Autry Cellars (San Luis Obispo)

Today we decided to head to southern San Luis Obispo, to some of the tasting rooms near the airport. One of these included Autry Cellars. 

First Impressions:

We followed the sign down the road to the tasting room. It's a large property that they are still doing renovations on.  This is a small winery, with a small tasting room owned by a sole proprietor Steve Autry. There was three other people tasting when we walked in, and there probably wouldn't have been much room for many more.
There was one staff member pouring, and he greeted us as we walked in, and was very welcoming.
There were five wines available to taste.  While we were there the owner stopped by, and we got to chat with him. It's a small winery, but it's obvious that he puts a lot of time and work into every bottle.

These were the wines available for tasting:

Sangiovese
Sauvignon Blanc 
Tempranillo
Petit Syrah 
Zinfendel

Wines we tried:

Sangiovese ($29)
A good red wine, but a little pricey compared to other local wines. We purchased a bottle
of this to take home.

Tempranillo 
My favorite of all of them. A smooth and fruity wine.

Petit Syrah 
A very sweet wine, best as a dessert wine.

Zinfandel  
Complex and delicious

 Take Note:

Tasting is $5 per person, and waived with a purchase. Autry Cellars has a wine club with a couple different options. The owner is also distilling brandy, and is currently the first winery in San Luis Obispo to do so.  According to his newsletter, it will be ready for purchase in late 2012. I plan on going back to try the brandy.

Cayucos Cellars (Cayucos)

While driving through the center of Cayucos, we spotted this tasting room. We weren't sure how long until we'd end up this far north again, so it seemed a good opportunity to try another Central Coast winery on our list.

First Impressions:

This is the only tasting room in Cayucos, and they are located right on the main street in Cayucos, so they are hard to miss.
It was a small room, but only one other couple was there tasting. There was one staff member pouring, and he was very friendly and knew a lot about the winery. It had a low-key and casual atmosphere.
It's a local family vineyards, with an interesting history in the area. There were pictures of the family and other local photography on the walls.

These were the wines available for tasting:

2007 Chardonnay
2007 Pinot Noir
2005 Cabernet Sauvignon (New Release)
2004 The Rustic One
2007 Syrah
2005 Devils Gate Zinfandel
2003 Late Harvest Zinfandel

(Library wines available for purchase)

Wines we tried:

2007 Chardonnay ($24)
The description from the winery was "...the promise of apple cider", and that is the best description
of this wine. It was a bit too much apple for us.

2007 Pinot Noir ($32)
This wine had a lot of flavor and tartness. It was jammy, and full.

2005 Cabernet Sauvignon (New Release)  ($32)
Very woody wine, and too much oak for me.

2004 The Rustic One ($25)
A blend of Cab, Zin, and Pinot. It was fruity and a little sweet, almost like a candy. I really liked it.

2007 Syrah ($30)
Flavors of plum and quite good. Didn't like it enough for the price though.

2005 Devils Gate Zinfandel  ($42)
This wine reminded me of the 2007 Syrah, but with more tartness.

2003 Late Harvest Zinfandel ($25)This was their desert wine selection. It reminded me of Honey wine. It smelled a little like cocoa, and was excellent with chocolate (they had some samples at the counter). Very sweet and rich.

Take Note:

Tasting is $10 per person, and waived with purchase of wine. We didn't end up purchasing anything that day. They have a wine club with 20% discount on all wine purchases.