Easygoing charm along the Central Coast

By Tim Fish

Deborah Denker

Alfresco dining is popular in downtown San Luis Obispo.

California’s Central Coast found the spotlight thanks to the hit movie Sideways. But while visitors are flocking to its Santa Barbara locations, don’t overlook the laid-back charm of nearby San Luis Obispo County, less than 50 miles to the north. It’s home to two wine regions, Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande, scenic coastal communities such as Pismo Beach and Morro Bay, and the lively college enclave of San Luis Obispo.

“It’s a sweet area,” says John Alban of Alban winery in Edna Valley, one of the state’s top producers of Rhône-style wines. “It’s small, and everything is accessible.”

Indeed, a 20-minute drive will get you from any vineyard, beach or restaurant to another. The wine roads of Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande are sparsely populated, so visiting the area is more like a drive through the country than a trek along a tourist route. If you feel like venturing farther, the decadent showplace of Hearst Castle is about an hour’s drive from San Luis Obispo and well worth the effort.

San Luis Obispo

Click map to enlarge

The landscape of the region—located halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco—is distinctive for its undulating hills spiked by nine morros, or ancient volcanoes, that locals call the “Nine Sisters.” The oceanfront towns of Pismo Beach and Morro Bay offer temperate weather with plenty of sunshine. Morro Bay, with its towering rock guarding the harbor, is smaller than Pismo Beach and more off the beaten path.

In the early 1900s, as America was just starting to hit the road, Pismo Beach became one of Cailfornia’s most popular weekend getaways thanks to easy access provided by the new Highway 2 (now Highway 101). Terry Speizer, owner of Domaine Alfred, calls Pismo one of California’s last real beach towns. As you drive along Highway 101, the long, white sandy beach rolls out for miles. The water is cooler here than in Southern California, but there are some decent surfing conditions.

With a population of about 44,000, San Luis Obispo is the largest city in the region and home to California Polytechnic State University. Like many old college towns, it offers historic buildings, shady trees and an eclectic assemblage of shops, from funky record outlets and bookstores to upscale clothing stores and antiques shops. By small-town standards, the nightlife is thriving.

Deborah Denker

The Seafood Martini at Giuseppe’s Cucina Italiana in Pismo Beach.

Giuseppe’s Cucina Italiana in Pismo Beach may be the area’s best restaurant for wine lovers. Sommelier Aaron Warren is slowly building the best wine selection in the region. “I’m selling wines that I never thought I’d sell in Pismo,” area-native Warren says, citing labels such as Gaja. “It’s very important to embrace the local wines—people here grew up tasting them. But I like to encourage [customers] to think outside the box.”

Just down the street is the Cracked Crab. (Think Cape Cod seafood shack with a California attitude.) There’s a bare-bones wine list, but the seafood is fresh and unfussy in its preparation. In Morro Bay, Windows on the Water, with its solid menu and wine list, is the best choice.

San Luis Obispo is home to numerous wine-savvy restaurants: Blue, downtown’s den of hip; Mission Grill steak house; and two Italian kitchens, Buona Tavola and Café Roma. All hold Wine Spectator Awards of Excellence.

Blue’s wine list includes about 170 labels, with an emphasis on regional favorites and California in general. The restaurant even has wine lockers so that regulars can store their own wine to have with dinner whenever they visit. A tony, red-brick storefront built in 1893, Blue is also downtown’s most popular upscale lounge, but the bar atmosphere occasionally hampers the dining experience.

Deborah Denker

The best rooms at the Cliffs offer balconies overlooking the Pacific.

Bed-and-breakfasts abound, and there seem to be hotels and motels on every corner. The best high-end lodgings are on the water. Most notable are the Inn at Morro Bay and the Cliffs. The former is appealing for its quiet, serene location, while the latter, which plays host to the annual World of Pinot Noir festival every March, offers a touch more luxury and is closer to the vineyards.

Winemaking in the region dates to the 1880s and the Franciscan padres. The modern wine era began in the early 1970s. More than 20 wineries are open to the public in Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande. (Alban is not open to visitors.) Many of the smaller wineries sell their wines locally or out of their tasting rooms, so you may make a discovery.

Covering about 42,000 acres, Arroyo Grande is almost twice the size of Edna Valley. Both regions are relatively narrow, but their valley floors have strikingly different soils. Edna Valley is largely made up of volcanic clay and loam, while Arroyo Grande is quite sandy in some areas. In recent years, a growing number of vintners have moved into the hills, where the grapes take on more intensity from the thinner, rockier soils and receive better sun exposure.

Courtesy of Edna Valley Vineyards

The sprawling tasting room at Edna Valley Vineyards is open daily for tastings.

The nearby Pacific makes both regions cooler and breezier than either Paso Robles to the north or Santa Barbara to the south. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir have traditionally thrived in this climate, but the focus is shifting somewhat as vintners and growers continue to experiment.

Domaine Alfred, Laetitia and Talley have brought a new level of power and intensity to the region’s Pinots, and Alban has shown that Rhône varieties such as Syrah, Grenache and Viognier can excel in the area. Alban’s wines are some of Central California’s most exciting.

“There is a group of people here who are raising the bar quality-wise,” Talley winery president Brian Talley says. “This area is really poised to go to the next level.”

The new wines coming out of the region prove his point. As older wineries play catch-up, new producers are increasingly arriving, Alban says, lured by the potential—and the creative blank slate—offered by southern San Luis Obispo County.

Visitors to the region may feel that they too are getting in on the ground floor. San Luis Obispo hasn’t had its Sideways moment yet, and for those who prefer the back roads, that’s a blessing.