for upstart winemakers.
And now, as a wine critic might say, it’s a startling blend, with overtones of rising ambition, widening recognition, Southern California money and booming weekend visitation.
Around town, the winery count has passed 200, and many visitors are realizing that you can do much more than eat and drink well. That’s doubly true during fall harvest, when the local social calendar fills with special events.
Once you’ve made the 200-mile drive up U.S. 101 from Los Angeles, you can hear jazz in a snug basement club, sleep in an elaborately customized shipping container, get champagne and caviar from two separate vending machines, and roar past vineyards in a motorcycle sidecar.
No? Instead maybe tour a winery with its own railroad and airstrip (Halter Ranch), then stand on a hilltop at Sensorio among thousands of changing lights as oak trees loom in silhouette.
Or you can stay focused on the grapes and spend a few days tasting Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Rhône blends or some of the other wine varieties that turn up in the area’s 40,000 acres of vineyards. (Though some winery tasting rooms have bumped their fees up to $50, most fall in the $20 to $30 range.) Whatever you choose, the cool, foggy beaches and pine slopes of Cambria are only 30 miles west on Highway 46.
Moreover, I’d bet that Paso Robles is likely to surprise you. I tested this idea in late summer with a pair of visits, aiming for businesses and attractions that have opened or changed dramatically since 2019. My favorite were the 17 you see here.
There’s more to be found and more coming. The Restaurant at Justin has won a Michelin star and Michelin green star three years running. The 151-room AVA Hotel is due to open downtown in summer 2025, about the same time as a Marriott Residence Inn outside town. Many say Allegretto Vineyard Resort, which opened in 2015 and includes a 171-room hotel, restaurant, spa, conference venue and sonic labyrinth, helped spur a greater range of offerings at the area’s wineries.
Meanwhile, plenty remains from Paso’s plainer days and ranching heritage: the livestock sales at the California Mid-State Fair every summer; the extensive hat and boot inventory in the Boot Barn; the free tastings at Eberle Winery; the Saturday morning farmers market in Templeton Park; and the Paderewski Festival (this year Oct. 31 to Nov. 3).
That last event celebrates the composer, Polish prime minister Ignacy Jan Paderewski, who came to these parts more than a century ago to soak his arthritic hands in the hot springs of Paso Robles. He wound up buying more than 2,800 nearby acres and planting fruit, almonds and zinfandel grapes.
That’s right — a Polish pianist/politician was a prime Paso pioneer. Too bad he never saw the nine-foot Steinway in Libretto jazz club.