Pismo Beach visit wrap-up

October 10, 2009
Pismo Beach/Oceano, CA

We wrapped up our stay on the dunes today after a couple of days relaxing and enjoying the cool temperatures. After a series of cloud-free days, we started to get a marine layer in the mornings, and it burned off later each day. Obviously, the weather's changing. We've used the heat each morning to "take the chill off". Today, I ran the diesel-powered furnace instead of the heat pumps (just the roof air conditioners running "backward") to give it the monthly exercise.

Thursday was a relaxing day. Geri did some laundry and we booth spent some time reading. I caught up on some back issues of Arizona Highways (a fabulous magazine, by the way), and actually finished a novel. I wanted to do this because I have the new Dan Brown book, sequel to The DaVinci Code, queued up next. Two books in one summer - haven't done that in quite a few years. I used to be a big book reader but got away from it in my working years, since life was just too fast-paced. Four-plus years later, I guess I'm starting to slow down enough to read a book again.

Friday started cloudy and stayed that way until well into the afternoon. Since we're still in "wine country", I did some research and selected two wineries to visit. There are many more, of course, but our capacity (both for our consumption and storage in the coach for purchased bottles) requires a bit of restraint. Let's say we're more focused in our approach. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Anyway, we visited the two tasting rooms, starting with Domaine Alfred, a long-time (15 years, which is a long time in this area) producer in the Edna Valley. This operation was purchased by an investment group a little over a year ago, and they're in the process of changing the branding to the Chamisal name (What - Domaine Alfred doesn't have enough sizzle?). The holding company also owns Archery Summit in Oregon, one of the top producers of Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley, so this bodes well for the California property. They still make a hodge-podge of wines but seem to be settling on varieties from Burgundy and the Rhône. We tasted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, as well as a 100% Grenache that was excellent (but too pricey at $80) and a Grenache Blend. I know that my friend Dave, a dedicated Rhône-ofile, would have enjoyed these wine a lot. Someday, we'll get him out to the west coast for something other than skiing.  With a four-pack of various wines (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah and an odd-ball Pinot Gris - just because) secured

Our next stop was at Talley Vineyards, another established producer, in "the next valley over", Arroyo Grande. This was a much more commercial property, with a larger tasting room offering more wines for more money. As in Napa, the days of the "$5 tasting and you keep the logo glass" are over here on the Central Coast. I realized afterward that Tally actually charged us twice for the $15 "reserve" tasting (the same thing happened at Justin up in Paso Robles), so they'll be getting a complaint letter. That said, we focused on the Pinot Noir tasting and the wines were quite good. The 2007 vintage was very good for Pinots in California, so we're happy to grab some while we can.

Saturday was another relaxation day, until Geri reminded me that I'd promised to take her to a local restaurant called "Steamers of Pismo" for dinner. I made a quick reservation via OpenTable, and we were good to go. She loves steamed clams, so this was a natural. She had a half-pound as an appetizer and King Crab legs for dinner. I had a seared Ahi tuna starter and Shrimp Jambalaya. I had the Jambalaya because Geri doesn't care for it, so it's better had "out". Geri definitely "won", though, as the crab legs were very good and the shrimp we almost missing from the Jambalaya. We paired the meal with a nice split of Gloria Ferrer sparkling wine to start and a Laetitia Pinot Blanc with dinner.