30th Annual Wine Festival? Yes please!

May 15, 2012

Are you ready for the 30th annual Paso Robles Wine Festival?!? Well, believe it or not, even after 30 years we are ready! It’s crazy how fast time flies and how much this beautiful wine-growing region has grown. In just a few short days Paso Robles will be buzzing with eager tasters and all of the wineries will open their doors to share their delicious Central Coast wines. At Castoro Cellars we are honored to have been a part of so many Wine Festival weekends and we can proudly say that they get better and better each and every year!

This year, being the 30th anniversary, we have gone all out once again to ensure a wonderful weekend is had by all Wine Fest patrons. The festivities begin at Castoro on Friday night with our Red Hot Pizza Party featuring delicious pizzas from a wood burning fire and great live music by The Red Skunk Band. The pizzas are being provided by That’s Amore Pizza and will knock your socks off! The party will also feature barrel tastings as well as bottle tastings of current and select library wines. Tickets for Friday night’s event are available on our website or by phone (888-Dam-Fine) and are $37.50 or just an even $30.00 for our wonderful wine club members.

For those of you who can’t make the party on Friday night, no need to worry, there will be plenty of time to party and enjoy the beautiful weather at our open house on Saturday and Sunday. Both days will feature live music with The Belmores on Saturday and annual favorite Zzah on Sunday. There will also be delicious food and of course plenty of Dam Fine Wine. We will have barrel tastings, library tastings and all of the usual favorites. The tasting fee will be $5.00 or free for wine clubbers.

We truly appreciate all of your support over the years and we wouldn’t be able keep doing this without you. With that said we look forward to seeing you at another Paso Robles Wine Festival and if you can’t make it this year there is always next year!

Cheers,

Luke

Paso Pinot and Paella Festival!

May 1, 2012

The 9th annual Paso Pinot and Paella Festival is right around the corner and let me tell you now, this event will be amazing! Not only is the name fun to say but also every aspect of the name is something most of us enjoy . . . a lot. Pinot Noir is a wonderful wine and amazing with food, Paella, for those who have not had it, is one of the most flavorful dishes around and finally we all love a good festival (especially a festival featuring wine and food from Paso Robles). All of the Pinots being poured at the event will be from wineries in the Paso Robles appellation and I can’t think of a better way to taste them all than this great event.

Before I dive into everything that is wonderful about paella, I’d like to let it be known that I love food. I’m sure most people would say the same but I really love food, especially food that is packed with flavor, spice and creativity. Paella is all of the above and for this reason is one of my favorite foods. Paella, often described as the national dish of Spain, is both colorful and flavorful with saffron being a key ingredient. Although it is often served with shellfish, you can expect to see a wide variety of ingredients ranging from prawns and mussels to chicken and duck.

Representing Castoro Cellars this year will be assistant winemaker Sherrie Holzer and Sherry Sweeney from our tasting room. Together they will be pouring our 2010 Blind Faith Estate Pinot Noir and barrel samples of our 2010 Whale Rock Estate Pinot Noir. This is really exciting stuff considering our 2009 Blind Faith Pinot Noir won two Gold medals last year at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and the Riverside International Wine Competition, resulting in the wine selling out shortly thereafter. The Blind Faith vineyard has been a staple for us over the years, producing great Pinot after great Pinot with the 2010 vintage falling perfectly into line. The barrel sampling of the Whale Rock Pinot Noir is also exciting because this is a first vintage for us from our 100% organically grown vineyard located near our tasting room in Templeton. All of the wines from the Whale Rock vineyard are coming along very nicely and this is a wonderful opportunity to sample the beginnings of a great vineyard.

The event will also feature live music by the group Incendio who are one of the most fun instrumental groups you will ever see. They have a great following on the central coast and play a wonderful mix of latin-inspired flamenco jazz. They are wonderful musicians with a lot of energy and talent.

Tickets for the event are on sale now for $65.00 with all of the proceeds going to Local Youth Performing Arts. Great wine, great food, great music and all for a great cause! For more information on the event and to purchase tickets please visit: http://www.pinotandpaella.com/

The event will take place on Sunday June 3rd from 2-5pm in the Templeton Community Park (where I learned how to swim as a kid).

Til’ Next Time
Cheers,

Luke