We wake at dawn to a beautiful ethereal bank of fog rolling in around and between the hills; we drink coffee and watch Sunday Morning on CBS. 

Getting There

By 10:30 a.m. we are in the car heading west.

Justin’s website warns that they are forty minutes from downtown Paso Robles.  Our current abode is fifteen minutes from downtown. We have a few tense moments concerning the amount of gasoline in the car—my tenseness, not Michael’s. I can see from Google Earth on my phone we are going into a world of curving nothingness. To humor me he drives south to fill up the tank.

Brunch at Justin winery

Brunch is lovely, starting with a carrot soup lightly kissed with the essence of ginger, sprinkled with crispy shallots and garnished with a swirl of crème fraiche. The recommended pairing is a Viognier—not being particularly fond of this type of wine— I find it is very good.  I order a rosti potato with house smoked salmon and sunny-side-up fried eggs, while Michael opts for softly scrambled eggs with goat cheese, fingerling potatoes, and sausage.  Surprisingly the suggested pairing for the salmon is a red—Justification.  And it is good. I have a hard time relating the description to the actuality:

Justification – The Wine

COLOR:  Bright with a beautiful dark purple ruby core and medium concentrated rim.

AROMA:  Red and black cherry, black currant, and ripe strawberry fruit with cola, coffee, dark licorice, and vanilla spice accents.

PALATE:  Full bodied with currant, cherry, and strawberry along with dark black currant on the entry. Sweet tobacco, mineral, and herbal notes on the mid-palate with licorice and vanilla spice. Finish is long and complex with red and black fruit candy notes, nicely framed by medium firm tannins.

Dessert

…but as I said it is good.  We both have no intention of ordering dessert till we hear the couple at the table next to us swoon over something chocolate while their server tells them it is all about the bacon and the salt and the fat and the sugar and the ginger crumble. And we tell our waiter, “We want what they are having.”  And when I finally return home—to Texas— I may never be able to eat again.

I want to come back for their wine pairing dinner.  I am counting my pennies to see if it is a possibility.

Heading Back to our VRBO

With two glasses of wine under our belt and not yet 2 o’clock (it is 4 p.m. in Texas) we think perhaps another wine tasting is out of the picture, but still we try.  Approaching the gates of Ecluse Winery we see that today they are closed—even though they are supposed to be open every Friday – Sunday. Saved from ourselves by Super Bowl Sunday.

We return to our hilltop home and watch with the rest of the world; while I vow not to buy a product from any company that will spend $4,500,000 on a thirty second commercial.  I make a list.