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DAOU Family Estates, or as many refer them as DAOU Vineyards, in Paso Robles is renowned for their French wines and amazing vineyards view. Upon arrival on Hidden Mountain Road, we drove up the narrow road (meant for sharing both directions without lines) and through rows of vineyards that they own, we reached the top of the estate to the tasting room, where we stepped out to an overlook of their vineyards and hills of Paso Robles.

[View from Parking Lot of Daou Estate]

We arrived 10 minutes before our reservation time and decided to take a quick stroll around the vineyards and the chilly fall winds of the morning hit us abruptly like a boxing match. Around early-fall in Paso Robles, you get really chilly weather in the mornings but then it'd get hot to about mid-80s at peak during the day. It's this contrast every day around this season that makes the area the perfect place for growing wine grapes.

As we stepped inside the tasting room, we were greeted by the DAOU team and was welcomed with a welcome drink. Then, the hostess led us to our seats in the patio. Shortly after, our attendant came and asked us if we would like some blankets because it was a chilly morning at 10AM. We said, 'yes', and then she came back with our first pour of our tasting flight and 2 blankets. This is the second time a winery offered us blankets for a chilly morning during the fall season while wine tasting and I love this extra service! While waiting for our food to arrive, the attendant encouraged us to explore the property and walk down to the little amphitheater to get a great view of the vineyards. I got to walk up really close to the vineyards and be inches away from the wine grapes. It was an amazing estate experience and the property is very well kept!

Our food arrived a little bit after our second pour from the tasting menu. We saw that they had scallops on their food menu and decided to share it while we wine tasted. It was a great choice! It's a pretty penny for their food menu but the food was excellent so it made it worth it. It paired well with the second pour from the wine tasting menu, but I had forgotten that she said that so I drank the whole glass before our food arrived without thinking. Thankfully, our attendant noticed and went ahead and poured me another tasting of it without me having to ask! This is very attentive service and it goes to show why DAOU is so renowned and popular for tourists and visitors.

The scallops dish only came with 3 scallops and since my husband knew I enjoyed my first one, he sweetly let me have the 3rd one without having to split it. I would order this dish again if we ever come back in the future.

We try not to visit the same winery twice unless we're club members because there are 300 wineries, vineyards and tasting rooms in Paso Robles alone! Paso Robles is part of San Luis Obispo (SLO) County so if you include all of SLO County, there's even more than that. We're locals since we live in the county so if we want to go on a wine tasting adventure, we still have hundreds left to pick from. From the time that I posted this blog, we've finally hit the 50 mark and this took almost 5 years.

The tasting fee that we paid was $50 a person at DAOU (most likely will increase over time). For Paso Robles, it is considered more expensive than the majority of the wine tasting rooms in the area but still considerably cheaper than most wine tasting fees in Napa Valley. I would definitely recommend coming here if you're looking for a wine tasting experience with a birdseye-like view of a beautiful estate. They also offer a food menu so this makes it a great option for a special lunch with friends.

You can view my short video of my entire visit from the drive up to the walk down the vineyards below. Just press the white triangle play button.

After my memorable tasting experience and visit at DAOU Family Estates, I've put them under my top 10 wine tasting rooms to visit in all of San Luis Obispo County and had to bump one of them down. See my current top 10 favorite wine tasting rooms in the county.

DAOU Family Estate Address: 2777 Hidden Mountain Rd., Paso Robles, CA 93446

Reading Suggestions:

• Read about other wineries that I've visited in Edna Valley and Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo County.


• See my top 10 favorite local wineries in Edna Valley and Paso Robles, as a local.


• Read my restaurant review about my dining experiences at Lure Fish Shop in San Luis Obispo.

We get visitors coming to visit us at least once a year and we'd take them wine tasting in our county and if there is a bottle that we all really like, we'd buy one to save for later at the house. It's really elevated our home parties, especially if we've all visited that very winery together. I've gotten really good at opening a bottle of wine with a regular wine cork opener but if you feel like being fancy, you can check out some wine cork bottle openers that doesn't require pulling strength.

