We have been blessed to have made lovely friends in the short time we have lived in Paso Robles. Last night we were the guests of two of our favorites who included us in their private dinner party in the barrel room at Lone Madrone Winery. This intimate evening featured scrumptious wines by Neil Collins paired with delicious food prepared by Chef Jeff Scott.
Imagine sitting in a cozy, quaint room , surrounded by wine barrels, flickering candlelight and soft music while Neil shares his story of how he arrived from England in the mid-eighties. He learned his wine making skills from the local legends Kenny Volk and John Munch and has become one himself. He is the winemaker for Tablas Creek and his own label, Lone Madrone and is passionate about his craft.
Chef Jeff served four courses of masterfully prepared cuisine - Asparagus Soup with scallops, a beautiful salad, short ribs on polenta and the grand finale of homemade ricotta cheese cake. We enjoyed getting better acquainted with our other dinner companions and left feeling slightly tipsy, very full and happy to have shared a memorable evening with really enjoyable people.
It was the perfect ending to a weekend full of fun and interesting friends - some old ones and some new! We had a great family stay with us for the weekend. Thanks to a referral from fellow b&b owner who was booked, the Wylies arrived ready for a fun weekend of wine tasting. Their son and daughter-in-law joined them just in time for Bay Limo to pick up for a full day of wine tasting. They went to all the small wineries with owners who have great stories - Hidden Oaks, Vines on the Marycrest, Hanson as well a few other gems that James frequents. They enjoyed our wines too and even joined the wine club! They took advantage of the spa special we are running and booked four hot stone massages. I was so jealous! They are from the central valley and came bearing gifts - bags of pistachios that they grew and processed. Trust me, these are much better than the economical Costco nuts I serve. We will be doling these out only on special occasions.
Per Cazo Cellars met a lot of new friends this weekend. In spite of a cold rainy weekend, we had lots of tasting appointments. Since we are so low on wine, we offered some barrel samples of some upcoming wines we will be bottling soon. We received some great feedback and know they'll be back when the wines are finally in bottle.
Old friends from Minnesota visited as well as they were in San Luis Obispo checking out Cal Poly with their son Trevor. It had been awhile since we last saw the Janns and we had a great time catching up over dinner. I hope Trevor selects Cal Poly for college so we can see more of Mark and Michelle.
I even had a chance to visit with my good friend Nanette over a glass of wine as we talked food for some upcoming Per Cazo events. Someone once said friendship is the sunshine of life and on this cold rainy weekend, I certainly had a lot of sunny moments.
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