A rather interesting article by MikeDunne in today’s SacBee on Paso Cabs: SacBee:PasoCabs
based on his judging at the TexSom judging in Texas.
There’s been a lot of noise by many of the Paso Cab producers, mostly, as best I can tell, based up in the SantaLucia mtn AVA’s. They even have a seminar/weekend devoted to PasoCabs and touting it as the next big thing since Syrah.
What was interesting (to me) is most of the Cabs Mike talks about are from the Paso East-Side and reasonably priced, not the (sniff/sniff) expensive Cabs up in the SantaLucia’s. ButButBut…this is the Paso low-rent district. How could that be?? Is Mike losing it???
Another interesting point: Mike suggests that, if you use medal-winners from these competitions for guiding your wine shopping (I don’t), then it’s better to shop amongst the SilverMedal winners, rather than the heavy-hitting GoldMedal winners.
Nicely written article indeed. And interesting to see him writing up notes about a wine comp in Texas featuring Paso Cabs (actually, from what I understand, the Paso Wine Alliance has ‘earned’ a grant to focus their wines in the state of Texas).
The Cab Collective has become a much bigger issue in the Paso area over the last few years, with major writers and somms taking part and moderating. They are really working to broader folks’ impressions of the area . . .
Have not had any of these cabs lately but may need to try a selection next time I am in the area.
Thanks for the link, Tom - interesting reading. I assume by Santa Lucia Mtn. AVAs, you’re mainly talking about the Adelaida District of Paso Robles, not SLH in Monterey County. Adelaida District is where Daou, Justin, etc. are located, and they’ve been leading proponents of Paso Cab in recent years.
The annual Paso Cab weekend you mention (“CABs of Distinction”) is held by the Paso Robles CAB Collective - Daou, J. Lohr, and Justin are permanent members of their board: Paso Robles CAB Collective
I haven’t found many Paso cabs that I like. I openly admit that I love Justin’s Isosceles but that is the only cab from Paso that I do like. I have pretty much written the area off for Cab after our visit there in 2011.
Sounds like you’re already familiar with producers of Rhône-variety wines in the area, and I’m sure you know that Paso is not exactly Pinot country. Adelaida makes the best Pinot from Paso Robles that I’ve tried, from their 50+ year old HMR Vineyard. Their Bordeaux-style wines are worth trying too. Aaron Jackson makes some very good Pinots under his Aequorea label from coastal SLO County fruit - his Aaron / Aequorea winery and tasting room is in Tin City. And although I haven’t tried them yet, I’ve heard good things about the Pinots from Deovlet - they have a tasting room out on Hwy. 46 near Vineyard Drive but he sources his fruit from Santa Barbara County. You can search here on Berserkers for posts I’ve made on visits to Adelaida and to Aaron / Aequorea this year.
Other Paso Cabernet / Bordeaux-style wines I’ve tried or have heard good things about include Daou, Justin, RN Estate, and Chateau Margene.
Check out Justin and J Lohr (East Side). I was at Justin in November and thought the wines and tasting experience were vastly improved. Both the red blends and whites (e.g. viognier) were good. J Lohr does some interesting cab blends that may be winery-only, but they are expensive.
Some of my friends like RN Estate, pinots and other varietals. Daou generates some buzz and has great views. Windward is another long time pinot producer; I’m not a fan, but it is worth a stop.
Gary Eberle is still flogging cab after all these years.
Ancient Peaks is worth checking out- Santa Margarita Ranch AVA in the very south of the Paso AVA, the climate is cooler there. Their basic estate Cab is a solid inexpensive wine, and their Reserve White Label Cab is very solid. Fleshy red fruit style, with minerality, spice, and good structure. Mike Sinor is the winemaker.
If we’re talking about great Cabernet from Paso Robles, I always have to suggest you “Go West, young man”.
The Templeton Gap, calcareous landscape is polka dotted with vineyards growing Rhône-style grapes, but the Cabs are (usually) great. I still yearn for an Adelaida 2002 Viking Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. With the new winemaker at the helm, I am looking forward to trying the winery’s Cabs again.
Edit: I see that I am not the only one who feels this way.
Just wanted to add one thing to this discussion. I, and a couple of others here, mentioned Justin Winery as a good producer of Cabernet in Paso Robles, but just in the past few days I’ve seen some disturbing posts on Facebook about recent actions of Justin Winery and their corporate owner, Fiji Water. Reports from Justin Smith of Saxum, Mark Adams of Ledge, and other Paso locals that Fiji has removed hundreds of oak trees to clear new vineyard land for Justin Winery.
Not sure whether those who are not on Facebook can see these posts, but it’s sad to see so much land that’s had oak trees removed. It sounds like this was done according to County regulations, so plenty of blame also goes to SLO County for allowing this practice.
Assuming the work was done with proper permits, it’s almost certain that they would be required to take erosion control measures. And since there’s time to plant ground cover on the cleared slopes before the rainy season starts this fall, that’s probably not a huge concern. The issue is really removing all those oak trees. There are regulations against removing mature oak trees in many parts of California but it sounds like that’s not the case in unincorporated parts of SLO County?
Ken, is that kinda like here, where the unauthorized removal of a Bald Cypress tree along the Cross Lake’s shores results in a fine of $1,000 per tree?