San Luis Obispo Favorite

March 9, 2015 by raydien 2 Comments

For those unfamiliar with San Luis Obispo County, this area is composed of a couple of micro-climates that create a variety of unique wine growing areas.  The North County, where we live, is the Paso Robles wine region and as I’ve stated in past posts this area is fertile with all Bordeaux and Rhone Valley style wines.  The South County is also does Bordeaux and Rhone style, but the coastal marine influence also makes it prime for Pinot Noir and other varietals that grow well in a milder climate. The City of San Luis Obispo (SLO) is in between the North and South County but it experiences more of the South County climate since it’s located closer to the ocean.

We’ve visited most of the wineries in SLO in the past and today we visited our favorite (drum roll please) – Claiborne & Churchill. This winery is in an area called the Edna Valley which is in between SLO to the north and Arroyo Grande to the south.  Claiborne & Churchill specialize in Alsace region wines, and our perennial favorites are their Rieslings and Gewurztraminers. Their Pinot Noirs and dessert wines are also quite notable. Today’s tasting list is below:

Today’s offerings of Dry Gewurztraminer and Dry Riesling did not disappoint. The “dry” is what makes it notable; very light, crisp, and rich in fruit and floral notes without it being overly sweet. With the spring season upon us and summer around the corner, I can easily envision sitting on our deck and enjoying this on many warm summer nights.  We know a couple of friends who weren’t fans of white wines, but after tasting these wines they became wine club members.  If we lived in SLO we would probably belong to this wine wine club as well.