Halfway between the two main California metropolises of Los Angeles and San Francisco is Paso Robles Wine Country. Located along California’s famed Central Coast, the Paso Robles wine grape growing region’s climate is perfect for the production of award-winning premium wines.  

As a red wine aficionado I make my yearly visit to find some new blends or earthy Zin . The region’s unique and diverse climate combined with an equally distinct landscape, both challenge and inspire vineyard growers and winemakers. Paso Robles has a long history as an agricultural community, from ranches dating back to barley, almonds and now vineyards and olives fields.

In between the rolling oak hills you will find 40,000 vineyard acres, producing more than 60 wine grape varieties – from Spanish to Italian, Bordeaux to Rhône, including the area’s heritage variety Zinfandel. The styles of wine are diverse in this very distinct region. It is only a few hours from Downtown Los Angeles, but the car you take does make a difference.

In this occasion I drove the all new Hyundai Tucson. A smaller SUV that has a huge interior and by way of folding the rear seats you can easily carry 10 cases.  The Tucson facilitates the integration of technologies with tech-savvy lifestyles and I must admit that there are a lot more gadgets and apps that I could learn. The younger crowd will love it.  All-wheel drive capabilities are an example of  mechanical technology and when you are visiting small wineries it becomes quite handy to know that you can over some adverse terrain , even with bad weather.

Tucson’s interior, or ‘INTERSPACE’ as they call it, offers sensuous, multi-layered forms that provide a feeling of openness and serenity. This is a place where space, technology and information seamlessly blend. The broad ridge of the dashboard blends consistently with the doors, wrapping around front occupants like a geologic gorge, while a vertically oriented, fully integrated center fascia descends to the console like a waterfall. Twin silver garnish lines streaming from the center fascia to the rear doors harmonize neatly layered surface materials in complementary, neutral tones. Ambient mood lighting is adjustable to 64 colors in ten levels of brightness. In short, great for getting out of town in comfort.

I do recommend the Hybrid or Plug-in version as it helps with minimizing pollution in our state. The Hybrid power train includes a 1.6-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with a 44.2 kW electric motor and a 1.49 kWh battery pack. With around 250 ft-lbs of torque we are talking more than many of the vintage trucks you see at the farms in the area. The Hybrid power train delivers this abundant power through an HEV-tuned six-speed automatic transmission for smooth, quiet and efficient performance. Combined, this hybrid power train is 30 percent more fuel efficient than the standard gasoline engine, with 20 percent more torque for effortless daily driving. This superb efficiency also provides for over 500 miles of range before refueling for greater driving convenience. You literally can go and come back with a single tank.

A long growing season of warm days and cool evenings gives rise to vibrantly ripened fruit with dynamic flavor. I do suggest you stop by  at Halter Ranch, Eberie, Justin, Niner, Opolo, Castoro, Vina Robles, Rio Seco, Linne, and J.Lohr wineries. You will be able to get a taste of a multitude of flavors form this area.  Paso Robles is known for the Zinfandel, but there are some great Grenache and Syrah as well. Many of the wineries offer lunch and there are plenty of places to stay overnight.  Even if you are not into wine, Paso Robles makes for a great week-end get-away.