Not Napa

Napa Valley is John Tesh’s “Live at Red Rocks.” It’s mesclum salads, Range Rovers and trapshooting. Paso Robles is Merle Haggard’s “It’s Not Love (But It’s Not Bad).” It’s tri-tip sandwiches, Dodge Ram trucks and wild boar hunts. You go to Napa for the spa treatments. You go to Paso Robles for the annual rodeo. In both cases, you also go for the wine.

Adelaida Cellars vintner John Munch claims, “We’re more of an ‘ah-shucks’ type of place than Napa,” adding that while the atmosphere in the Central Coast wine country may be low key, “the quality of our wines is very, very high.”

The explosion of vineyards in the oak-studded hills around Paso Robles in the past five years suggests that Munch has a point. The area, 30 miles north of San Luis Obispo, now has 36 wineries--almost half of which have opened since 1993. But lodging in the area has not multiplied as fast as tasting rooms. Pickings are slim. An exception is the Arbor Inn, a stylish nine-room B&B; overlooking 80 acres of cabernet sauvignon grapes cultivated by the Treana winery, whose owners, Chuck and Marlyn Hope, also run the countrified inn. Breakfast is catered by Ian McPhee, whose Main Street restaurant serves the best food in town. He also provides appetizers--ahi in wasabi sauce, duck quesadillas--for the complimentary afternoon cocktail hour of, what else, Treana wines. Rates: $125 to $235 per night. Reservations: (805) 227-4673.