Paso Robles Wine

From Mary Baker - A memorial Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 27, 2010, at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, 820 Creston Road in Paso Robles. Friends and family are invited to gather following Mass with a special celebration of Jacob’s life at 3 p.m. at Dubost Winery, 9988 Chimney Rock Road in Paso Robles.

Via Mary Baker –> We have lost young winemaker Jacob Raines of Dubost Winery. His ATV rolled in the family vineyard. He died on the vineyard he planted, under a full moon. Please send your condolences to Dubost Winery. His parents are Kate Dubost and John Raines, and stepfather Curt Dubost. He is also survived by his brothers Lucas and Zachary, who works at Adelaida Winery.

Peter Bowers - Mary and Tony Beecher

Some good friends told us about Daou Vineyards. They know Daniel Daou who hosted a private tasting at their house. I sent an email to Daniel and he arranged a visit to their property. We were met by Peter Bowers, who is the Winery General Manager. There was a group of 4 people from Los Angeles who also joined us. As we stood overlooking the property Peter told us the Daou Story. We then took a drive up to the winery that is under construction and drove through the trees to the hilltop paradise where they are planning a small B&B for their club members. The view from the top is magnificent.

After the tour we met up with Daniel and headed down to the house to taste some wine. Daniel and Peter graciously poured their Cabernet, Chardonnay, Petite Sirah, and Syrah. Peter, who has a long history in the Hospitality business created a wonderful meal of fresh bread, cous cous, fabulous cheeses, fresh veggies, and salad. We were not expecting a meal, much less an elegant feast. For dessert, Peter melted some Hagen-Dazs vanilla and poured it over some fresh fruit. They then poured some of their Pasorina wine. Pasorina is a Moscato, it paired perfectly with the dessert. It is a very fun wine.

The wines of Daou are very nice. They are clean, Bordeaux, and Rhone blends. They are competively priced and really should be tasted. You can find Daou wines in some of the finest dining establishments.

To read the Daou story, please check out their website here.

Here is a short video from the top of the hill.

Lance and Claire Silver – co-owners of Tobin James Cellars are the reason that Mary and I fell in love with the Paso Robles Wine region. We met them in 1997 and they showed us what the good people of Paso Robles are all about. They have a wide variety of wine and present it in a very fun atmosphere.

We joined their wine club member and we are member number 151 or so. Their list has grown immensely and they have become wizards and maintain their customer base. Tobin James does things right. They still consider themselves a small winery but their tasting room was packed on a Tuesday afternoon. They have built a customer allegiance that is awe inspiring. They have learned how to make their customers love them. They are marketing geniuses. When you receive their twice-yearly wine club shipment they always include a prize. The last shipment had a metal paper towel holder. All of their merchandise and surprises have their sun logo on them. As you acquire more goodies, you end up with their logo all over your house. You can even see the logo all over town. At home you see the sun logo and you think about the fun time you had at Tobin James.

Lance found out that it was Mary’s birthday and had some gourmet appetizers ready for her. We spent a couple of hours tasting everything, including their reserve wines. We were, once again, treated like royalty.

We made an appointment to go see Dubost Ranch. Kate Dubost was glad to have us and spent time telling us about their winery. This is a family-owned and operated winery. The Crew consists of Kate, her Husband Curt, and Son Jacob Raines. They are located way out on the West Side near Justin Vineyards. Dubost has a long history in Paso Robles. The winery is very interesting. The wall are made of hay that has then been faced with cement. This keeps the cellars temperature perfect.

Dubost produces wine and olive oil. Their wines consist of Grenache, a very nice Rose, Tempranillo, and Syrahs. These are very nice, handcrafted, limited quantity wines. It is well worth the drive to go visit Dubost.

We met Billy Grant, a partner at Four Vines Winery in town. Billy invited us to stop by his winery. We stopped in a saw Nicole who has a great knowledge of all things Four Vines. She expertly led us through the awesome selection of wines. The tasting room was extremely busy. They are obviously experts in customer retention. They have a rocking tasting room with funky apparel, glassware, and cool stuff.

They wine lines are called Four Vines with bottles like, Naked Chardonnay, Biker/Maverick/Killer Canyon Zinfandels. They also have the Freak Show line with Anarchy, Heretic, Loco labels.

They are on the Westside and they have a real nice gourmet deli out front right on Highway 46 West. This is great because there are not many places to get lunch on the Westside. Four Vines also has nice picnic area. You can get a sandwich, buy a glass of wine and sit outside and relax.

We had contacted Janell Dusi of the famous Dusi family and she invited us up to the Dusi Estate for a visit. This 80 year old estate is one of the most famous vineyards in Paso Robles. There is a long history of the Dusi family in Paso Robles. There are four generations of Dusi’s currently working the vineyards.

The Dusi Vineyards produces a most memorable grape. Because of the varying elevations, the different age of the vines, and the soil & weather differences, you will find different characteristics within the grapes on the estate. Many wineries buy from a specific location but others, like Janell’s own J Dusi Wine, select grapes from all regions of the estate to get a true Dusi character.

Most of the grapes are sold to producers like, Tobin James Cellars, Four Vines, and Turley. Janell Dusi has created her own wine. Consumer winemaking is not the norm for the Dusi family. The J Dusi wines are incredible (as I sip a glass of ’08 J Dusi Zin) – We are now proud members of the J Dusi Wine Club.

Thank you Janell for spending the time with us. We will remember sitting in the back yard tasting your wine.