One of many nice joys of journey is discovering a hidden gem, some magical place that you just both didn’t know was there or had as soon as visited after which fully forgotten about. I felt that sense of discovery once I visited the central California coast in the summertime of 2019 once I attended the Central Coast Cider Pageant. As a California native, it was not my first time within the space. However I’d largely simply handed via, driving the scenic route from San Francisco to Los Angeles alongside Freeway 1 because it winds alongside the cliffs above the sapphire-blue Pacific Ocean, sometimes dipping inland via coastal farmlands. I didn’t trouble stopping till I hit Santa Barbara. I had no thought simply what I used to be lacking.
Sitting midway between the San Francisco Bay Space and the sprawl of higher Los Angeles, in character if not bodily, the central California coast appears to have absorbed the very best of each of its extra well-known and populated siblings. It has the laid-back, go-with-the-flow really feel of the north and the fun-in-the-sun seashore scene of the south with out the previous’s Silicon Valley high-tech twitchiness or the latter’s tendency to skew towards look-at-me plasticity. Add in an easygoing local weather and nice cider scene and you’ve got the makings of a terrific place for a leisurely go to.
Begin your exploration within the historic city of San Luis Obispo, dwelling to Cal Poly College and an 18th century Spanish mission positioned on land initially owned by the Chumash individuals. The city additionally has two cideries inside shut proximity to 1 one other which are value testing.
Two Broads Cider homeowners Morgan Murphy and Maggie Przybyski have created a heat and alluring tasting room with a snug but eclectic sensibility, the kind of place wherein the artists and writers of the Bloomsbury Set would have felt proper at dwelling. There they pour a variety of chic, well-crafted ciders from domestically sourced apples, some single varietals like Yarlington Mill, and others co-ferments with imaginative names akin to Kumquat Could.
Simply throughout the car parking zone is relative newcomer SLO Cider. Founders Nate Adamski, Jeremy Flemming and Pete Ayer opened their doorways in March 2020, simply days earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic shut all the things down. That blip apart, their vigorous re-opened tasting room is prospering with Thursday evening comedy performances and a patio good for sipping one in every of their easy-drinking ciders.
About half-hour north simply outdoors the small city of Atascadero is the venerable Bristols Cider Home. Founder and proprietor Neil Collins got here to California from Bristol, England, within the late Nineteen Eighties, and rapidly grew to become concerned within the rising wine business. However he missed the Somerset ciders he was used to ingesting again dwelling. Noticing the numerous orchards round him, he determined to strive his hand at making his personal. By the tip of the ’90s, Neil was working as a winemaker and winery supervisor for the long-lasting Tablas Creek Vineyard and he and his sister Jackie and spouse Marci had began their very own vineyard named Lone Madrone, in addition to Bristols Cider. The ciders are as dry as their English cousins, although extra harking back to Kent than Somerset, and the cider home has the texture of a well-appointed British pub, together with the compulsory dartboard.
A visit east via the stay oak–dotted tawny hills brings you to See Canyon, the epicenter of the central coast’s apples. Named for 19th century pioneer Joseph See, the slim canyon creates a novel microclimate with comparatively chilly winters and sizzling summers, permitting apples to thrive. Pockets of orchards line See Canyon Highway; native streets like Cider Lane, Pippin Lane and Previous Orchard Highway attest to the canyon’s lengthy apple historical past. Fifteen or 20 minutes from the principle freeway brings you to Gopher Glen Natural Apple Farm, which was planted by apple fanatic (and orthodontist) Dr. John DeVincenzo within the Nineteen Eighties. Gopher Glen is rising an enormous number of apples, together with some bred by Dr. DeVincenzo. Many are on the market within the farm retailer through the late summer time and fall apple season together with different domestically made handicrafts and meals. The spotlight, although, are the ciders made by homeowners Jake and Raven Smith. Since they’re additionally rising the apples, Jake and Raven can make sure the fruit is at its peak for ciders like their tangy Gravenstein and snappy Arkansas Black single varietals.
Had sufficient cider for at some point? Then head to Montaña de Oro State Park for a hike up Valencia Peak. The 1,347-foot summit will reward you with thrilling views of the ocean. If mountaineering uphill isn’t your factor, go to one of many charming little seashore cities as a substitute. Cayucos, for instance, has a stunning stretch of white sandy seashore with a historic pier and a mixture of little eating places and retailers. San Luis Obispo County can be dwelling to a few of California’s greatest wineries outdoors of Napa and Sonoma. For per week or a weekend, there’s no finish to the nice instances to be present in central California. It’s all simply hiding there in plain sight.
