JANUARY 2013 In This Issue... Toys 4 Tots Paso Robles Wine Tour ...

And what a group it was! (The Pando is in the front row)
Behnke’s restored 1968 blue 911E coupe
was a delight to see, and drew plenty of
attention. Chris and Rebecca Robertson’s
2013 Boxster Spyder is a car made in
limited quantities, and a true head-turner
in Guards Red.
“Hey, olive oil tasting is great, but
let go of that peach (or is it mango)
Chris’s Red 2013 Spyder was a true beauty
flavored olive oil people: we have to go!
Mount up; Opalo is waiting for us with a
stunner of a lunch spread and their terrific
wines.” As we drove onto the winery
grounds, we headed past rows of vines,
the wine tasting room and warehouse, on
up to the top of the hill, where a huge
white “wedding reception tent” awaited
our arrival. We heard that they are only
permitted to host six or seven gatherings
per year in that tent so we were quite
honored and fortunate to be part of that
group.
We arranged our cars in long rows
(talk about a photo-op!) in the grass on
top of the now sun-splashed hilltop, and
headed for the tent. The cooks had a huge
grill going with mouth-watering aromas
of sausages, chicken and lamb sizzling
away. Servers walked about offering
oysters and sausages to whet our appetites
for lunch. The tasting booth
in one corner of the room
poured liberally, and the
Opalo crew manning the
booth advised us to return
any time we needed more.
The meal was superb: the
wines, laughter and happy
chatter flowed in great
abundance. As the meal
slowed Bob Savic and Greg
Heinlein passed out cigars.
So ladies and gents stepped out into the
warmth, pulled up a hay bale, sat down
and perused the rolling hillside vineyards
spreading to infinity and watched a solo
hawk wheeling overhead seeking his
meal.
There are indeed moments in life
that you just wish would never end; this
was certainly one of them. But we had
many miles to ride and so, reluctantly,
we pulled ourselves away from the
reverie of Opalo and most headed off to
Niner and yet another tasting. “Most,”
because some of us headed back to the
hotel for a nap to be fortified for the
evening’s festivities.
The heartier members from OCR
headed for Jack Creek winery, owned by
Doug and Sabrina Kruse, and famed for
their Estate reserve Pinot Noir, and their
“Concrete Blond” Chardonnay. The
Kruse vineyard is a smallish 40 acres
given over to 24 acres of Pinot Noir, 7
acres of Syrah, 5 acres of Chardonnay,
The Wehners and the Judds enjoyed lunch at Opolo
See No, Hear No, Speak No Evil... or
What happens in Paso - Stays in Paso
Our hot
shot
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Lisa
Hunter
toured
her
“other”
ride
in the
a.m.
(Continued on Page 26)
JANUARY 2013 17