Wildflowers and Wine

Enjoy the Wild Flowers on a Wine Wrangler Tour

All along the Central Coast of California, wildflowers are in full bloom. The explosion of color is due in part to a series of late season storms. Set against a backdrop of velvety green hills, the riot of flowers is a feast for the eyes—and the senses. It’s almost impossible to drive along the main roads—let alone the back roads—and keep focused on driving.

So, don’t—call us and combine one of our wine tours with some wonderfully visual wildflower viewing. Actually, enjoying the scenic landscape of the beautiful Paso Robles wine region is always included in our tours, but with the wildflowers in full bloom, we couldn’t think of a better reason or time to enjoy a wine tour while taking in the colorful sights of spring.

This is the time of the year when our state flower, the California poppy paints the landscape with a vibrant orange tapestry, and while most people can easily recognize it when they see it, there are several other common wildflowers native to our area that they may not recognize.

Keep your eyes peeled for these 3 common wildflowers:

•  Sweet Fennel: Yes, the same fennel that gives Italian sausage an anise, or licorice, flavoring, grows wild throughout the Central Coast and California. Sweet Fennel has feathery fronds and yellow flowers and grows in tall clumps. 
• Shooting Stars: These flowers are easily recognized by their star-shaped blooms and bright red flowers.
• Lupine: Vibrant hues of purple, these slender flowers (they look like a cross between hyacinth and lavender) also have an intense fragrance that depending on your sense of smell, can be either pleasurably intoxicating, or repulsive. No matter, they’re beautiful and add depth to the tapestry of wildflowers.

The wildflowers are seasonal eye-candy and well-worth enjoying, but we think you’ll enjoy them more when you combine a bit of sight-seeing with one of our wine tours, because, well, we think good Paso Robles wines go best with our scenery.