Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Paso Robles - Tobin James Winery

Day 2, stop 2 was at Tobin James Winery (www.tobinjames.com).

Tobin James Winery is the furthest east in Paso Robles.  This is a fun place with a distinctly western (read cowboy/southwestern) theme.  They are having a lot of fun with naming their wines things such as “James Gang Reserve”, “Sundance”, “Notorious”, and such.  We were greeted and served by a young woman named Lone (pronounced Lona), who was very friendly and knowledgeable.

Some wines we tasted:

2006 Chardonnay “Radiance” – lovely wine with lots of tropical fruit, lingering flavors and a nice touch of oak.

2005 Sangiovese “Primo” – a lush, soft, black cherry offering that finishes like velvet.

2005 Merlot “Made in the Shade” – this is a very complex merlot with black currant, cocoa and coffee notes that has perfect oak integration.  One of my favorites.

2004 Syrah “James Gang Syrah” – simply awesome.  We had the good fortune of being offered a taste of this wine that is not normally open for general tasting as it is a bit pricey at $55.00 a bottle.  But it is everything you could possibly want from a Syrah...lots of berries, smoky, chocolate and integrated oak...a wine that shows the beauty of a bit of aging and one that will be around for a long time to come (if everyone doesn’t just drink it up).

One of the amazing facts about Tobin James winery is that almost half of their wines are sold to Wine Club Members.  They claim to have the largest wine club in the United States at just under 19,000 (yes, that is 19 thousand) members.

4 comments:

  1. Hi. I like your blog. We just opened our Pomar Junction Vyd and Winery Tasting Room near Templeton, CA. 100+ acre estate vineyards, 8th generation vyd owners, railroad theme with full size caboose on site. Plus great wines $15 to $28, over delivering on quality at the price. 100% Estate wines.

    You would love our restored farmhouse Tasting Room too! Maybe come see us if you tour Paso Robles in the future!

    Thanks.

    Matt Merrill, co owner

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  2. Thanks for the info. Awesome wine in Paso Robles. We will look you up when we swing by the next time. Sounds like a fun theme and place!

    Good luck on your new venture!

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  3. Hi,
    I also love Tobin James and other Paso Robles wines. I have been searching for information on cellaring or aging Paso wines. I know many of them are excellent to drink now, but I would also like to leave some of them for a few years. I just don't want them to go past their prime. Do you know of any source to access this info? Thank you.

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  4. I have some Paso wines back to 2002 and they are drinking quite nicely. But my best advice is to go to the source. Contact the winery and ask them. They know what the track records are for their wines and will be happy to share that information with you. No matter what region of the world, nobody can predict in general how those wines will age.

    Lady

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