Early spring events in California can come with a weather risk of rain or cold, but Sunday’s outing at Mystic HIlls Winery near Paso Robles could not have been a more perfect day. Our caravan of classics led by Darrell Radford’s ’41 Continental grand dame, three trusty Mark VIIs, Jeff Sines’ gorgeous Mark II, and Shari Ten Eyck’s flashy 1993 Cadillac Allante convertible plus modern vehicles began the fun with a scenic drive from our staging locale at Starbuck’s, Paso Robles, through the Central Coast wine country to Mystic HIlls.
After a brief meet and greet and some enjoyable tire kicking, our hosts Judy and Joel Cox and friends got the wine tasting off and running. Their causal and infectious hospitality set the tone for a fabulous afternoon well worth the long drive to and from for many of us.
Ebullient Judy bounced from table to table as Joel, who has a Hollywood production background, regaled us with stories of his long association with icons Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman and others, while reciting the history of his Mystic HIlls Winery, his ongoing love of vintage cars and trucks and the wines we were enjoying.
The joyous atmosphere was contagious as generous pours of three Mystic HIlls red wines—2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2020 Gran Trio red wine mix, and 2020 Unforgiven, another custom red wine blend—continued throughout our gourmet sandwich lunch experience. It was hard not to take bottles home, and many of us did. Some of the hosts’ homemade cookies added an extra sweet touch to the meal.
A post-taste highlight for many of us was viewing Joel’s numerous film industry honors including his 1993 academy award for film editing received for the Clint Eastwood classic Unforgiven, In this epic the outlaws were heroes who avenged a savage and unjust murder. Also starring were Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman and Richard Harris.
It may not be surprising if you are not familiar with Mystic Hill wines, as they are only available at the winery or through their popular wine club, which has increased quickly from 50 to more than 700 members and keeps growing. Several of our group joined the club and were given an extra reward by posing with Joel and his Oscar.
Joel explained that his association with Eastwood goes back decades and Clint helped him acquire the winery’s work truck, a rare Chevy longbed he bought from open bidding on Ebay.
The rollicking atmosphere, good food and wine and the ability to connect with LCOC members and friends, made our Mystic HIlls visit and wine tasting a memorable early spring experience. Our special thanks to trip leaders Scott Balanda and David Meagher and our winery hosts for making it all happen.
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