Central Coast CA Wine Country
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Central Coast CA Wine Country
Outside Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium. We tried to taste my favorite pinot, Fiddlehead Fiddlestix 728,
but they weren't pouring it this weekend.
Wildflowers by roadside.
I don't think this windmill is still functional.
What a fine wine wagon they have in the back.
From an outside trellis.
Outside Zaca Masa winery on their Z Trail.
Wildflowers on the trail.
View of the valley floor from the top of the Z Trail.
Fess Parker's lovely grounds.
Laetitia's Les Galets vineyard, sloping downward in the foreground. I left with a half case of the
best Pinot Noir I've ever had. I bought a bottle a few years ago, but now they actually pour Les Galets
on their reserve menu. In 2-3 years this wine should be downright stunning.
but they weren't pouring it this weekend.
Wildflowers by roadside.
I don't think this windmill is still functional.
What a fine wine wagon they have in the back.
From an outside trellis.
Outside Zaca Masa winery on their Z Trail.
Wildflowers on the trail.
View of the valley floor from the top of the Z Trail.
Fess Parker's lovely grounds.
Laetitia's Les Galets vineyard, sloping downward in the foreground. I left with a half case of the
best Pinot Noir I've ever had. I bought a bottle a few years ago, but now they actually pour Les Galets
on their reserve menu. In 2-3 years this wine should be downright stunning.
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Wow, flitcroft. Those are some beautiful pictures! I notice that you're in LA, but were these taken in Northern California? I've only been there twice, but both times I was astounded by the beauty of the area (and the excellent wine). I was just commenting to my father-in-law last night about how I had never seen hills with no trees like in CA.
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These were taken in Central California, just inland of the Pacific coast. The wine region that we went to is usually called the Santa Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley, or Santa Barbara. It's also called Central Coast, but that usually includes Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo which are an hour North. The wine country is only about two hours North of LA, up the 101. In my S2000 (we had four people, too bad) it would be an easy two hour drive.
My favorite tasting room, for anyone visiting, is Laetitia. They have some to-die-for Pinots and are getting better with bubbly every year. This region is likely the new Napa Valley. I already prefer the Pinots from here to the expensive Napa bottles.
http://www.laetitiawine.com/
My favorite tasting room, for anyone visiting, is Laetitia. They have some to-die-for Pinots and are getting better with bubbly every year. This region is likely the new Napa Valley. I already prefer the Pinots from here to the expensive Napa bottles.
http://www.laetitiawine.com/
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holy smokes. seeing this really makes me wanna go drink wine.
i just saw the movie Sideways and it is about wine tasting and sex sex sex. good movie..
Too bad i never took advantage of it while i went to UCSB. I never realized how close i was.
i just saw the movie Sideways and it is about wine tasting and sex sex sex. good movie..
Too bad i never took advantage of it while i went to UCSB. I never realized how close i was.
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Originally Posted by flitcroft,Apr 26 2005, 04:14 AM
My favorite tasting room, for anyone visiting, is Laetitia. They have some to-die-for Pinots and are getting better with bubbly every year. This region is likely the new Napa Valley. I already prefer the Pinots from here to the expensive Napa bottles.
http://www.laetitiawine.com/
http://www.laetitiawine.com/
Their pinot noirs are great and the selection of champagne is pretty nice. Plus they're one of the closest to Pismo Beach so it's just a short sprint up the highway after you've tasted a bit much. 
One of my other favorites from that area is Domaine Alfred up on Orcutt Road. They only offer a few wines and it's mostly expensive reserves, but boy are they good! I'm a cheap bastard but couldn't resist picking up a few bottles on my last visit.
Oh yeah, you're probably aware of it already, but check out this site for a great map of the SLO wineries:
http://www.slowine.com/
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^ You got it, they're all with the 20D.
WayneTek, Sideways was filmed at all the places around there. It's pretty weird for my g/f whose been visitng her grandparents there her whole life. In Sideways, the tasting room that looks like a shack is Foxen, the nice tasting room where we first see Sandra Oh is a renamed Firestone, the restaurant that they eat at in the movie is the Hitching Post. They're all within a short drive of the valley in the pictures above.
WayneTek, Sideways was filmed at all the places around there. It's pretty weird for my g/f whose been visitng her grandparents there her whole life. In Sideways, the tasting room that looks like a shack is Foxen, the nice tasting room where we first see Sandra Oh is a renamed Firestone, the restaurant that they eat at in the movie is the Hitching Post. They're all within a short drive of the valley in the pictures above.
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Originally Posted by flitcroft,Apr 26 2005, 09:36 AM
^ You got it, they're all with the 20D.
WayneTek, Sideways was filmed at all the places around there. It's pretty weird for my g/f whose been visitng her grandparents there her whole life. In Sideways, the tasting room that looks like a shack is Foxen, the nice tasting room where we first see Sandra Oh is a renamed Firestone, the restaurant that they eat at in the movie is the Hitching Post. They're all within a short drive of the valley in the pictures above.
WayneTek, Sideways was filmed at all the places around there. It's pretty weird for my g/f whose been visitng her grandparents there her whole life. In Sideways, the tasting room that looks like a shack is Foxen, the nice tasting room where we first see Sandra Oh is a renamed Firestone, the restaurant that they eat at in the movie is the Hitching Post. They're all within a short drive of the valley in the pictures above.
That Canon 20D pix is nice. You using stock lens? I'm gonna purchase digital rebel XT.
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There are two kit lenses for the 20D. The EF-S 18-55 is terrible (it's ~$20 on eBay) and the EF-S 17-55 IS isn't quite what I wanted for my first lens. I still may pick up the latter one. The EF 50 mm f1.4 is a near-pro lens (metal body, full time manual focus, etc) but is definitely softer than an L prime lens or possibly even the EF 17-40L zoom.
One of the things I missed with my last camera was that I couldn't crank open the aperature wide enough to get decent bokeh and small depth of field. With this camera, I made sure that I could do it. Otherwise, the EF 50mm f1.8 II is a great lens and about $100 less. Those single f-stops cost serious dough!
If you're getting the Rebel XT based on cost check out a used 10D for about $600. Other than pixel count it's likely better in every way (better white balance, autofocus, motor, magnesium body, flash, etc). The Rebel XT images don't really impress me. They're softer than the 10D from what I've seen. That said, I've seen plenty of gorgeous shots taken with Rebel XTs already. Check out the DPReview shots of the lady with the two cameras (links below). To me, the 10D is a much more pleasing image. Unfortunately, the two shots use different lenses.
10D: http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/?gallery=c...os10d_samples1/
Rebel XT: http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/?gallery=c...s350d_samples1/
One of the things I missed with my last camera was that I couldn't crank open the aperature wide enough to get decent bokeh and small depth of field. With this camera, I made sure that I could do it. Otherwise, the EF 50mm f1.8 II is a great lens and about $100 less. Those single f-stops cost serious dough!
If you're getting the Rebel XT based on cost check out a used 10D for about $600. Other than pixel count it's likely better in every way (better white balance, autofocus, motor, magnesium body, flash, etc). The Rebel XT images don't really impress me. They're softer than the 10D from what I've seen. That said, I've seen plenty of gorgeous shots taken with Rebel XTs already. Check out the DPReview shots of the lady with the two cameras (links below). To me, the 10D is a much more pleasing image. Unfortunately, the two shots use different lenses.
10D: http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/?gallery=c...os10d_samples1/
Rebel XT: http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/?gallery=c...s350d_samples1/