It only took two visits to Scheid Vineyards for it to become a destination location for us, rather than a mere roadside pit stop on the way to Paso Robles. By that time, I had been able to taste nearly 20 different wines made by their 4-person wine-making team, which turns out less than 10,000 cases annually from Scheid's extensive vineyards located in all major growing regions (I, II, III, and IV) in Monterey County. The range here is awesome: more than 10 different whites, more than a dozen reds, desert wine, sparkling wine, reserve wines, dry, off-dry, sweet ... the works!
On the occasion of our second visit, we were able to admire the newly opened tasting room, which was still in the process of being decorated and filled with wine and gift items for purchase. The outdoor patio and demonstration garden were as beautiful as I remembered from our earlier visit (spring 2016), but this time there was a distinctive fall flair: cool temperatures in the 40s, raisinated grapes drying on the vines, lavender bushes in full bloom, and fallen leaves on the walkway. You forget how close US-101 is once you enter the Scheid tasting room complex, which is next door to the wine-making facilities, but which is charming enough to be used for weddings, reunions, or other festive group events.
It is hard to describe what makes a Scheid wine a Scheid, but it has something to do with their intimate knowledge of each of their many vineyard sites, some of which are ideal for Spanish and Portuguese grapes like Tempranillo and Touriga Nacional, others of which produce wonderful white wines like Grenache Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay, and Albariño.
Scheid makes my favorite Grüner Veltliner in all of California, and their rosé of Pinot Noir, made exclusively from grapes harvested at a single vineyard (Mesa del Rio), is superb. It's low alcohol (under 13%), perfectly pink, balanced in acidity, and rich in strawberry flavors and rose petal-like, floral aromas. Simply delicious.
Scheid makes a huge range of Pinot Noir wines, but their basic bottling remains a favorite, with classic aromas of forest floor and earth and lots of fruit and spice on the palate. I was impressed by their Cabernet Sauvignon as well, which has beautiful herbal notes and dark berry flavors with a long, clean finish.
Most white wines sell in the $20 range, with the Odd Lot White (7 white varietals blended together and chosen by consensus among the winemaking team) and Odd Lot Red blends costing slightly less (around $18). Most reds wines retail in the high $20s and $30s with reserve bottlings reaching much higher ($50 or more). If you purchase a half case, which is easy to do here, you can qualify for a discount of 10-12%, even if you aren't a wine club member.
If you have the time after the tasting, and if you are heading North rather than South, you can take backroads towards the Santa Lucia Highlands and River Road instead of rushing back onto US-101. You'll pass many vineyards along the way in the Arroyo Seco AVA before reaching other great Monterey County wine tasting locations like Hahn, Wrath, and Odonata.
Tasting room staff have been wonderful on both of our visits: polite, knowledgeable, engaging, and excited about the wines being poured, willing to open up new bottles if necessary or share extra pours of wines that you're intrigued by, like their Petite Sirah, which I find very alluring with lots of depth and dark blueberry and black fruit layers. Scheid is simply one the the most versatile wineries in all of California, which is saying a lot. Highly recommended on your next trip to - or through - the area! read more