Finding Your Perfect Match

Find the Right Wine for You

If you're visiting Paso Robles Wine Country, you'll have more than a few opportunities to taste wine, whether you're on a Wine Wrangler Adventure Tour or sampling a new wine over dinner. California's Central Coast has a range of geographical features and soil types and with 12 AVA's throughout the Paso Robles area, you're bound to find one--or many more--that are a perfect match for your palate.

One of the best ways to find a wine you love is to taste as many wines as possible. This will help you learn to identify the flavor profiles that are pleasing to your palate. As a member of the Paso Robles Wine Club, you'll enjoy a selection of premium wines from the Central Coast delivered right to your door. This will give you an opportunity to taste hard to find boutique wines in your home, without having to figure out what to buy on your own.

By tasting wines regularly, you’ll also develop your palate and become accustomed to certain flavors in wine. To start, learn how to identify the 4 most common fruit groups found in wine. They are:

Black Fruit: Think about the taste of jam. This group includes black cherry, black raspberry, blackberry, black currant and fig. Look for these flavors in Cabernet.

Red Fruit: To best understand this group, think of candied cherries, raspberry, strawberry, cherry and cranberry. Grenache, Sangiovese and Pinot Noir are often loaded with red fruit flavors.

Tree Fruits: Summer fruits like apricots, peaches and nectarines make for this flavor, but late harvest fruits like pears and apples also fit the profile. Characteristic of white wines, like Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier.

Citrus Fruits: Crisp and sometimes tart, look for pink grapefruit, Myer lemon, Key lime, orange and even the tropical fruits, pineapple and passion fruit. You’ll likely taste these in white wines, such as Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Grigio.

Finding your perfect wine match takes time—tasting wine, exploring flavors, learning how to find identify the fruit profiles—but like any good relationship, the payoff is well worth the effort—and besides, who doesn’t like to taste more wine?