As a San Luis Obispo County local, Clos Selene is one of my top 10 favorite wine tasting places in all of the county. It's romantic, intimate and every tasting that I had was so smooth. A tasting session here requires a reservation ahead of time and also a tasting deposit, which they charge immediately to hold your reservation. Then, on your reservation date, they will refund the deposit later on the day after you have arrived and just charge you for what you owe at the end of the tasting. It is quite a process but well worth it if you've been to many wineries before and want something extraordinary.

We booked a 10AM reservation a few days before to visit on a Friday morning right when they opened. Google Maps sent us to a wrong turn but we found the place after making a U-turn. We arrived at the gate about 13 minutes before our reservation time and the gate was locked. We used the gate box to talk to a personnel and they opened the gate for us. Here is a video with the opening of the Clos Selene gate, as well as, the estate views from our visit below:

As we drove past the pretty vineyards, we found a sign for 'Parking' and quickly saw a sign that marked the owner/winemaker's home and that the tasting room is to the right of it. We're glad we noticed that to make sure we didn't try to enter their private home. This is how the tasting section area looks like as we were walking from the parking lot area. Not all winemakers live on their own vineyards estate so this is very special. They are hands-on and close by.

Shortly after we've arrived, a few other cars arrived. We were surprised that two other parties also made a 10AM reservation!

As we stepped up to the host stand, we were alerted by the staff member that our attendant will come get us shortly and that we could sit on the bench or gray chairs right by the host stand and the umbrellas while we waited.

It was a short few minutes when our attendant got us. He led us to what I felt was the best seat in the house! They were nice outdoor couches with a phenomenal view!

It was the chilly morning so our attendant said he'd come back with fresh French bread, part of their service, and some blankets. Cuddling with my husband with blankets and a view of the vineyards on comfortable cushions were all so surprisingly romantic!

We were already wine club members to four other wineries in San Luis Obispo County, with two places that have a tasting room in Paso Robles as well. Since there are 300 wineries in San Luis Obispo County, we prefer to just go taste as many different places as we can instead of joining another membership. In the four year that I've lived here, I've only visited about 45 wine tasting rooms. That averages about once a month and at our pace, it would take a long, long time to even reach the first 100, even as a local.

However, for the wine connoisseur, I definitely recommend Clos Selene! As mentioned above, they are one of my top 10 favorites in San Luis Obispo County (includes Paso Robles and Edna Valley). See my top 10 wineries in San Luis Obispo and my thoughts about each of them in this rank post.

Reading Suggestions:

• See my top 10 favorite local wineries in Edna Valley and Paso Robles, as a local.


• Read about wine tasting rooms that I've visited in Avila Beach, a classy beach town in San Luis Obispo County.


• See pictures of beaches that I took in San Luis Obispo County, which includes Pismo Beach, Morro Bay, Grover Beach, Avila Beach, Shell Beach and Oceano.


• Read about Cambria, a quaint beach town in San Luis Obispo County that is famous for their annual mile long Christmas lights and Moonstone Beach.


• Read about my top favorite restaurants that I've visited all over San Luis Obispo County, as a local.


• See this IG reel of different wine tasting rooms that I've personally visited.

At the southern most end of San Luis Obispo County is a beach trail that goes over a lake called Oso Flaco Lake. It has a deck trail that is a mile long, easy to walk on and very scenic.

There isn't an exact address you can find to get here but if you Google: "Oso Flake Lake Trail", it will take you there to a parking lot where you can park for free and start your hike. It's about a mile long from beginning to the end where you end up with a beautiful view of the beach and ocean. It's about a healthy 2 miles total when you walk there and back.

When we hiked there, the beach was closed off to the public but you can still get a wonderful close view. Along the way, we saw bunnies, birds and the beautiful lake.

Above is the view of Oso Flaco Lake that I took while standing on a deck trail bridge. It was a really cloudy day and even sprinkled that morning and the reflection of the clouds in the lake was really gorgeous. As we were walking, we saw many helpful boards along the trail about the animals and plants we'd find along the way. There were benches scattered here and there along the way to sit and enjoy a packed snack or just take a break.

It was such a nice and relaxing walk and I look forward to coming back here on a sunny day. The gloomy day did not take away from the beauty of Oso Flaco Lake and the trail. I suggest wearing hiking or walking shoes and bring a bottle of water, just in case. There were portable restroom pods that you can use at the parking lot of Oso Flaco Lake Trail.

