Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/237615
Brothers Daniel and Georges Daou of DAOU Vineyards & Winery were instrumental in founding the Paso Robles CAB Collective. Geoff Pattison, Director of Imports and Central Coast Buyer for Wally's Wine & Spirits, discusses the Vina Robles wines with Vice President of Sales Marc Laderriere. "Bucking Broncos" One winery that takes advantage of Paso's diurnal temperature variance is Ancient Peaks, which showed its 2010 Oyster Ridge blend, with grapes sourced primarily from its Margarita Vineyard, the southernmost vineyard in the AVA. "It can be 95 degrees during the day and 50 degrees at night," explains Ancient Peaks co-owner Doug Filipponi. "We cool off quicker and warm up slower, which translates into about one month extra hang time for our grapes to fully ripen. The result is a lower-alcohol wine with great color and structure." "While other areas need to be careful, we can afford to be more reckless," says Jason Joyce, Winemaker at Calcareous Vineyard, who presented his 2010 Lloyd of Calcareous, an estategrown Bordeaux blend. "With the warm weather and climate changes, we want to extract as much from the fruit as we can. We're not afraid of youth! In our region, things are meant to be bigger." While soaring summer temperatures have raised questions among trade in the past, Paso Robles winemakers have allayed doubts with their exceptional offerings in recent years. "We always thought Paso was too hot, but it's not," admits Jonathan Mitchell, General Manager of West restaurant at L.A.'s Hotel Angeleno. "These Paso Cabs are balanced and show the potential of what you can do with this bucking bronco of a grape." Paso's unique range of diverse soils contributes to the high quality. "You need to have the right soil for ideal minerality—it's either there or it's not," explains Daniel Daou, proprietor "We work hard to truly understand our vineyards and be able to work with the grapes and the soil," recounts Don Brady, Winemaker and Director at Robert Hall Winery. They certainly succeed in their 2011 Robert Hall Meritage. "Notes of crushed red raspberry, cherries and tobacco with a big juicy finish," says Jonathan Mitchell. "One of my favorite wines of the day!" A pioneer in the region, Michael Mooney, founder and winemaker at Chateau Margene, has been planting Bordeaux varieties since 1997. Anthony Dias Blue's notes on Chateau Margene's 2010 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon: "Tangy and delicate; racy with plum, berry fruit, chocolate and spice; long and meaty." and winemaker at DAOU Vineyards & Winery, a founding member of the CAB Collective. "Our vineyard is at the highest elevation in Paso with calcareous clay, the same soil we see in Bordeaux and some of France's finest vineyards," reports Daou of his 2010 estate blend Soul of a Lion. "With the soil's natural acidity and minerality, Paso winemakers have a keen ability to achieve ripeness every year without having to adulterate the wine." Paso's iconic rolling hills do more than just paint a romanticized backdrop. "We are in some of the most hilly terrain in the region," says David Michael Keith, Enologist for ADELAIDA Cellars," which allows us to capture the essence of mountain fruit," says Keith, who decided to showcase 86 / the tasting panel / january 2014 TP0114_66-108.indd 86 12/19/13 9:47 PM