6000 Mile EV Road Trip - Stay 28
Los Olivos, California | August 5 – 6, 2024
Written by John Martinson
The 298-mile drive from Berkeley to Los Olivos included a stop in Templeton, California, for a wine tasting at Turley Cellars’ Paso Robles Tasting Room. The drive took a little over 6 hours. We left Tesla caches at the Salinas and King City Superchargers.
At Turley, long a favorite wine of ours, we sampled about 6 wines and bought 2 cases for the ride home (a substantial savings) that still included another 3 overnight stays and a long ride across the desert in hundred plus degree temperatures, not to the mention the 3 Supercharger stops between Los Olivos and Scottsdale. To protect the wine, one must keep the cases cool 24/7.
We arrived at the Inn at Mattei’s Tavern, an Auberge Resort in Los Olivos, for a one-night stay. Suzanne and I have stayed at two other Auberge Resorts over the course of our years together (Auberge du Soleil in Napa Valley and Hotel Jerome in Aspen). They never disappoint and the Inn at Mattei’s Tavern was no exception. The Inn has 11 Level 2 (NACS) Tesla destination chargers for guests, allowing us to pick a free 45 kWh. The Inn also kept our two cases of Turley cool overnight, which they do other guests as well.
Accommodations were very comfortable and exemplary of the surrounding countryside, with beautiful and thoughtful details in our suite and throughout the property. Our evening meal was amazing! (We recommend the crispy cauliflower, BBQ sweet potatoes, parmesan gnocchi, maple carrots, chili broccolini and the delectable butter cake with chocolate sauce and a scoop of ice cream.) The landscape is expressive of the area foothills—mostly wineries, olive, and horse farms. The nearby village, a short walk from the Inn, includes winery tasting rooms, galleries, boutiques, cafes, bakeries, small restaurants, a salon, a couple of spas, and a small grocery.
Los Olivos is in California’s Santa Ynez Valley in the beautiful Santa Barbara wine country, 130 miles north of Los Angeles.
Def a place to return to for a longer stay…
