Sitting pretty halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, Paso Robles has evolved into a wine country destination that rivals some of California’s best.
This oenophile’s Eden became an AVA (American Viticultural Area) in 1983, with 17 wineries and 5,000 vineyard acres. Today, nearly 300 wineries and 40,000 acres of grapevines call Paso home. And that home keeps getting more visitors. They come not only to sip what’s made from the region’s wide range of grape varieties—everything from albariño to zinfandel—but to indulge in the farm-fresh cuisine and soak up the scenery, both natural and manmade.
Brittany App
The increasing roster of hip hotels and buzzy new restaurants hasn’t eroded Paso’s considerable reserves of small-town charm, an attribute prominently on display at Downtown City Park. Its 5-acre carpet of grass is peppered with picnic tables, a Carnegie library-turned-history museum and the city’s namesake trees. The town’s official moniker, El Paso de Robles, is Spanish for “Pass of the Oaks.”
Paso’s cattle-ranching past lives on in its laid-back, cowboy vibe. That renegade spirit is reflected in the innovative winemakers who aren’t afraid to break a few Old-World rules to create the perfect blend. And while Paso’s wine reputation continues to get bigger, a visit here still feels like an intimate affair. Maybe that’s because roughly two-thirds of its wineries produce less than 5,000 cases a year.
See for yourself on a weekend trip to this Central Coast gem, where we’ve rounded up some suggestions to help you make the most of it.
Dig in
Paso chefs don’t have to go far to find quality ingredients. They’re surrounded by top-notch farms, orchards and ranches. And the coast’s seafood bounty is just a few miles away.
Some 95 percent of the menu is locally sourced at the Michelin-starred Restaurant at Justin, the only winery in the country to also boast a Michelin green star for sustainability.
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Another Michelin star graces Six Test Kitchen, a 12-seat venue tucked away in the industrial enclave of Tin City, four miles south of downtown. You can (and should) spend hours wandering around this pedestrian-friendly warehouse district packed with food and drink purveyors. Fill up on a plate of spaghetti or 12-layer lasagna at Etto Pasta Bar, whose family-owned pasta factory is a Tin City staple. Save room for a scoop of sheep’s milk ice cream at Negranti Creamery.
Produce from local faves like Mt. Olive Organic Farm and Mighty Cap Mushrooms get turned into edible works of art at In Bloom, a dinner spot specializing in shared plates. The restaurant is part of Paso Market Walk, a cute collection of artisanal shops and food and beverage offerings. The 16,000-square-foot marketplace opened five years ago on the site of a former nursery. It’s just a short stroll from downtown, where the long list of other worthy restaurants includes The Hatch (rotisserie chicken), Il Cortile (upscale Italian), Les Petites Canailles (French) and Thomas Hill Organics (Sunday brunch).
For a memorable wine country lunch, head to Niner Wine Estates. Many of the vegetables, fruits and herbs featured on the seasonal menu come from the winery’s onsite garden. Feel free to poke around the gorgeous grounds and snap a selfie in front of the vineyard’s heart-shaped grove of oak trees overlooking the tasting room.
Drink up
Tin City’s tasting rooms are a great way to try small-batch wineries like Ultima Tulie and Crush Vineyard, as well as hard cider, craft beer and spirits. Or take a more hands-on approach and play winemaker during a two-hour class at The Blending Lab, which moved to its new home at Paso Market Walk last year.
Blends are big in Paso, where 60-plus varieties of grapes thrive in this northern stretch of San Luis Obispo County. That’s a lot of toys to play with for winemakers like Sterling Kragten of Cass Winery.
Angela McKee
“In addition to the great grapes we can grow in Paso, it’s a fairly new region in the world of wine,” Kragten says, “which means we were not constrained by laws, traditions or expectations.”
One of Kragten’s upcoming new releases includes the Portuguese grape Touriga Nacional. He planted a small lot of it a few years ago at Cass, a fun stop on a Paso wine country tour.
Another good bet for unconventional blends is L’Aventure. Its flagship Estate Reserve combines syrah, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot — the kind of nontraditional wine that led L’Aventure winemaker Stephan Asseo to leave his native France (and its strict rules) for the freedom of Paso.
If you want to add some exercise to all that wine tasting, VineCycle Tours runs e-bike excursions that pedal through Paso AVA vineyards at Ancient Peaks, Castoro Cellars and Robert Hall Winery.
AVA Hotel
Stay there
The new AVA Hotel, a four-story property complete with rooftop pool, is expected to debut later in 2025. Meanwhile, the city’s oldest hotel is fresh off a glow-up. The historic Paso Robles Inn recently renovated its 98 guest rooms and unveiled the Victorian-inspired 1889 House. This 12-room hotel-within-a-hotel occupies the only remaining building from the original 19th century property.
In another bid to preserve the past, California-based Nomada Hotel Group has worked its magic on a couple of mid-century modern motor lodges, transforming them into boutique digs with all the hip trimmings. Farmhouse features 26 stylish rooms in bright, airy cottages. River Lodge, which opened in 2024, lays claim to one of the only 21-and-older pools on the Central Coast. Most of its 28 rooms have tiny front yards and hammocks. Communal firepits encourage mingling on the retro-chic grounds.
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Play there
Come nightfall, trippy and surreal Sensorio lights up the landscape with 100,000 solar-powered orbs that look like a glowing field of wildflowers.
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The immersive exhibit—the largest of its kind by British artist Bruce Munro—is reason enough to visit Sensorio. But the ticketed attraction continues to up its game. Last year, it added the audiovisual exhibition “Dimensions,” a maze of metal sculptures radiating mesmerizing patterns of light. Munro also debuted another installation, “Fibre Optic Symphonic Orchestra,” showcasing 32 columns of light synchronized to a musical score.
In downtown Paso, Libretto lounge makes a cozy setting for jazz, blues and classical performances in a space capped at 62 patrons. The much larger Vino Robles Amphitheatre’s concert season runs from April through November.
Get more information at slocal.com and travelpaso.com.