Paso Robles tagged posts

How About a 91pt Red from Tablas Creek For $17?

March 18, 2012 Daily Drinkers, High End Values  No comments

Tablas Creek is one of my absolute favorite producers in the United States. It's partially owned by the famed Perrin family, who brought their rootstock over from Beaucastel Vineyard in Châteauneuf du Pape with the goal of establishing a viticultural area of similar prestige.  Finally now, Paso Robles is becoming the go-to region for domestic Rhone style blends and Tablas Creek has a lot to do with that.

Their Esprit de Beaucastel bottling is widely considered one of the best wines from Paso Robles, but at $50+ it's not for everyone (though I still consider it a value at that price).  Until the 2010 vintage, the estate grown Cotes de Tablas bottling was their entry level wine, but as their vines aged, the quality of (and demand for) this wine increased.   So, Tablas Creek saw an

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If I Could Get Only One Wine for Christmas…

December 8, 2011 Cellar Worthy, High End Values  2 comments

L'Aventure's 2008 Estate Cuvee would be it.  I've been telling anyone who will listen to buy this wine and with the price now down to $59.95, it makes a perfect gift for a friend or yourself!  Most retailers are charging over $70 for the 2008 vintage and the recently released 2009 vintage, which received the same score, is going for $85-90.  You can read up on what makes L'Aventure's Cabernet/Syrah blend so awesome in one of my previous posts here.

Paso Robles is heating up and I predict that this wine will be mailing list only soon.  It certainly won't be available for under $60.  This is an incredibly unique, rich,and mind blowing (but sophisticated) wine that I personally find unrivaled. Just look at how the reviewers rave about it.  Do a friend, or better yet, yourself a favor and

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Revisiting a Top Value: Titan Hills Fiasco by Tobin James $6.99

April 26, 2011 Daily Drinkers, Wines under $10  No comments

Many of our readers had great things to say about the 2008 Titan Hills "Fiasco" by Tobin James.   But I heard some tried to place orders and the giant stack of cases I saw when I bought it was already gone.

Well it's back at the same price.  You can read the full post here, but the summary is "The Prisoner for one fifth the price".  This wine is one heck of a value.  For those that missed it, have at it!  For those that already tried it, I'm sure you will be back.
Buy Here: Tobin James 2008 Titan Hills “Fiasco” Red Blend $6.99

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A $7 Daily Drinking Fiasco from Tobin James

March 10, 2011 Daily Drinkers, Wines under $10  One comment

Tobin James is known for their Zinfandel, Syrah and their "country party" themed tasting room in the heart of the Central Coast's Paso Robles wine region.  If you're ever in the area, it's worth checking out their tasting saloon and picking up one of their signature star patches for the memory book.  Their wines are well reviewed, popular and range in price from $12 to $150.

Producers like Tobin James are often contracted to make wines for "private label" applications at grocery stores or restaurants.  Rumor has it, Tobin James created the Titan Hills label for one of those private label projects, but somehow the deal fell through, so we the consumer are left with an incredible value they call "Fiasco".  Maybe the name hints at how this wine made it to the market?

This weekend, I

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The Paso Robles Rhone Revolution: L’Aventure Wines

March 7, 2011 Cellar Worthy, High End Values  One comment

I wrote about what makes L'Aventure Winery's wines so unique last May, but since barely anyone read this blog back then, I think I'll revisit.  My hope is that our thousands of weekly readers can get to know these wines and will come to enjoy them as much as I do.

Stephan Asseo, the French winemaker and owner of L'Aventure, is leading the Paso Robles charge as the Rhone style capital of the United States.  Though some of Asseo's wines feature Cabernet, Rhone varietals are his focus - the "special sauce" for his wines and the Paso Robles AVA as a whole.  A Paso wine earned Wine Spectator's Wine of the Year honor, with Justin Smith's 2007 Saxum James Berry Vineyard, but luckily for those of us who aren't on their mailing list, Saxum isn't the only game in town.

How L'Aventure is still

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Tablas Creek Esprit Blanc 2008- A taste of Rhone in CA $31.95 WA94

November 2, 2010 High End Values  No comments

It's rare to see non-varietal designated wines coming out of the United States.  For some reason we love to know that we're drinking Syrah rather than a "Paso Robles red".  In the rest of the world, wines are designated with admittedly complex naming conventions usually combining the region in which the grapes were grown and the quality standards of the production.  That's partially because a wider range of varietals thrive in the U.S.  But that same tendency can preclude us from enjoying blends because we're used to wine tasting like a specific grape.

Enter the Perrin family of Chateau Beaucastel in Chateauneuf du Pape, makers of $80-350 wines, all of which are blends.  In collaboration with Robert Haas, they are on a mission to bring the spectacular blends of the Rhone Valley to the

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Single Vineyard Paso Robles Cab under $15- Vina Robles Huerhuero Vineyard

June 9, 2010 Daily Drinkers  One comment

Welcome new subscribers!  We hope you enjoy the blog.  For those that haven't heard, once we reach 250 subscribers we will be giving away a $50 LA Wine Co gift card!

It seems like great California Cabernet under $15 is few and far between lately.  Sometimes  you need to look outside the Napa/Sonoma corridor to find something special and in this case we're looking 240 miles south of Napa, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, to Paso Robles.  As I've mentioned before, the Central Coast is producing some fantastic wine with Paso Robles standing out for their Cabernet, Rhone blends and Zinfandel.

Single vineyard wines have grown in popularity because they really reveal a sense of place in the wine.  And that's what I love about the Vina Robles Huerhuero

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L’Aventure Optimus 2007- A Lesson in Terroir $39.95

May 9, 2010 Cellar Worthy, High End Values  2 comments

Stephan Asseo, who owns and makes the wine at L'Aventure Winery in Paso Robles, had the choice of any location in the world for his vineyard.  He had made wine in Burgundy and Bordeaux but was ready to explore outside of France to find the greatest terroir- which, in the wine world, means soil, land and location- in which to produce his next wine.  After searching from South Africa to Napa, he found a plot of land in Paso Robles that had the perfect terroir.  A year ago, I visited Paso Robles for a weekend of wine tasting.  I took the picture to the left because I noticed how unique the soil at L'Aventure was compared to literally every other vineyard we had seen.  It was rocky, chalky, and downright inhospitable.  And THIS is what makes L'Aventure wines so great.  The vines have to

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Liberty School Cabernet 2007- Best CA Cabernet under $10

May 5, 2010 Wines under $10  No comments

I've been drinking this fantastic value since the 2005 vintage and, each year, it easily outperforms its price point.  It's tough to find a great California Cabernet for under $10, and sometimes you need to look outside of Napa/Sonoma for the best values.

Liberty School Cabernet is produced from grapes grown in Paso Robles, which lies halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, in California's scenic central coast.  Paso Robles is an up-and-coming appellation that is producing some great wines at reasonable prices.  It experiences dramatic temperature swings- up to 40 degrees day to night in the summer.  This creates concentrated, ripe grapes that are producing some great Cabernet, Zinfandel and Rhone style wines.

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