Wine Writers in Paso Paradise – Part I

Posted on   July 25,2022   By John and Linda Compisi

Paso Robles is a phenomenal wine growing region along the Central Coast of California about half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Paso (its unofficial short name), one of California’s oldest wine regions, has a winemaking tradition that goes all the way back to the 1790’s. Its name comes from the Spanish meaning ‘Pass of Oaks’ and even today its rolling hills are covered in oak trees, that is, when they haven’t been displaced by vineyards.

Rapidly growing, Paso sports 40,000 vineyard acres, producing more than 60 wine grape varieties – from Spanish to Italian, Bordeaux to Rhône, including the area’s heritage variety Zinfandel and has over 200 tasting rooms. The styles of wine are diverse in this very distinct region.

It is because of the importance of the Paso AVA (American Viticulture Area) that about 25 writers from around North America gathered under the tutelage of Fred Swan to learn about the AVAs, meet the producers, and taste the wines. Swan, wine impresario, sommelier and founder/organizer of the Wine Writers Education Tour (WWET), chose Paso Robles for this third in-depth tour for wine writers. The first, of course, was Napa Valley in 2018. The follow-up was conducted in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, in 2019, which we wrote about extensively in a three-part series.

Our three-day journey through Paso began on the arrival evening at a unique tasting room operated by Neeta and Kunal Mittal, owners of LXV Wines. Their tasting experience is set apart by the unique pairing of their exquisite wines with Indian spices. We, however, enjoyed their wines, not with spices but with Indian dishes prepared by Neeta and Kunal themselves. Amazing!!

As an additional bonus, LXV winemaker, Jeff Strekas joined us! The Rosé of Cab Franc, Sauvignon Blanc, Sangiovese and ‘White Sangiovese’ paired wonderfully with the traditional Indian dishes filled with the flavors of cumin, coriander, green chili, curry leaves, mango powder, turmeric et al. These wines found ways to compliment, contrast or match the wonderful food. A worthy beginning to what portended to be an amazing next few days.

Our first full day began with a tour at Vina Robles (VR), located off Highway 46 East just 3 miles away from downtown. Founder Hans Nef, a native of Switzerland, with founding partner and fellow Swiss, Hans–Rudolf (“Hans”) Michel, established Vina Robles in the late 1990’s to merge their old-world traditions to the exciting and unfettered opportunity to make wine in California. Since Nef’s death in 2019, Jürg Nüesch has managed the Vina Robles operation.

VR has grown to six vineyards totaling just under 2,000 planted acres in the region. Their winemaking facilities are state of the art and include vast solar power for their operations. Winemaker Kevin Willenborg has been the winemaker since 2012.

The Vina Robles Hospitality Center, is a sprawling facility that brings together classic California Mission-style design and modern European elegance. The collocated 3500 seat outdoor Amphitheatre hosts 30 world-class performing artists April through October of each year.

Vina Robles hosted our lunch while Philipp Pfunder of LaW (LaW Estate Winery) presented the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance overview of Paso. Lunch was followed by a Paso Robles AVA tasting seminar with 11 wines from 10 local wineries including VR. The wines, one from each of the 11 AVAs were all high-quality wines which would appeal to many different palates.

The standouts for us were:

The Clayhouse 2018 Petite Sirah (P.S.) from sub-AVA San Juan Creek. This old vines P.S. was absolutely beautiful. It was bold, with chewy tannins but with a very smooth mouth feel. Worth aging but elegant now for about $36.

Vina Robles offered two very nice wines but the 2017 Petite Sirah, from their Creston Valley Vineyard was delicious. It expressed blue and purple fruits with solid structure and a creamy finish. $46 retail price.

Calcareous, another of our favs, presented a 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon from their York Mountain AVA. Winemaker Jason Joyce described the dark red and purple fruit vibrancy supported by the complex palette and integration. Manzanita aroma followed by blackcurrant, cherry and layered mocha chocolate flavors. Truly excellent Cabernet from the Central Coast. About $43 a bottle.

After four delightful hours at Vina Robles, we boarded our two Uncorked Wine Tours buses (Katie Hayward, Owner and driver extraordinaire) and headed west to Denner Vineyards. Denner is an amazing 156-acre property that was first planted to grapes in 1999. The estate has grown to a total of 130-planted acres, consisting of 20 different grape varieties.

We began our visit with a tour of the facilities by winemaker Anthony Yount. Denner is in the Willow Creek AVA and it planted, predominantly to Rhône varieties, although they also grow and bottle a small amount of Vermentino (a white Italian grape) which, we love.

The Denner tour was followed by a Willow Creek district AVA seminar and tasting. The winemakers from Denner (Yount – 2019 Cirrus), Clos Solene (Guillaume Fabre/owner and winemaker – 2019 Harmonie), Caliza (Carl Bowker/Founder-winemaker – 2018 Syrah), Paix sur Terre (Ryan Pease/Owner-winemaker – 2021 Ugni Blanc) and Booker (Eric Jensen/owner- winemaker – 2019 Fracture) talked us through their wines and the Willow Creek district’s personality.

The camaraderie among this young group of passionate winemakers was both refreshing and amusing but these Rhone wines were serious, complex and well structured. Favorites included the Denner Cirrus with aromas and flavors of white flowers, pie cherries, white pepper, black truffle and the Caliza Syrah which was deeply concentrated and savory with bacon fat and cigar box notes with shades of black currant. 

After the seminar we were treated to a happy hour with scrumptious passed hors d’oeuvres (Burrata Toast, Yellow Fin Tuna Crudo and Pacific King Salmon Rillets) served with the 2020 Denner Theresa (a Rhône blend with Roussane leading) and 2021 Epoch Estate White (another Rhône blend with Grenache Blanc leading). The pairing was masterful and the food was a foreshadowing of treats to come.

One might think this day could not get any better but one would be very wrong. After the passed hors d’oeuvres we sat down under an arbor to be further pampered with a winemakers’ dinner catered by Chef Jeffrey Scott, Vineyard Events. The magical menu included a Salad of Chioggia Beets & Strawberries, Modern Cassoulet with Duck Confit, Glazed Pork Belly and Toulouse Sausage, followed by a tasting of Artisan Cheeses and a Citrus Olive Oil Cake!! All of this gastro-delights were paired with wonderful wines from L’Aventure (2020 Estate Cuvee), Villa Creek/Maha, McPrice Myers, Denner and EpochEstate which were described by each respective winemaker.

Favorites were the 2019 L’Aventure Estate Cuvee, a CabSauv/Syrah blend with a bit of Petite Verdot, presented by Chloé Asseo-Fabre, General Manager and daughter of founder Stephen Asseo and the 2019 Denner Ditch Digger, a truly delicious red Rhône blend.

Having been traveling and tasting non-stop since breakfast with the clock ticking toward 10pm, we, pampered, writers/photographers were gently ushered back onto the Uncorked bus for our 40-minute curvy return to our hotel to get some well needed rest for our early start.  

Look for Part 2 which will highlight the Geneseo and Adelaida districts.