Globe hopping
14 / California
SLO and steady
Suggest to California-bound clients that they make time for SLO CAL, with its uncrowded oceanfront, rolling hills, wineries, farmers markets and more. They will soon start to relax like a local, says Jessica Pook
A vine time at Cass Winery
T
he bond between horse and rider is proving to be a fleeting one. I urge Cinnamon to just follow the horse in front at a nice steady pace – no sudden movements please! – but the 20-year-old retiree mare has her own agenda. Veering off the path across the acres of vines that surround us, she defiantly takes another mouthful of Cass Winery’s finest summer crop. Despite my best efforts, Cinnamon is getting her way and having tasted the end product myself I really can’t blame her. Out of the saddle I’m sampling some of California’s finest wines far from the crowds of Napa and Sonoma. I’m in San
Luis Obispo, or SLO CAL as it’s known, located halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco along the iconic Highway 1. Often overlooked as roadtrippers make their way from the main gateway cities, SLO offers visitors the chance to relax and live like the locals do. And as California’s third-largest wine region with around 300 distilleries, those locals are rarely thirsty. I sip my way across the fertile Paso Robles region, from the ranch-style Cass Winery to the breathtaking vistas of Daou mountain, which bottles wines with powerhouse names like ‘Soul of a Lion’ and ‘Eye of the Falcon’. “We grow diamonds here,” says Laura
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Reynolds, the Trade Ambassador at DAOU Family Estates, as she pours a generous glass of rose that she calls her “summer water”. It’s crisp, refreshing and pairs perfectly with the panoramic views that I’m drinking in. I feel like I’m part of an exclusive club and yet I’m surrounded by locals. But then that is the SLO CAL way.
Beat the crowds Brand USA was quick to report an uptick in confirmed bookings for the second half of 2022 and 2023 as a result of the ending of Covid pre-testing for UK arrivals. And Audley Travel reports that client interest in future trips to the US remains high,
