November events showcase SLO County's viticultural and culinary talent 

The Central Coast is a year-round wine and food lover's dream. However, the second weekend in November takes the cake. Three highly anticipated events include the Paso Robles Garagiste Festival, Harvest on the Coast in Avila Beach, and the inaugural Autumn Soirée: The SLO Way in downtown SLO.

The largest of the events, the two-day Garagiste Festival, kicks off on Friday, Nov. 11, at the Pavilion on the Lake in Atascadero with a rare and reserve tasting and wine country buffet, then heads to the Paso Robles Event Center on Saturday, Nov. 12, for an immersive, syrah-focused seminar leading up to the grand tasting and after-party.

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• Photo Courtesy Of Caelesta Wines, Vineyard, And Truffiere
• LIQUID AND BLACK GOLD Garagiste Festival participant Caelesta specializes in Rhone, Bordeaux, and Spanish wines, as well as truffles, farmed from its 200-acre property in Paso's Templeton Gap AVA. The prized Perigord black truffles can fetch thousands of dollars per pound.

Representation at the event continues to grow, mirroring a Wines Vines Analytics report that the number of "limited" and "very small" production wineries (producing fewer than 5,000 annual cases) on the Central Coast has exploded by 61 percent—from 467 in 2010 to 753 this year.

SLO County is home to the bulk of these wineries, and Garagiste co-founders Doug Minnick and Stewart McLennan say they have welcomed hundreds of them into the festival fold, with the caveat that annual case production may not exceed 1,500.

Minnick, of Studio City, sources grapes for his Hoi Polloi wines from Paso, while McLennan and his Sharpei Moon and Golden Triangle brands are based in Templeton.

"It is no surprise that today Paso's home county, SLO, leads the limited-production wine scene," Minnick said. "Back in 2011, its rich network of artisan winemakers, hand-crafting wine almost in obscurity, was the impetus for the founding of the Garagiste Festival."

They set out to connect artisan winemakers with like-minded people and shine a light on what they were producing.

"We're proud to have played a part in helping these wineries—and this movement—grow significantly," he added. "Eleven festivals later, we are still introducing extraordinary new wineries and winemakers to a growing and appreciative audience of wine consumers."

This year's event will showcase more than 200 micro-production pours from 50-plus wineries, including newcomer Caelesta.

Owned by Brian and Denise Farrell and their son, winemaker Brian Farrell Jr., the enterprise includes a vineyard and truffiere—featuring rare Perigord black truffles—in Templeton and a tasting room in Paso.

In addition to pouring at the festival, Caelesta will host its first ever estate winemaker dinner at its Templeton property on Nov. 12. Its repertoire of Rhone, Bordeaux, and Spanish varieties and blends will be paired with plates crafted by chef Rachel Ponce of Pair With.

And a Caelesta dinner wouldn't be complete without truffles, specifically back truffle crepes paired with Farrell Jr.'s syrah-heavy Rhone blend Parallax.

During the winter months, the winery hosts truffle hunts with a specially trained dog. The hunts are followed by lunch paired with Caelesta wines.

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• Photo Courtesy Of Kaleidos
• SYRAH SAVANT Kaleidos' Steve Martell will be pouring and participating in "The Many Sides of Syrah" seminar at the Garagiste Festival on Nov. 12. "He's been working with this grape since he started his winery in 2004, so he's going to have a lot of insight into where syrah started in Paso and its future," says event co-founder Doug Minnick.

The festival also welcomes back several OGs (original garagistes), including Kaleidos' Steve Martell, who has been pouring at the event since its inception. The veteran Paso winemaker's Rhone-centric lineup features award-winning, 90-plus-point varietals and blends, with a particular focus on syrah.

Minnick nabbed Martell and Bret Urness of Paso's Levo Wine to join him as panelists at the event's VIP "Many Sides of Syrah" tasting seminar, which will showcase their wide range of styles and deep knowledge of Paso's beloved grape.

"It is such a signature grape of Paso Robles' artisan winemakers, it is hard to believe that before 1970 there were barely 4 acres of it planted in California," Minnick said. "Today, it is at the heart of some of the greatest wines produced in Paso Robles."

Wine enthusiasts more partial to cool-climate chardonnay and pinot noir—as well as albariño, grenache, tempranillo, syrah, riesling, gewurztraminer, and more—will want to hit Harvest on the Coast in Avila Beach on Nov. 11 and 12.

Approximately 30 of the new SLO Coast American Viticultural Area's wineries will be pouring at the event, which kicks off Friday night at Avila's Central Coast Aquarium.

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• Photo Courtesy Of SLO Coast Wine Collective
• SEASIDE SIPS Harvest on the Coast in Avila Beach is the SLO Coast Wine Collective's biggest event of the year. Wines hail from the recently established SLO Coast AVA, hugging the coastline from San Simeon to Nipomo.

Guests will enjoy sips from local wineries, passed appetizers, music by Moonshiner Collective's Dan Curcio and Gary Wooten, and guided tours of the aquarium.

Day two of the event switches venues to the Avila Beach Golf Resort and includes a grand tasting, VIP rare and reserve tasting at the resort's clubhouse, music by B & the Hive, and bites from area chefs.

A handful of participating wineries, such as SLO's Talley Vineyards and Croma Vera, and Arroyo Grande's Laetitia Vineyard & Winery will also be pouring at Autumn Soirée: The SLO Way at Hotel SLO on Nov. 12.

The wine and food festival will be held at the property's garden courtyard and will include an after-party at S.Low Bar, where guests can mingle with local winemakers and chefs, including Hotel SLO's executive chef Ryan Fancher.

The event will feature tastings from more than a dozen Central Coast wineries paired with gourmet fare from the hotel's Michelin-recognized steakhouse Ox + Anchor and casual eatery Piadina.

Other fine food purveyors include SLO's Novo, Granada Bistro, and Breda Pasticceria e Cioccolateria; Arroyo Grande's Ember; and more.

Guests will also enjoy live music, interactive art installations, a wine wall, and prize drawings that include special wine collections and one-of-a-kind travel experiences.

The wine wall will provide a blind pull where guests can take their chances and, for $20, get wines valued from $25 to $100 to take home.

Proceeds from the festivals support a variety of local charities. The Garagiste Festival Scholarship funds Cal Poly's wine and viticulture program, while the Autumn Soiree benefits the French Hospital Hearst Cancer Resource Center in honor of Jim Copeland, Hotel SLO's Uncork Potential Scholarship at Cal Poly, SLO Food Bank, and the Fund for Vineyard and Farm Workers. Δ

Flavor Writer Cherish Whyte wishes she could teleport between venues. Reach her at [email protected].