Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
The Daou brothers have become increasingly known for their rich, unctuous and lavish high-end wines, but this bottling offers a taste of that opulence for just $30. Plump blueberry and soft, cedar-like spice scents show on the nose, while the palate bursts with black cherry, dark chocolate and caramel flavors, powered by ample acidity. It will age gracefully, but is already delicious.
Editors' Choice. -
Wine Spectator
Plump and juicy, this seamless effort is focused on red berry and jammy notes, showing plush tannins, depth of flavor and length. Ultraripe but stays within bounds. Drink now through 2030.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The straight 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon should be another outstanding vintage of this cuvee and it has full-bodied richness, beautiful concentration and lots of dark chocolate, plum and smoked herb aromas and flavors. It has more obvious structure than the 2014 did at this stage as well.
Range: 90-92 -
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
With each passing vintage—over the last half-dozen years—I am becoming more and more of a believer that this winery is doing something special in Paso Robles. The 2015 Daou Cabernet Sauvignon is solid—as it has been in most recent vintages. The wine exhibits excellent black currant and black tea leaves in its aromas and flavors. A shading of wood in the background gives the wine additional flavor interest. Drinks nicely now. (Tasted: October 21, 2016, San Francisco, CA)
As Paso Robles, California has soared in number of wineries and gained in popularity, Cabernet Sauvignon has firmly taken root as the region’s number one varietal. Alone, it accounts for just over 40% of plantings and is grown throughout both the western and eastern sides of the appellation. Though viticulture here dates back to the 18th century, Cabernet Sauvignon didn’t emerge as a significant grape here until the 1970’s. But since then it has definitely made up for lost time.
Legendary winemaker and consultant Andre Tchelistcheff first recognized Paso’s potential with Cabernet Sauvignon in the early 1960’s. The calcareous soil and dramatic diurnal temperature changes of Paso’s westside particularly intrigued him. Today modern winemaking techniques and focused experimentation with various clones, rootstocks and vineyard strategies optimize the region's ideal combination of soil and climate to deliver the best fruit possible.
The results are evident in the glass. Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon can be mesmerizing, with rich aromas and flavors of blackberry, cassis, black cherry, graphite, toasty oak, vanilla and spice. The structure, balance and unbridled opulence of these wines impress from first sip to last. Not surprisingly, Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignons have steadily grown in reputation, not just in the U.S., but around the world.