If you are traveling up or down the California Central Coast and enjoy wine, you won’t want to miss the Hearst Ranch Winery in San Simeon.The winery is located across from the Hearst Castle on the ocean side of Highway 1. The wines are delicious, and the view is lovely.

We were up in Cambria last week and enjoyed spectacular weather. We made a reservation for the patio on a day the food truck was present. (Thursdays through Monday 11 a.m.-3 p.m.) It was a perfect afternoon at a perfect place. We sat outside under a blue umbrella, gazed at the ocean as the waves lapped up on the beach, viewed the pier, and already felt relaxed as we started our wine tasting experience.

We decided on the Legacy Tasting which consisted of the 2021 Three Sisters White Cuvee, a 2020 Bunkhouse Cabernet Sauvignon, a 2020 Lone Tree Cabernet Franc and a 2020 Pergola Petite Sirah. My husband wanted to taste one wine not on the list and our wine server graciously poured him The Glacier Ridge Chardonnay. The pours were generous. Our wine server was cordial and knowledgeable. We wound up purchasing a bottle of the Glacier Ridge Chardonnay, two bottles of the White Cuvee’, and a bottle of the Cabernet Sauvignon, which I especially liked. There is a $25 dollar per person-tasting fee. If you buy two bottles per wine tasting person, the fee is waived.

We had a nondrinking adult with us and, of course, there was no charge. No dogs or persons under the age of 21 are permitted in Wine Club Lounge.

The Cruiser Food Truck choices were delicious. We shared the San Simeon Shrimp Roll, the Three-Seared Ahi Street Tacos, and the Grilled Tri-Tip Sandwich. The orders came with a choice of sea salt kettle chips or broccoli salad. My favorite was the Seared Ahi Street Tacos but they all were very good. On the days that the food truck isn’t present, you can pack your own picnic or purchase some goodies at the winery.

If the weather is cool or a little windy it would be a good idea to bring a jacket and perhaps a blanket. The view of the ocean is too nice to miss unless the weather isn’t very good. The inside tasting room is very attractive and there are lots of gifts and also wine related items to buy. It’s fun to look at everything.

If you really wanted to make a day of San Simeon, you could take a tour of the Hearst Castle which is just across the street. Tickets required. Or you could head up the road a piece and take a look at the huge funny looking and often very loud elephant seals. It’s very entertaining to watch them swim, lumber across the sand, and maybe see the alpha males engaged in a tussle with one another. Most days there is a docent there who will tell you all about them.

What I liked about this wine-tasting experience:

We didn’t have to drive more than ten minutes from our hotel on Moonstone Beach to Hearst Ranch Winery. We wanted to spend as little time in the car as possible and did not want to take the ride to Paso Robles as we often do to have a major wine tasting. That wasn’t our plan for that day. A car ride to the nearest winery there would have been about 40 minutes.

The wines were all very good and the wine associate serving us was excellent.

I like having a specific reservation. No waiting or jockeying for a table or position at the bar. When you make the reservation include all people who will be sitting with you whether they are wine-tasting or not so the host knows how many seats to reserve for you.

The fee for the wine tasting was reasonable. $25.00 wine per person was waived with the purchase of two bottles of wine per person. We did wind up buying four bottles of wine.

The food truck options were yummy.

The view was spectacular.