So we had an hour last Monday, and a few hours Tuesday to explore Paso. On Monday, we visited Daou, Chateau Margene and Dover Canyon. Since we were at the end of the day, some things were not open.
Daou was heavily under construction but we found the place. I really wanted to like the Cab Merlot blend but didn’t. The Petite Sirah blend was the best thing they had going.
At Chateau Margene, we did like their Bordeaux blends which was unusual as I firmly believe that Paso has no business growing Cab - stick to Syrah, Zin, Grenache, (and some mixing grapes) that you do best. Their Petite Sirah was also good.
Dover Canyon was fun. The tasting room rep was friendly and though we arrived after hours did not rush us in the least. The wines were all serviceable, though nothing stood out as amazing. What was interesting as I really liked their zins and I had moved away from Zin. Theirs were not the raisin/prune style like Opolo Mountain Zin, but were full bodied fruity wines.
Had a WONDERFUL dinner at II Cortile.
On Tuesday, we started out at Kenneth Volk; I had them mixed up with Lone Madrone as far as the Malvasia Bianca. I was confusing the La Mezcla from Lone Madrone. The Volk Pinot was nice, as was the Mourvedre. I did not care for several of their varietals.
Next was Red Soles. I liked their Zin program, which again was a bit of a surprise. They also had a good Petite Sirah. What happened to all the Syrah from the area? Not present in those rooms we visited.
We tried to go to Croad and Caliza, but they both were closed. Out of curiosity we tried Veris - way too many wines to try, Again, serviceable but nothing jumped out as great.
Last stop before Lunch was Aron Hill. The wines were all good - but again I thought something was missing.
Lunch at Farmstead in the old Rotta Grocery location, Some great sandwiches.
One thing I liked from the short trip was liking ZIn again. Since I still have several cases of Zin in the cellar, I need to open some up.