Kelly Jordan of the Smoke Rise area of Stone Mountain recently asked about re-creating a Napa Valley trip she took some 20 years ago, when she was barely out of college.

She recalled tasting deliciously unique wines, meeting winemakers and learning a lot about wine while soaking in the beauty of this pastoral California valley.

My suggestion to her, if she truly wanted a replay of that journey, was to consider another wine region.

"Napa ain't what it used to be," I told her as we watched our Smoke Rise Sharks Dive Team take on the Gators of Dunwoody's Branches community. (We lost.) "Don't get me wrong. It's still a slice of heaven on earth. And there still is plenty of wine . . . more, in fact. But there are also balloon rides, destination dining, cooking schools, tour buses, limousine tours, gift shops, a dining train, $1,200-a-day spas featuring the curative powers of grape pomace wraps and more tour buses."

There is winemaking going on in the 30-mile valley (300-plus wineries), but much of it is made in such small quantities that it remains off-limits to regular folks. Wineries have sprung up, but they have more in common with Persian palaces and seem to have taken their focus off what's going in the bottle. And the warm, unique and interesting destinations that remain (such as Provenance and Miner Family) can be frustratingly inaccessible because of traffic.

A little over a year ago, I visited Paso Robles, the picturesque town and wine region 250 miles south of Napa. I rolled out of my $95-per-night room at the Paso Robles Inn at 8 a.m., ate my corned beef hash and eggs at the inn's coffee shop and made it to my appointment at Peachy Canyon (about 5 miles away) by 9.

At 11:15 a.m. I rolled into Justin Vineyards to meet owners Justin and Deborah Baldwin. Justin's wines, including its flagship Isosceles red wine, are every bit as good as many of the Napa stars (and almost as expensive). But in Paso, you'll have the chance to actually get a taste of it before you plunk down $60 for a bottle. And if Paso Robles has a destination dining spot, Justin's Deborah's Room might be it. The six-table restaurant features locally grown produce cooked with American, French and Asian inspirations. There is no restaurant like Napa's French Laundry in Paso Robles, but then again, you don't have to make reservations months in advance either.

And of course, it's always nice to meet the proprietors when you visit a winery —- not always possible in Napa Valley because many winery owners live in San Francisco, Chicago or much farther afield. Justin and Deborah live at the winery and actively manage the operation.

Finding interesting storylines among the 80 or so wineries in Paso is not too hard. Take Tablas Creek Vineyard, a joint project of France's Chateau Beaucastel and importer Robert Haas. They took thousands of cuttings from the famed Rhone Valley winery in 1990 and waited three years before planting them. Why? The U.S. Department of Agriculture mandates that vines be quarantined before going into the soil. Rather than using similar varietals from domestic sources, they waited for what they believe are superior grapes. They now run one of the more highly esteemed nurseries in the California wine industry.

Robert Hall Winery planted obscure Portuguese vines to closely replicate the inky dessert wines of Porto, not for any sound business reason but because the boss, Robert Hall, loves Port-style wines. Since these Port-style wines are available only at the winery —- and they are among the best American-made wines of their kind —- this may be reason enough to visit Paso Robles. Of course, you can order them online, too.

Then there's the painstaking restoration of York Mountain Winery by David and Mary Weyrich, owners of Martin & Weyrich Winery. Founded in 1882, York Mountain is one of the country's oldest and and most historic wineries. Sitting on a ridge on the western side of Paso nearly overlooking the Pacific Ocean, it is a tiny wine region unto itself, one of the smallest in California.

In early July, as I tasted a couple of dozen cabernet sauvignon-based wines from Paso Robles, these fond memories of my visit washed over me. The quality of the wines seems to be on the rise, certainly as good as they were two years ago when I did my last blind tasting, but I wondered if this is what Napa once was.

Paso remains the farming community that all great winemaking regions have at their core. As wine areas grow up and gain fame, they can stray from their center, as is the case in places like Napa Valley.

Before we packed our folding chairs, I told Kelly, "If tasting wine, meeting winemakers and taking in the landscape are Nos. 1, 2 and 3 on your wine country touring list, then head south, young lady."

Gil Kulers, a certified wine educator with the Society of Wine Educators, teaches in-home wine classes. You can reach him at gil.kulers@winekulers.com.

WINE RECOMMENDATIONS

2005 Peachy Canyon Cirque du Vin, Paso Robles, Calif.

$20

Two thumbs up

Intense aromas of black cherry, smoke and minerals. Big flavors of plum, blueberry and blackberry, which softened several hours after the bottle was opened.

2005 Paso Creek Cabernet Sauvignon, Paso Robles, Calif.

$18

Two thumbs up

Pleasant, smoky, Tootsie Roll aromas were followed by round, rich flavors of black cherry, cinnamon and cola. A velvety wine that I found hard not to gulp but that still offered interesting complexity.

2003 Norman Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Paso Robles, Calif.

$36

Two thumbs up

Lots of smoky, mineral aromas with ample rich red and dark berry, too. Smooth as silk, especially for a big wine. It bursts with dark berry, dry cherry, plum and cola flavors. High in alcohol (14.7 percent), but you don't taste it.

2004 Justin Vineyards Isosceles, Paso Robles, Calif.

$60

Two thumbs way up

Aromas of rich black cherry, with notes of nutmeg and cinnamon. An ever-changing wine as it opened up. Rich blackberry flavors, with a touch of leather at first. It evolved into a chocolaty, earthy, spice-laden complex wine after a couple of hours.

Note: Wines are rated on a scale ranging from thumbs down, one thumb mostly up, one thumb up, two thumbs up, two thumbs way up and golden thumb award. These are suggested retail prices as provided by the winery, one of its agents or a local distributor.