Seven Oxen Estate Wines

​After our experience at Babcock, we headed up the road to Paso Robles and set up camp.  Well, not really set up camp.  I mean, it was a pretty nice air bnb we stayed in.  OK, so we didn’t rough it….  Anyway, the next morning we resumed seeking out more altars to Bacchus, more of the nectar of the gods.
Seeking clues to the native habits, our first stop was at a farmer’s market in the center of town.  It was raining a bit (just a drizzle, actually), but as were still in California it was enough to keep the natives indoors.  So we headed out to seek liquid sustenance.
Our second stop was at a place called Seven Oxen.  Much to our surprise, she was ready for us! How could she know we would be stopping there?  Someone had to have tipped her off.  Could it have been someone from the farmer’s market that we visited?  Not likely – we were the only ones there on that cold, rainy morning.  Perhaps someone from the first winery we visited?  No, they were too busy trying to sell us their mediocre wine.  No, it had to be someone from our group of intrepid explorers.  But who?

​And was she ever ready – not only did she have wine ready, but cheese and salads and flat bread pizzas (delivered from the distillery next door), individually to our order!  And there is was – right on the wine pairing menu.  A name – Frances.  It had to be one of group, Frances, aka, Charo, who had blown our cover – and, by the way, placed our lunch orders.  We were shocked!  OK, we weren’t really shocked – we had given her our orders -- but it makes for a good story, no?

​Seven Oxen is an Estate winery, but the winery itself is far removed from the vineyards, located in a commercial park.  The facility is nice, but lacks the nice outdoor seating and view of “country” wineries.

​As for their wines, the Grenache is quite nice – and this comes from someone who really doesn’t care for Grenache.  The others were good as well, and then there was the Tannat.  This was my first time tasting this particular varietal, and, well, I really, really liked it.  Bought some!

​They have two levels of wine club.  Level 1 requires purchase of 6 bottles every six months (12 bottles/year) at a 15% discount.  Level 2 is double that number of bottles at a 30% discount.  The discounts are good for other purchases from the winery, and for both levels wine tasting for two is complementary.