Winemaker Coby Parker Garcia serving Dan Hardesty on the new tasting room patio.
The lounge-like setting set up for El Lugar at the Petal Club, the latter his wife and partner’s floral business.
When I say I prefer small, artisan wineries, please don’t get me wrong, it’s just because they always rate among my Central Coast favorites. That said, I like quite a few large producers owned by rich corporations, they can afford to buy the best equipment and top winemakers.
Although in the latter category I have known some corporately-owned wineries that tried to take the cheap way out, only to result in dull, unimpressive wines. But when you have small producers making amazing artisan wines, you know they are passionate about it. I believe they deserve our support, even when they have limited hours available for tasting.
On Saturday, Aug. 1, my husband Dan Hardesty and I were what winemaker Coby Parker Garcia and his wife and partner Katie Noonan called their guinea pigs. We were the first consumers and it was their first day of serving tastings outdoors in what were normally their three designated parking spaces in front of their tasting room.
It’s adjacent to the Fed-Ex station near the SLO Airport on Fiero Lane. I was grateful it was a cool day, with moderate breezes. Now they are only open occasionally, but as it happens they will be open every Saturday during the month of August. And believe this, his impressive wines are well worth making a reservation to taste so you can purchase your favorites. We buy them all, that’s how much we love his excellent wines.
The El Lugar tasting room currently requires a reservation, which you can make online or by calling ahead. Get all of their info at ellugarwines .com or by calling 805-801-0119. They are located at 710 Fiero Lane #23, San Luis Obispo, very close to the SLO Airport.
But despite the reservation requirement, you can call ahead and inquire whether or not a table is available when you’re in the area. Sadly, some people are still no shows (which is rude, they could at least call and cancel), and the winery would be glad to provide that table to you. There is now a tasting fee of $30 per person, which is refunded on a purchase of two or more bottles.
With the new release of Parker Garcia’s 2018 vintage, which he believes is one of his best years yet, we bought several bottles of every one of his new wines. A seriously big purchase, but I’ll bet we will wish we had purchased more.
We started with an outstanding 2019 pinot noir blanc grown in Greengate Ranch and Vineyard. Parker Garcia told us it’s now a cult wine. That’s because it’s rare and not often found anywhere. It was delightful, and our favorite style of white wine with minerality and balanced acidity.
I asked him if the 2019 vintage was similar to the season in 2018, and he noted the two growing years were much alike, with low yields of grapes. When you find a great brand like this, if you love every wine I advise you to join their wine club. Then, you don’t get charged a tasting fee with new releases and you earn excellent pricing discounts. For instance, this limited wine is priced $38 a bottle but club people get it for $32.30. Only 134 cases were produced so it won’t last long.
El Lugar produces red pinot noirs from four exceptional vineyards from Edna Valley to the Sta. Rita Hills wine regions. I can tell you from my longtime devotion to pinot noir, I found every one of them excellent. Not only that, they earned 90-plus scores from Wine Enthusiast magazine.
I could understand why while tasting through the amazing line-up. The 2018 vineyards included Bien Nacido in Santa Maria Valley, Spanish Springs in Edna Valley, Hilliard Bruce in Sta. Rita Hills, and Rincon in Arroyo Grande Valley. Each one an outstanding example of the site and climate in which the grapes were grown.
We ended the tasting with his 2017 syrah grown in Spanish Springs Vineyard. Now, I find I’m not too fond of syrah anymore as most tend to be overly bold, and highly alcoholic. That was not the case with this version. Parker Garcia noted: “I used 10 percent new oak barrels which allowed a long cold soak of the grapes so we could draw more fruit without over extracting. I like more of a Saint-Joseph style version (from the northern Rhone in France) with less oak that’s complex but restrained. I look for elegance as the style for syrah. Edna Valley is a sweet spot for growing syrah, it’s the perfect cool climate.”
Sorry to tell you this, friends, but charging for tastings appears to be the new normal at most winery tasting rooms in SLO and Santa Barbara counties. But the coolest winemakers, like Coby Parker Garcia, only charge you for making a reservation and taking up their very limited space for serving wine aficionados. They give it back when you purchase their fine wines.
Which is the reason I support artisans like Parker Garcia who said: “The charge is to help us with the cost of opening. We have always given it back when visitors buy our wines. But it’s also because we don’t want to be the hot spot for parties. We want serious wine drinkers.”
Reach Kathy at kathymhardesty @ gmail .com
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August 10, 2020 at 12:52AM
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