Okay, so I live in a fabulously beautiful place with elk and deer for neighbors. But, baby, it’s been cold outside – and California was calling.
Our destination? Paso Robles, a burgeoning Central Coast wine region about halfway between LA and San Francisco. My husband, Kelly, who writes WineInk for The Aspen Times, had a standing invitation to visit a winery there, called Halter Ranch.
Set on 900 rolling acres, with a restored Victorian farmhouse/guesthouse and a collection of historic outbuildings (including one that houses a sweet little tasting room), Halter Ranch is owned by a Swiss-born businessman named Hansjörg Wyss, whose vision is helping to put his, along with other Paso wineries, on the map.
Winemaker Bill Sheffer is responsible for the 250-acre, certified sustainable estate vineyard, where steep, south-facing slopes are planted with many different grape varieties –- both Bordeaux and Rhone-style, plus Zinfandel, Tannat and Tempranillo. A new, multi-level gravity flow winery is underway.
For three days, we sipped and supped on the local bounty, including fresh eggs at breakfast from the ranch’s chicken coop. Happily, Halter Ranch wines will be poured at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen this summer. We’re looking forward to a reunion.
Our destination? Paso Robles, a burgeoning Central Coast wine region about halfway between LA and San Francisco. My husband, Kelly, who writes WineInk for The Aspen Times, had a standing invitation to visit a winery there, called Halter Ranch.
Set on 900 rolling acres, with a restored Victorian farmhouse/guesthouse and a collection of historic outbuildings (including one that houses a sweet little tasting room), Halter Ranch is owned by a Swiss-born businessman named Hansjörg Wyss, whose vision is helping to put his, along with other Paso wineries, on the map.
Winemaker Bill Sheffer is responsible for the 250-acre, certified sustainable estate vineyard, where steep, south-facing slopes are planted with many different grape varieties –- both Bordeaux and Rhone-style, plus Zinfandel, Tannat and Tempranillo. A new, multi-level gravity flow winery is underway.
For three days, we sipped and supped on the local bounty, including fresh eggs at breakfast from the ranch’s chicken coop. Happily, Halter Ranch wines will be poured at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen this summer. We’re looking forward to a reunion.
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| This is the 1885 farmhouse that’s been renovated and now serves as a guesthouse and for wine club functions. |
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| An ancient Coast Live Oak tree is a focal point of the vineyard. "The Ancestor," Halter Ranch Estate’s Reserve Cabernet, is named after it. |
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| Kelly Hayes (my husband) at a winery members’ dinner at the farmhouse. |
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| Fresh eggs for breakfast from the chicken coop. |
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