KCBX Wine Tasting On Sunday August 23,1983

How Many Wineries Were There in 1983 in SLO County?

In the early 1980s wineries began to partner with nonprofit organizations to support fundraising events. These partnerships not only strengthened those non-profits providing radio and musical events such as KCBX Public Radio and the Mozart (now Mosaic) Festival, they began new partnerships to raise funds for the Visual Arts, the Children’s Museum, and social needs.

On August 21, 1983, Citicorp Savings sponsored a special event, KCBX Wine Tasting, at the San Luis Bay Inn in Avila Beach, known for fine food and wines. Larry Shupnick, manager of the San Luis Bay Inn, was well known for his love of fine food and wine. Most important to our local history, Larry was committed to culinary and wine education for the wine industry and the general public. He became the most famous gourmet and wine collector on the Central Coast by the 1980s.

Larry founded the San Luis Bay Food and Wine Society in 1976 to educate local winemakers and growers. He opened  the local chapter of the Confrérie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs in the same year.

Most interesting, however, is the list of local wineries and growers from San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties who participated in the first major KCBX Wine Tasting. In many of the articles written about the early 1980s, it is often mentioned that only 4 or 5 wineries existed in our county. There were many more. The first Paso Robles Wine Festival also opened in 1983. You will find this article posted on our website. You will be surprised at the number of wineries that supported this initial event.

There were 28 growers and winemakers who poured their wines at this event. Let me introduce you to the list of 15 SLO winemakers who poured their wines on August 23, 1983. The majority of the other 13 were located in Santa Barbara County. Their names are listed below with the wines they poured at the event. At the time, Zinfandel, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon were the most popular. But do note that at the time, Sauvignon Blanc was rising dramatically in popularity and White Zinfandel was becoming a novelty. A new tradition was introduced at the San Luis Bay Inn.

San Luis Obispo County Winemakers

Tobias Vineyards (Templeton)

Zinfandel
Petite Sirah

Watson Vineyards

Johannisberg Riesling 

York Mountain Winery (Templeton)

Chardonnay
Cabernet Sauvignon
Merlot

Please Note: Prior to 1980, many of the winemakers who started in their garages in Southern California with grapes purchased annually in San Luis Obispo County from Benito Dusi or Mel Casteel decided to purchase land in the Templeton area and plant their own vineyards. They often planted Zinfandel and gradually added new varieties over the decade. This group of winemakers were a very close community and shared their wines, knowledge, labor and equipment with one another.