The Ojai Vineyard tasting room is now open!
I have discovered two sweet spots in downtown Ojai for quiet sipping.
Adam Tolmach of The Ojai Vineyard just opened a tasting room in the same building occupied by Firehouse Pottery on Montgomery Street next to the Ojai Art Center. This is an epic moment for oenophiles because until now, you really could not taste Adam’s wines. His wines have an international reputation and consistently score very high with esteemed wine critics like Robert Parker.
Last night Bill and I took advantage of the late tasting room hours (open until 7:00 p.m. every Friday and Saturday) and shared a flight of six fantastic wine tastes for $12.00. Dusti Pelow poured for us and gave us quite an education. She loves wine and also happens to be married to Frank Massarella, the potter next door. She told me that when this space became available, Adam was the first person she called, and I’m so glad she did! She also told us about The Ojai Vineyard Wine Club, touting free tastings as one of the many fabulous benefits of membership. As I signed us up for the program (we chose two bottles of red per quarter), I was very up front about the fact that I intend to abuse the heck out of that particular benefit!
Just around the corner and half a block down on Ojai Avenue is The Tequila Bar right next door to Los Caporales Restaurant. This quaint little spot had been off our radar, but last weekend when we were wandering around after dinner, a band playing outside caught our attention. We were looking for a quiet place to have a night cap and were more than pleased to find a cozy seat inside. This place made us feel like we were smack dab in the middle of Santo Poco (incidentally, I recently heard that the old Santo Poco set is just down the 33 on the Brooks campus – you can almost see it from the freeway)! The ceiling is painted to look like a blue sky with puffy white clouds and there are fake windows and balconies and cute paintings on the walls. The owner was our bartender and his daughter our server. We were offered tortilla chips and salsa and a beverage menu with a mile-long list of tequilas. I chose the Lago Azul – a tequila fortified with almond liqueur and perfect for sipping.
Los Caporales participates in the 50% off gift certificate program offered by Restaurants.com. I actually got more than 50% off recently when I bought a $25 gift certificate for just $6 (and now there is a promotion through 8/16 for $2 certificates). The only catch is you have to purchase at least $35 in food and the gift certificate cannot be used on alcohol. I like to meet up there with Bill and his golf buddies after a round, so this will certainly be put to good use.
What’s your favorite quote from Three Amigos?
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice addition to the story we can tell about our primary industry, cultural tourism.
“Paso Robles AVA and Greater San Luis Obispo County Wine and Wine Grape industries have an annual impact of $1.8 billion on the state and local economy.”
http://www.pasowine.com/media/economic_impact.php
Would you say the wine industry brings a plethora of money to the area?
It would bring in more than it does if it was marketed as such. The fact that Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo are such well-known and highly visited wine tasting destinations is not an accident.
I look forward to the day when the County of Ventura recognizes this and starts sending some economic development and marketing dollars to the proliferating Ventura County Wine Trail, now in it’s third year and growing by the barrel. http://www.venturacountywinetrail.com. By the way, Ojai now has a new trail – the Ojai Wine Trail: http://www.ojaiwinetrail.com, which includes packages with area hotels and restaurants and three Ojai wineries!
P.S. I was channeling El Guapo from Three Amigos with “plethora!”
I’m that you enjoy and support our local eateries Lisa and generally entertained by yoir writing style.
I am a bit dismayed over the flppant use of the word “sustainability” on the homepage of the Ojai Wine Trails website. I think its great to market to tourists who enjoy artisan wine yet considering that Casa Baranca is the only winemaker actually practicing sustainable ag I find it hardly accurate to announce Ojai as a sustainable community. We have only just begun to start educating, formulating and implementing lifestyles in Ojai that reflect these values. Tganks to the Green Coalition, Transition Ojai and other groups there is some energy tgat IS being sustained in this area. Lets try to avoid the green washing and truthfully acknowledge what we currently offer and what future we want to create together.
Thanks for your perspective, Raymond. I’ve been trying to get to the bottom of who started that page, but the Ojai Visitors Bureau says it’s not them. Time to summon the invisible swordsman I guess, “Farley Farley Farley Farley Farley!”
Sigh…I may be the only one on this blog who watched and loved Three Amigos!
The wine tasting room was packed yesterday when we went around 3pm. Dusty was our server too and since Robert has worked on their computers before, they got to talking about the new iMac or something while I listened to all the other conversations! Lots of out of towners and one man from Rasmussen Vineyards checking out the competition. We liked the selections of pours and also signed up for the 2 bottles a quarter. I liked that it was free membership, your tastings are free, and when bottles are ready to be sent out, they will have “pick up” parties so you can stop by and get your selection, do some tastings and maybe even taste the stuff in the “vault”!!
It was a nice ending to a nice day
do they serve food?
No, but like most wine tasting rooms, you could bring a picnic or snacks, and there’s even a place for two to sit on the porch. There are several wonderful restaurants within a stone’s throw! This is a great spot for pre-dinner or post-lunch sipping.
I’ve heard recently that the Ojai city council voted themselves lifetime healthcare benefits at taxpayer expense. I have heard in the same discussion that this covers surviving spouses of council members. Has anyone seen a calculation of the cost of this benefit? What public discussion was there of this item?
Sorry, Tom, can’t help you with that one! I can help you with wine, tequila or Three Amigos, but maybe this other thread might be a little more relevant to what you are looking for?: http://www.ojaipost.com/2010/08/interim-city-manager-approves-best-western-in-ojai/