CleverRoot

f a l l 2 0 1 7 | 6 1 To tour the region yourself, you'll obviously need a car. To do it in style, you're going to need a classic convertible. I speak from experi- ence when I say that pulling up to a winery in a 1969 Buick Electra with the top down is up there with life's most picture-perfect moments. Especially if that winery happens to be the aforementioned Bridlewood, set in a splendid Mission Revival estate on 105 acres on the eastern side of the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County. This is a great place to get the lay of the land. Comprising the southernmost part of the Central Coast on an east-west orientation, Santa Barbara County is representative of the region as a whole, as it spans a hodgepodge of terroirs—extremely cool and marine-influ- enced here, hot enough for Cab there. And Bridlewood represents that variety in turn; Knutson works with fruit grown all over the county to produce everything from a Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir with hints of earth and mush- room to what she calls "really peppery and concentrated" estate Syrahs and Zinfandels that aren't "your typical warmer-weather Zin, with notes of watermelon and bubblegum." Where Syrah and Zinfandel go, barbecue's sure to follow. As it happens, Santa Barbara County is home to a barbecue style all its own, reflecting the Hispanic legacy of Santa Maria Valley's cattle-ranching communities. It's built around tri-tip, a bottom-sirloin cut best known in California, grilled over an open flame fueled by red oak and served with native pinquito beans and local greens, as well as salsa (and, sometimes, tortillas). The result is a taste of the landscape best savored the same way it's cooked: al fresco, in view of the rolling hills. But the ultimate in local flavor comes from the ocean, whether it's a Dungeness crab bake on the beach or red abalone sautéed in butter. A visit to the clifftop site of The Abalone Farm in Cayucos, San Luis Obispo County, is an eye- opening experience. Manager Brad Buckley will plop one of the giant marine snails onto your bare hand (as rock-dwellers, even the babies latch on with daunting force) and teach you to identify its gender—all while provid- ing a lesson in preparing the delicacy. Raw abalone has a starchy, almost potato-like qual- ity; cooked, it evokes chicken scaloppini—or scaloppini with mushrooms, if the chef doesn't trim away the umami-loaded black pigment. Of course, abalone pairs beautifully with wines from SLO County's Edna Valley AVA, where, five miles from the ocean, strong breezes meet calcareous and volcanic soils to impart fresh acidity to Chardonnay in particular. Renovated earlier this year, Edna Valley Vineyard's posh, ultra-modern tasting room overlooking the Nine Sisters hills sets the perfect stage for rich and ripe yet elegant Chardonnays, like the 2014 Heritage and 2014 Reserve. As wine-country experiences go, it serves as a neat bookend to that of the quaint, artsy Carmel Valley Village tasting room of Tal- bott Vineyards. Here, you'll taste bright, pretty Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays from the iconic Sleepy Hollow Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA, confirming Talbott winemaker David Coventry's observation that Monterey County's days of "selling its best grapes to other regions" are long over. Indeed, the sense that the Central Coast offers a world of contrasts only heightens the more you travel it. One moment, you're soaking up the dusty charms of a one-horse hamlet like Los Alamos, where you'll stumble upon an arti- san bakery in a century-old former gas station: Bob's Well Bread, run by a former television executive who turns out exemplary pain levain and kouign-amann, even as cowboys are don- ning Stetson hats for a photo shoot in the front yard. The next moment, you're being serenaded by a bagpiper on the luxurious oceanfront ter- race of The Inn at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach. One moment, a hungry goat is bleating at you from his pen at old-timey roadside farm stand Avila Valley Barn in San Luis Obispo; the next, you're gaping at the Hollywood memorabilia that fills the cozy lobby of Carmel-by-the-Sea's Cypress Inn, co-owned by none other than Doris Day. It's enough to cause cultural whiplash—but since that's all part of the fun of touring the Central Coast, you'd best sit back and enjoy the ride. With the top down, of course. A loaf of bread, a jug of wine and thou: The phrase comes to life with a pair- ing of Bridlewood Chardonnay and pain levain from Bob's Well Bread Bakery. Abalone are famed as much for their exquisite shells as for their meat, which is delicate when raw, making for a natural companion to light, crisp rosé. ■cr

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