The Pacific Coast Highway

Saturday morning in Monterey...Mel is behind the wheel and we re-route our drive to take us down US 1 (via Big Sur) on our way to Paso Robles.

The drive is about 100 miles and takes about 3 hours, but I HIGHLY recommend it. I was driving, therefore the girls were co-operative and took many pictures so that I would keep my eyes on the narrow and ever curving road ahead. One note on this route is that, once you commit to driving it, you are committed as there are NO roads intersecting 1.
The route itself runs on the western border of the Santa Lucia mountain range and east of the pacific Ocean.

We are driving along, and all of a sudden Kim screams "seal!". Kel and Mel scoff at this, as Nantucket is a year round residence to many many seals. Upon further investigation, we find a habitat of elephant seals, and alot of them. The larger ones are about the size of a Honda Accord. We took 2 videos!

Justin Wines

Four Vines Winery

I pulled this article from Wine Spectator's archive, this is Four Vines in a nutshell.

Four Vines
By MaryAnn Worobiec Bovio
Wine Spectator, March 31, 2007-- Winemaker Christian Tietje founded Paso Robles-based Four Vines Winery in 1996 as a multi-appellation Zinfandel project. But Tietje's focus has evolved, and Four Vines now produces a number of Rhône-style reds, among them a collection that Tietje nicknames "The Freak Show." These bottlings, which feature unconventional names and labels, are some of the most exciting wines to come out of Paso Robles: Four of the five in current release scored 90 points or higher.
The top-rated of the group is the Petite Sirah Paso Robles The Heretic 2004 (93 points, $30), whose back label reads, "Scream at complacency, crush conformity. Live a life less ordinary. Be the heretic. Drink real wine." The Peasant Glenrose Vineyard Paso Robles 2004 (91, $30) is an intense, fruity Syrah blend that announces on its bottle, "Temperance, like chastity, is its own punishment." The Anarchy Paso Robles 2004 is a stylish, fleshy blend of Syrah, Zinfandel and Mourvèdre (90, $30) and features the traditional anarchy symbol more often associated with punk-rock bands than wine bottles.
After years of restaurant and wineshop experience in Boston, Tietje came to the Bay area in 1990, where he worked for a wine wholesaler and spent a harvest at Carneros Creek Winery. The experience convinced him to become a full-time winemaker. He began experimenting with his own wines and lending help on other winemakers' projects.
When it came to founding his own label, he started by focusing on Zinfandel. "It's an underground grape, with a cult following at best," says Tietje, who revels in demonstrating a wine's regional qualities—and, when possible, its single-vineyard characteristics—and is a purist about such distinctions.
Tietje has been making Syrah from the outset of his Four Vines venture, but the "Freak Show" bottlings officially debuted with the 2001 Anarchy. This Rhône-inspired lineup of wines pushes the envelope of the winery's rebellious marketing, since Tietje believes that people are drawn to what's on the outside of a bottle as well as what's inside. "It's art on the bottle, it's art in the bottle," he says. "When the wine's really good, you can get away with what's on the label."
Four Vines is a three-way partnership comprising Tietje, his wife, Susan "Sam" Mahler, and Bill Grant, a childhood friend of Tietje's and a successful businessman. Grant, whose business card reads "Zin Pimp," was one of Tietje's earliest customers and helped influence his move toward more irreverent wines.
Four Vines purchases the majority of its grapes from more than 20 different growers, and in addition to the "Freak Show" wines Tietje continues to make an array of distinctive Zinfandels, including three outstanding '04s. Other highlights include the inspiring Syrah Amador County Bailey Vineyard 2004 (93, $24) and the Syrah Paso Robles 2004 (88, $15), this latter a fine value. In whites, the Four Vines Naked Chardonnay is an unoaked wine sourced from Santa Barbara vineyards and produced with no malolactic fermentation.
Tietje says that his restaurant, retail and wholesale background has influenced the marketing course of the winery. "We don't play the mainstream game at all," he says. "We want to challenge [wine lovers]. Knowing what everyone else is doing, it's easy to walk in the other direction."

Paso Robles, Day 1

We arrive in Paso Robles around 2 pm, just off of the PCH drive. We head to Justin Wines for our appointment then off to Four Vines (one of Kim's favorites!) to meet up with Sam. After we taste theu the FV offerings, we head to our Lodging for the evening, which is surrounded by both vines and llamas!!

Dinner is with Sam at Debra's Room, and it is delish!!!