{"id":2190,"date":"2022-09-29T18:35:06","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T18:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2190"},"modified":"2022-10-06T14:48:35","modified_gmt":"2022-10-06T14:48:35","slug":"ecluse-wines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2190","title":{"rendered":"\u00c9cluse Wines"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00c9cluse Wines (www.eclisewines.com<\/a>), in Paso Robles, offers wine tasting the way it used to be in the long gone Napa Valley times.\u00a0 The tastings are held in the barrel room.\u00a0 The bottles are laid out on a plank between two barrels.\u00a0 And if you\u2019re lucky, your glass will be filled by the owner and winemaker, Steve Lock.<\/p>\n

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Steve Lock, proprietor and winemaker, \u00c9cluse Wines.\u00a0 Photo courtesy of the winery.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mr. Lock and his wife Pam started their vineyard in 1997 and\u00a0began making wine from their own property in 2001.\u00a0 They have focused on Bordeaux and Rh\u00f4ne grapes ever since.\u00a0 And, of course, since they\u2019re in Paso Robles, they grow Zinfandel.<\/p>\n

The setting of \u00c9cluse, atop a hill off a back road in Paso Robles, is quite rustic.\u00a0 However, there\u2019s nothing bucolic about the winemaking.\u00a0 They are quite proud of the awards they have won, especially those from the San Francisco Chronicle\u2019s annual wine competition.<\/p>\n

The Central Coast climate leads to very high sugar concentrations.\u00a0 The Locks believe in letting their grapes ripen to their peak flavors, so the alcohol content of their wines tends to run quite high.\u00a0 Since they offer a significant number of their wines at each tasting, a bit of restraint is in order for the visitors.<\/p>\n

Those wines fall into two categories.\u00a0 There are single varietal wines, such as Merlot, Malbec and Zinfandel.\u00a0 But then there are blends. \u00a0For a few examples, Ensemble<\/em> is \u00c9cluse\u2019s five-grape Bordeaux blend.\u00a0 This you will find elsewhere. The others are like nothing else you\u2019re likely to find in the Central Coast, or in all of California for that matter.\u00a0 Improv<\/em> is Zinfandel, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Syrah, Merlot, Malbec and Carignan. Insider<\/em> has Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec (not so unusual) but half the wine is made from Tannat grapes!\u00a0 A visit at \u00c9cluse is like a trip to Australia, without having to cross the Pacific.<\/p>\n

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The barrel room at \u00c9cluse.\u00a0 Photo courtesy of Paso Robles Wineries.<\/em><\/p>\n

Another distinguishing feature of a tasting at \u00c9cluse is that all of them include a barrel tasting.\u00a0 If they\u2019re not too crowded and you show genuine interest, Mr. Lock may treat you to an extraordinary experience.\u00a0 He\u2019ll draw wine from three barrels, each with oak of a different origin: France, Hungary and the United States.\u00a0 The wine you taste will be from the same grape and vintage so the only differentiator is the wood.\u00a0 This is an unforgettable experiment that offers proof of \u00c9cluse\u2019s commitment to their wines.<\/p>\n

\u00c9cluse is only open from Thursday through Sunday and reservations are advisable.\u00a0 But we have found that if you\u2019re not going to be in Paso Robles on the weekend, a call\u00a0might win you a private tasting, if they can accommodate you.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a sly play on words in the name.\u00a0 \u00c9cluse is the French word for lock, of the sort that are found on canals to raise and lower the boats.\u00a0 Pictures of a lock are on the labels and considering the family name of the owner\u2026<\/p>\n

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\u00c9cluse Wines (www.eclisewines.com), in Paso Robles, offers wine tasting the way it used to be in the long gone Napa Valley times.\u00a0 The tastings are held in the barrel room.\u00a0 The bottles are laid out on a plank between two barrels.\u00a0 And if you\u2019re lucky, your glass will be filled by the owner and winemaker, … Continue reading \u00c9cluse Wines<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2190"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2203,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190\/revisions\/2203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}