Related Reading Suggestions:

• See pictures that I've taken at our local beaches in San Luis Obispo County, including: Pismo Beach, Oceano, Grover Beach, Avila Beach, Morro Bay, San Simeon and more.


• Read my review about Pismo Preserve Trail in Pismo Beach

Ever since we've moved to San Luis Obispo County and my kids started elementary school, I've been able to go hiking every week to clear my mind. Even if the sun seems mild, it's good to have sunscreen, a pair of sunglasses and a sun hat to protect your skin. Going hiking or on a beach is a great way to improve your mood and get a bit of exercise.

Avila Beach is a very beautiful beach town in San Luis Obispo County with nice restaurants, shops and wine tasting places! As a local, we've visited the handful of wine tasing rooms and places that offer flights right there at Avila Beach. You can easily walk from the sand to any of these places for a wine break.

Even though they are all so close to each other. Please do not attempt to do a wine tasting flight at all five of these places on the list in one day! Some of these wines have really high alcohol content. I recommend just sticking to just one place a day or if you have high tolerance, max could be two places. Make sure you eat in between tasting places, if they don't serve food. There are plenty of restaurants nearby. 

Here's the list of Avila Beach Wine Tasting Options that I've Personally Visited:

• Alapay Cellars Tasting Room
  
  Alapay has probably the most spacious tasting room among this list in Avila Beach. You weirdly step down to get to the tasting room but once inside, you'll enjoy pretty murals and a roomy atmosphere. The service is really nice and personable. Address: 415 1st St, Avila Beach, CA 93424
• Sinor-LaVallee
  
  Sinor-LaVallee will probably be the first wine tasting room that you see if you're coming from the main road! It's a small tasting room but they offer fresh oysters where you can shuck them yourself. The tasting room has big windows and when we visited, there was only one attendant. We didn't make a reservation but I recommend making one ahead of time. Address: 550 1st St, Avila Beach, CA 93424
• Peloton Cellars
  
  Peloton Cellars has a unique theme with cycling decor all over the tasting room. I love their high ceiling. It's also a small tasting room like Sinor-LaVallee (listing above) but it's located a tad bit closer to the beach. Address: 470 Front St, Avila Beach, CA 93424
• PierFront Wine & Brew
  
  PierFront Wine & Brew is beachfront and has a lot of comfortable places to sit. It's a great place to come if you're planning on picking up local craft beer as well. They have a large selection of wine and beer. Address: 480 Front Street, Avila Beach, CA 93424
• Blue Moon Over Avila
  
  Blue Moon Over Avila is a French restaurant in Avila Beach and beachfront. Their food is excellent! It's pricey and best of all, they offer two different wine flights and one of them is Rhone varietals! The tasting price was very fair for the offer. You may be surprise to read this but it's my favorite wine tasting place in all of Avila Beach. We chose to sit at the bar inside and no one else sat there. All of the other patrons sat outside so it felt so nice and intimate. We ordered food with our wine and enjoyed our lunch there. We're locals and live in San Luis Obispo County but I always feel like a tourist when I dine here. Address: 460 Front St, Avila Beach, CA 93424
• Avila Wine & Roasting Co.
  Avila Wine & Roasting Co has a pretty entrance in the front but when I stepped inside, I felt like I was going to a wine storage room. The place has a lot of different wines for sale. They also have wine tasting flights that you can enjoy. There are a couple of tables inside but there are more tables outside, which a better option to enjoy the fresh air and corner view of the ocean. I would not come here to taste for ambiance. If you'd like to find a nicer dedicated wine tasting room, I recommend the first three (Sinor-LaValle, Peloton Cellars or Alapay Cellars Tasting room) on this list at the top. However, if you're looking for a very specific bottle of California wine, it's definitely the right place for it. Address: 53 San Miguel St, Avila Beach, CA 93424

You can view a quick video of my visits at 5 different places to taste wine in Avila Beach in my Youtube Short Video below:

Reading Suggestions:

• I've visited over 4 dozens wine tasting rooms in all of San Luis Obispo County, as a local. See my top 10 favorite wine tasting rooms in all of San Luis Obispo County.


