Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/688647
{ SOMMjournal.com } 113 Vineyards at Eberle Winery, Paso Robles, CA. Director of Winemaking Mike Sinor shows off a giant ancient oyster shell as part of the terroir of Ancient Peaks Winery in the Santa Margarita Ranch AVA of Paso Robles. PHOTO: JESSIE BIRSCHBACH THE WINE WORLD IS TAKING NOTICE OF THE BORDEAUX- style gems coming out of Paso Robles, on California's Central Coast. The bold, complex and cellar-worthy wines from this vast region—26,000 acres of vines, 55 percent of which are Bordeaux grapes—are being showered with praise and top scores. Paso's slow and steady upstaging of Napa as the premier producer of great California Cab shouldn't come as a shock. The uber-dry region, located about three hours south of San Francisco, has hot sunny days and cool, foggy nights, thanks to its elevation and proximity to the Pacific. It also has diverse wine-ready soils, mountain slopes and a seemingly endless influx of world-class winemaking talent. But there's another key reason Paso Cabs are gaining ground on Napa, and even on Bordeaux itself: The region never had to conform to the any particular style; there is no template to follow in Paso. Instead, the winemakers here are free to make wine the way it's sup - posed to be made—shining a spotlight on the region's unique and seductive terroir. In other words, in Paso, winemakers let the grapes guide what goes into the bottle. And you can taste this purity of style in every sip. While there are hundreds of must-try wineries and vineyards in Paso, the members of the Paso Robles CAB (Cabernet & Bordeaux) Collective are the proverbial spear point, and are helping further solidify the region's reputation with sommeliers, buyers and drinkers as a hotbed of premiere producers in the making. The group's marquee event, the CABs of Distinction held April 12–14, made for the perfect destination for The Somm Journal's spring SOMM Camp. The SOMM Camp included extensive boots-in-the-vineyard tours of Paso CAB Collective wineries, parties, seminars and the highly anticipated "Judgment of Paso," a double-blind tasting of Bordeaux- style wines from Napa, Bordeaux and Paso. Here's how the exciting, wine-fueled festivities unfolded.