9 wines from San Luis Obispo introduce you to a region you should know
August 24, 2016
Michael Austin
Things don't always happen so fast in SLO, and certainly that is part of the area's appeal.
"SLO" spelled-out is San Luis Obispo, the wine-producing county in the Central Coast of California that is home not only to the steadily rising Paso Robles region, but also the lesser-known Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande Valley regions to the south of both Paso Robles and the city of San Luis Obispo. The area is about 250 miles south of San Francisco and 200 miles north of Los Angeles.
The regions are relatively small with fewer than 3,000 acres of total vineyards in the case of Edna Valley and barely more than 1,200 vineyard acres in the case of its southerly neighbor, Arroyo Grande Valley. But these places, collectively referred to by some as "SLO Wine Country," produce some very good wines.
Both appellations are situated on the west side of the coastal mountain range, with vineyards close to the Pacific Coast — about 5 miles on average and just a few miles in some cases — but Arroyo Grande Valley also extends east and rises to higher elevations, allowing for warmer temperatures and a wider range of growing possibilities. Otherwise, the two growing areas are generally cool, with long, slow growing seasons, and because of this, their bread-and-butter grapes are the varieties of Burgundy — pinot noir and chardonnay. Some 20 other kinds of grapes grow in SLO Wine Country, too, and many of them do well, including Rhone varieties and whites such as riesling, pinot gris and albarino.
San Luis Obispo's vine saga dates to the 1700s, when Franciscan missionaries planted grapes and turned them into wine for their own consumption. Even consumer wine production has a long history in the area, reaching well into the late 1800s. But it was not until the 1970s that things kicked into second gear for Edna Valley, and a decade later that the same thing happened in Arroyo Grande Valley. Even into the 1990s the greater Central Coast was still fighting for general consumer attention in a marketplace that was quickly getting to know California's two biggest wine producing regions (Napa and Sonoma) intimately, but not many others.
And as we know, things happen slowly in SLO. Fog creeps in from the Pacific Ocean, gently landing on the area's celebrated chardonnay and pinot noir vineyards. Daily temperatures do not skyrocket and plummet the way they can in other, more-inland California growing regions, and that long, cool growing season allows for slower ripening and more food-friendly acidity in the wines.
There is sort of a built-in composure in the southern half of San Luis Obispo, a more relaxed natural environment, although no one would say that the winemakers there are any more relaxed than they are in other parts of California, or the world. In addition to their careful attention to the wines they produce, local winemakers are also quite dedicated to sustainable farming practices. Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande Valley turn out some serious wines, and they are worthy of our attention. Get to know them fast. Or slowly. That'd work too.
Below are nine recommended bottles from a recent tasting, in ascending order by price.
2014 Claiborne & Churchill Pinot Gris. From Arroyo Grande Valley, this lush wine has a soft, filling mouthfeel, offering up ripe melon, stone fruits and minerality that lead to a balancing acidic zing. Try a glass with roasted pork. $20
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