I never shy away from the chance to learn something new and Saturday was no different. Sporting my new SIP hat**, I cruised down to Riverbench Vineyard & Winery in Santa Maria for a vineyard tour compliments of Central Coast Winegrowers Association (CCWGA).

Made it to Riverbench Vineyard & Winery!

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A little rain didn’t stop anyone from having a Rockin’ time at the 20th SLO Vintners Harvest Celebration. Yours truly was stoked to be pouring SIP wines in between Rays Own Brand sausage and Sextant Wines. The SIP booth got to taste each sausage variety (Bratwurst, Hot Italian, Linguica, Pork Apple Honey) hot off the grill and I have a new favorite Chardonnay from the Santa Lucia Highlands.

Featuring Central Coast Wine & Cuisine!

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Taste of SLO has done it again, I thoroughly enjoyed myself last Wednesday night as I wandered, well due to the great turn out, shuffled up and down the Mission Plaza tasting all that San Luis Obispo has to offer. This year’s disco themed event came complete with go go dancers, a giant disco ball, great music, and of course fabulous food and wine. The best of the best of San Luis Obispo restaurants made their appearances with delicious samplers; Tuna tacos from Native Lounge to mushroom soup topped with grated espresso bean from Mother’s Tavern to profiteroles from Mama’s Meatballs, can only begin to explain the range choices that were laid out in front of me. While samplers may sound like child’s play compared to the gigantic meals we are served at some restaurants, with a choice of samplers from over 30 restaurants I found that my graceful walk into the event had turned into a bit more of a waddle as I left the evening.
But wait, there’s more!

The business model of Pizza Fusion (a nationwide franchised chain) is green to the core – green right down to the recycled blue jeans used for wall insulation, green right down to the organic red tomato sauce used in the pizzas, green right down to the hybrid delivery vehicles, green right down to the bamboo pizza peels (those paddle shaped things used to slip the pies in and out of the oven).

So, what about the wine list at such a place, in particular, the newly opened location in San Luis Obispo? Owner Brandon Borene admits that “to get the doors open,” he took the path of least resistance, offering organic labels that he could easily source, but “I knew I was going to get questions about carrying local wines.”

But wait, there’s more!