On my first long ride in Paso Robles last month, I decided riding in for lunch at Cass Winery would be a good idea. On that day, I rode right by it, and thought it would be fun to ride between the vineyards. That evening, my hosts told me that Cass offers riding tours, and they had heard one could ride there (after signing a waiver). I was only going to be there a few more days, but I decided not to miss the opportunity! I wished i had more time; there are many vineyards within riding distance. Potentially there are many wineries and tasting rooms. Some day I will contact each and ask if I can ride and taste, even if dining is not an option.
The plan
I decided to do the same 16 mile loop I had done the first day, but with a stop for lunch. That would be around mile nine. Fantazia would not be very tired after nine miles, so I planned to let her go a bit faster than usual. I used their online form to make a reservation for 12:30, which would allow me plenty of time to get there after finishing my ZOOM class at 10:25. I’d ask if I could explore the winery on horseback when I got there. (I also emailed, but never received a response).
The pre-lunch ride
As it turned out, I got a late start. On Tuesday, it had taken me 1 hour and 40 minutes to get to Cass, so I wanted to be riding out by 10:50. By the time I talked to a few students who (for the first time) wanted to take advantage of my offer of any questions after class, it was 10:40. Then I kept forgetting things and having to run back and forth between trailer and the “bunkhouse” where I was staying. It was 11:06 when I got on.
This wasn’t too much of a problem. I skipped a few side-trips (I had ridden up the hill by the dry wash on Tuesday). I let Fantazia lope along the riverbed a lot more than I had before. She was warmed up, fit, and knew the ride. Fantazia always bases her expectations on the last ride we did starting the same way; I can pretty much lay the reins on her neck and she will repeat the journey. This means she has a good idea of how much work is involved and will rate herself accordingly.
Fantazia took care of making up a bit of time by loping when it was easier (in deep sand). I skipped stopping to look at vegetation and add it to my Seek app and iNaturalist. Mostly. And we trotted all the time we were not loping, except on asphalt and for brief breaks after loping.
Riding in for Lunch at Cass Winery
We would have arrived exactly on time, but for some reason I had thought I could ride straight out of the riverbed at the restaurant. This was not the case, so we had to duoble back and ride along the road until we could enter through a gate. I ended up riding up to the hostess around 12:40. I asked her about tying my horse and if there was water. She indicated where I should look for a place to tie Fantazia up, but said there was no water.
Fortunately, she was wrong about the water, or I would have had to skip lunch. There was a tub of slimey water, which I dumped out. I found a house in between the electric cars plugged in for their own lunch, and filled the tub with clean water. I took off Fantazia’s bridle and hung it on a nearby tree. She wasn’t enthusiastic, but she stood nicely. I checked her now and then.
My Lunch at Cass Winery
Their menu has a lot of tasty-looking options. I was going to get the crab salad, but after a look at the tasting menu (almost all reds), I switched to the Might cap Mushroom and Brie sandwich. It undoubtedly went better with (most of) the wine, but it was not great. Not enough brie! Next time, I’m going for the salad. The small salad that accompanied my sandwich was excellent.
Of course I had wine. I chose the “Traditional” tasting menu because it was cheaper–and I didn’t see anough of a difference to merit starting with the more expensive version.
I liked all the wines. (See the image below for the menu.) I particularly liked the grenache, which they wisely served cold, and the Rockin’ Ted. Though I tend to prefer single-grape wines, the Rockin’ Ted–and the Rockin- One Blanc–were very good. Especially the red. I wish they had more whites to sample, though.
Actually, I should rephrase that. I like some single-grape wines (is varietal the fancy word for that?? I think so but not sure…). Especially if it’s pinot! My least favorite of the wines I tried at Cass was the Cabernet Sauvignon. I don’t love that grape in general, and that wine didn’t say anything to me other than, Yep, another cab I won’t be buying. Of course, I also won’t be buying the Rockin Ted at $75 a bottle. Got other things I prefer to spend money on. (And generally, when I buy more expensive wine, I do so from Peterson Winery; they are excellent and family. Though I don’t think they do horseback tours!) But I would recommend Rockin Ted for those who do want to splurge.
Touring Cass Winery on Horseback
After I had finished lunch and wine, I signed a release form and went out to rescue Fantazia from where I had parked her. (Next time I will drop off a hay bag!) We headed out to the vineyards. I had paused my watch when I got off, and I forgot to start tracking again at first. We rode briefly up the middle road you can see in the image of my Garmin-generated track below. After that, we stuck mostly to the perimeter, except for going to the pond in the middle (also visible in the video titled “Cass Winery” below.)
Above: The map of where I rode on October 28th. I have circled Cass Winery in blue.
Above: Cass Winery also offers Archery activities. Scroll down on the Camp Cass page for details.
It was fun! After riding through Cass, we headed home. I did not entirely repeat the last long ride. Instead of following the riverbed all the way back, we took some dirt roads on the other side of it.
Below you will find more pictures and videos of Cass Winery. I haven’t uploaded all the videos I took, but will probably do so eventually.
In the pictures below, you can see some scary (to horses) things to be found at vineyards, and the signs for a few of their grapes.
