There is a new wine movement taking
place in Central California. The
movement is to designate Paso Robles, California as the most promising region
in the world for producing Cabernet Sauvignon.
It is a rather bold initiative that was founded in the last
two years leading to the formation of the Cab Collective, a group of Paso Robles wineries that is focusing on small
production, elite Cabernets.
Paso Robles is located almost midway between Los Angeles and
San Francisco.
The Cabs of
Distinction four-day event invited media, sommeliers, and consumers to Paso
Robles April 23-26 for several days of tastings, winery visits, and discussion
about why Paso Robles should be recognized as one of the leading terroirs for
Bordeaux style wines.
The Paso Robles Inn hosted several wine tastings
The Paso Robles AVA (Agriculture Viticulture Area) is 617,000
acres, which is larger than Napa and Sonoma County combined. 26,000 vineyard acres are planted so there
is room for major expansion as long as it rains every couple years. Winemakers are hoping that the forecast for El
Nino rains will hold true in 2015 following a well documented drought.
Wineries took their first steps into Cabernet in the 1960s
and 1970s in Paso Robles. Cabernet Sauvignon remains the leading variety for the Paso Robles
appellation, accounting for 38 percent of the regions planted wine grape
acreage. Wineries from Temecula,
California to Texas continue to source the region for grapes and juice to
produce their own wines.
However, the Cab
Collective members are changing the focus from crop farming of vineyards to
more controlled viticulture practices.
“We discovered through sampling over several years we could control
quality,” says Michael Mooney, owner and winemaker at Chateau Margene. As a fifth generation Californian, Mooney
settled on his vineyard property in 1997 and is continuing to discover the
potential of the region for higher-end Cab production. “We are hyper vigilant in our process,” said
Mooney.
Barrel, New Release & Library tastings were offered to guests
David Parish, owner and winemaker at Parrish Family Vineyardsin Paso Robles worked for 20 years with Robert Mondavi planting vineyards in Napa Valley. He chose to establish his own winery in Paso
Robles based upon the conditions he feels are most important for growing wine
grapes. Parish says the region offers an
ideal climate. “I feel Paso Robles is
like the Goldilocks area. It’s not too
hot and it’s not too cold,” says Parish.
He also sights other contributing factors that are highly favorable to
growing Cabernet Sauvignon related to water, soil, and the abundance of
south/southwest facing slopes.
At the forefront of this movement is Daniel Daou, proprietor
and winemaker at the relatively new DAOU Vineyards & Winery. He came to Paso Robles with a colorful life
history. He carries a scar of from a war
injury in his youth in Lebanon. He and
his brother, Georges grew up in France.
They came to San Diego for their college education. As an engineer he and his brother founded a
successful high tech company that went public.
This business success staked him to pursue a lifelong dream, to become a
farmer and winemaker. Daou Winery was
founded on the highest elevation in the region (2200 feet) and the beautifully
designed tasting room has quickly become well known for its magnificent vistas
of the Paso Robles wine region.
Daniel Daou, of DAOU Vineyards and Winery
The brothers were looking for a vineyard location that was
reminiscent of where they grew up in France.
They also came in search of the right kind of soils for producing high
end wine. When they came to Paso Robles
they found a new home. “It was love at
first sight,” said Daou.
Daou feels Paso Robles began a transformation 7 years ago
that was similar to a great revolution that occurred in Napa in the 1990’s. Like Napa, Paso winemakers began to
transition to a Bordeaux style planting. They also began to source higher end
clones.
“What we are doing now in Paso is we are starting to tap
into the potential of what this terroir can do,” said Daou. He says that Paso Robles is just beginning to
recognize that it is a wine region where great things can happen. “It’s like we had a Ferrari that we were
driving at 50 miles per hour. Today, we
are actually thinking it can go 200 miles per hour,” he said. With a greater focus on quality he feels
that winemakers in the region are starting to “put the pedal to the metal” with
high performance results from many wineries.
Paso Robles Cabs also have a characteristic which is not
found in some of the old world wine regions.
The wines are accessible to the marketplace at a young age. Consumers don’t have to wait 10-15 years for
the wines to offer splendid results.
Daou is now producing Cabs that are aged 24 months in French Oak barrels. His two-year old Cabs were sold out in two
weeks for $100 per bottle directly through the tasting room, without the
exercise of garnering high wine scores.
“Paso is able to achieve the correct ripeness almost year to
year. So what you are tasting in Paso as
a ripe wine is more reminiscent of a 1982 Bordeaux,” says Daou.
Paso Robles
has long been recognized as an excellent point of origin for wines from
California. Winemakers such as Jerry
Lohr at J. Lohr Vineyards & Wine, Gary Eberle at Eberle Wineryand Doug
Beckett at Peachy Canyon have had their hands in the dirt in Paso Robles for several
decades before the Cab Collective was
declared a legitimate designation. All
three of these heritage wineries from the region have signed on as members of
the Cab Collective.
Cynthia Lohr of J. Lohr Vineyards and Wine spoke to invited guests at the VIP BBQ
As the wine
industry has flourished in Paso Robles in the past ten years, emerging
winemakers are hoping to elevate the region’s reputation when it comes to
Cabernet Sauvignon. “In the past, Paso
Robles wineries were shy about selling a higher end bottle of cabernet,” said
Daou. Cab Collective members believe their wines can stand up with other
regions that have a larger and more long-standing reputation.
Bottles
showcased at the Cabs of Distinction
event included the 2012 Cask 4 from Chateau Margene ($75), 2010 Cab from
Parrish Family Vineyards ($50), 2010 Ancestor from Halter Ranch Vineyard($50),
and 2010 Soul of a Lion from DAOU ($100).
Most of what
you find in Paso Robles is small, family owned wineries. These are boutique wineries are successful in
their own right. J. Lohr is the biggest
brand with distribution throughout North America and globally. Without a major city nearby, the fan base for
Paso Robles is primarily in Central California. The Cab
Collective hopes to expand its visibility and popularity through the
massive southern California markets of Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego
counties. The town offers visitors a
quiet, rural, farm-to-table culture that is showing signs of growth with new
and expanding hotel options.
The newly renovated Justin Vineyards hosted VIP guests
Cabernet
Sauvignon is now the most popular red wine varietal in America, slightly ahead
of Merlot. Members of the Cab Collective
such as Daniel Parrish hope that consumers will focus their attention on Cabs
from Paso Robles regardless of the price point.
“Taste the wines. Evaluate for
yourself,” said Parrish.