• See my pictures that I took at Port San Luis Obispo Pier, also known as Harford Pier, in Avila Beach. It is the only pier of the three that exists in Avila Beach that you can currently walk on.


• See pictures of all the beaches in San Luis Obispo County that I took over the years. Avila Beach is part of San Luis Obispo County.

Ever since we've moved to San Luis Obispo County, we've been more active with hiking, wine tasting, walking on the beach and going to the many parks. Even if the sun seems mild, it's good to have sunscreen, a pair of sunglasses and a sun hat to protect your skin. Being active outdoors is a great way to improve your mood and get a bit of exercise.

As a transplant and not having any family around, we've attempted to find a babysitter before for date nights. When the kids were babies and toddlers, we were lucky if we had a date once or twice a year! As they've gotten older, it's been much easier and more fun for our kids to use local organizations for Kids Night Out or Parents Night Out as a chance to have a date night. Here are some options in San Luis Obispo County:

1. Central Coast Gymnastics - Every month, Central Coast Gymnastics in San Luis Obispo has a Kids Night Out for one evening. They have the schedule up on their website: https://www.iflipforccg.com/kno.
   
   You get a discount if the kids are members and are already taking classes there. However, non-members can also participate as well. My kids have gone there for Kids Night Out and they'd have a lot of fun. Pizza is included. They separate the children into little kids and big kids groups. Address: 21 Zaca Lane, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
2. Pacific Flips Gymnastics - Every once in awhile, Pacific Flips Gymnastics in Grover Beach hosts a Pajamanastics for a weekend evening. They get to wear their pajamas and have fun jumping and moving around. It's a pretty good deal and siblings get a discount. You drop them off, they have fun with other kids and pizza is included.
   
   Their location is a couple of miles from restaurants in Grover Beach and Pismo Beach so it's a great place to drop the kids off to dine in the Grover Beach and Pismo Beach areas. They typically announce the next Pajamanastics event date to those who have already signed up for their newsletter or are a member, but you can read more details about Pajamastics on their website: http://www.pacificflips.net/pajamanastics.html Address: 998 Huston St. Suite E, Grover Beach, CA 93433
3. Legacy Training Center in San Luis Obispo has monthly Parents Night Out events that has a schedule for the rest of the year. Members and non-members can sign their kids up for this. The kids have to be between 4 - 17 years old. Here's their schedule: https://www.legacygymnastics-slo.com/parties-special-events/special-events/ Address: 4725 Allene Way, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
4. The SLO YMCA hosts Kids Night Out events throughout the year and offers a member price and non-member price. This is for ages 3 - 11 years old. If they have an event coming up, they will list it here among other YMCA centers nearby that are also hosting a Kids Night Out: https://channel.recliquecore.com/programs/1269/kid-s-night-out
5. Hop's Bounce House in Atascadero hosts a monthly Hop-N-Glow night with a drop off option but it's less than 3 hours so you might want to consider going somewhere else if you're hoping for a longer duration like one of the gymnastics places. They typically just post their next Hop-N-Glow night dates on their Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hopsbouncehouse. Address: 5805 El Camino Real Suite A Atascadero CA, 93422
6. Local Churches - Local Churches would occasionally have Kids Night Out or Parents Night Out events. Sometimes they don't promote it on social media so you'd have to ask one of the leaders.
7. City of Morro Bay - The City of Morro Bay Recreation Services is active and would plan events and also Kids' Night Out as well. The next one coming up is posted on their City of Morro Bay Recreation Services Facebook page for ages 3 years old through 12 years old. You have to register ahead of time to pay only $25 per child. If you walk in, it would be $40. It includes dinner, craft games and child care. They seem to do amazing themes.
8. Paso Robles Sports Club - In the past, Paso Robles Sports Club would have Kids Night Out. I'm not sure if it's member's only but if you're already a member there, you could get notifications of their upcoming events. Address: 2975 Union Road, Paso Robles, CA 93446
9. Avila Bay Athletic Club - Avila Bay Athletic Club has a Kids Night Out every once in a while where members can take advantage of. They are one of the rare fitness centers around San Luis Obispo County that has a child care option for kids while parents are working out, year round! For non-members, there is also a higher rate if they would like to take advantage of the Kids Night Out there. They would post it on their Facebook if there is one coming up.