Page 95 - SLO Visitor's Guide - Winter 2023

Wine Tasting
Become part of the legend at Chronic Cellars of Paso Robles
The edgy and artistic winery keeps the wine flowing
Chronic Cellars, named for the “chronic” good grapes that make their wine, is known for its
award-winning wines and eccentric branding. Chronic Cellars’ artistic, colorful labels and quirky names “Dead Nuts,” “Sofa King Bueno,” “Purple Paradise” and “Spritz & Giggles” make the wines easy to spot.
Don’t be fooled by the light- hearted packaging. Chronic Cellars wines truly are award-winning. The few just mentioned: Chronic Cel- lars Sir Real Cabernet Sauvignon 2020; Chronic Cellars Suite Petite Petite Sirah 2020; Chronic Cellars Purple Paradise Red Blend 2020 and Chronic Cellars Space Doubt Zinfandel 2020 all received their most recent medals at the 2022 Decanter World Wine Awards.
The winery partners with some of the best grape growers in Paso Robles to build an epic network that allows Winemaker, Kip Loren- zetti, to select just the right grapes he wants for all Chronic Cellar’s custom blends. The area, is known for its rustic zinfandel, and the cool nights and warm days make grapes very happy! Dynamic fruit tones
of strawberry, cranberry, black raspberry and mulberry fuse with alluring vanilla and clove, all of which can be discerned in Chronic Cellar wines.
Winemaker Kip Lorenzetti joined the Chronic Cellars team in 2020 bringing his decade-long winemaking career and expertise for blending wines to creating the unique Chronic Cellars blends. He kicked off his passion for wine with a hands-on experience in the cellar at Orcutt Cellars in San Luis Obispo, working with vineyards from the famed Edna Valley AVA. He honed his craft even further
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as the assistant winemaker at Terravant Wine Company (now Summerland Wine Brands), work- ing with some of the best vineyards from across California’s top wine regions. Most recently, Kip was the winemaker for Wild Horse Winery & Vineyards, where he guided
the winery’s extra quaffable wine program that included Burgundy, Bordeaux and Rhone varietals. Lorenzetti’s undeniable passion for winemaking injects his skill and sense of adventure into guiding the future of Chronic Cellar’s high- personality wines.
Chronic Cellars recently intro- duced an augmented reality (AR) experience for fans to roll the dice with Purple Paradise. Scan the QR code on a bottle of Chronic Cellars Purple Paradise and let the games begin.
“The playful tongue-in-cheek nature of the Chronic Cellars brand provided the foundation of Purple’s performance, mannerisms, voice, and the over-under dice game chal- lenge, and allowed Purple Paradise to be as engaging of a character as the wine he represents,” said Patrick Johnson, CEO of Rock Paper Reality, the agency behind the AR experience.
“Our characters and labels are so beloved by consumers, we
thought this would be a win/win to engage with them,” says Patrick
Cramb, director of marketing for Chronic Cellars, WX Brands. “We
CELEBRATING OUR 28TH ANNIVERSARY Established Mom & Pop Winery!
• Multi-Year Zinfandel & Barbera Tasting
• Private Label Artisan Condiments I • Wine Country Art, Books & Carved Gourds
• Oliveto Olive Oil Pouring and Sales
• Gems, Minerals, Fossils and Jewelry
Winery Tasting & Vineyard Tours most Sundays from 11am-5pm and by appointment.
7340 Drake Road, Paso Robles (805) 467-2138
N
24th St.
Open Sundays 11am-5pm
Join our Wine Club for a 20% Discount!
WINTER 2023 95
Drake
Mahoney
HWY 101
Nacimiento Lake Dr.
San Marcos Rd.