• Wine Regions
    • Napa Valley Wine Country Guide
    • Healdsburg – Russian River Wine Country
    • Sonoma Valley Wine Country Planning Guide
    • Mendocino Wine Country
    • Carneros
    • Paso Robles Wine Country
    • Santa Barbara Wine Country
    • Livermore Valley wineries
    • Lodi Wineries
    • Sierra Foothills Wineries
    • Monterey Wineries
    • Santa Cruz Wineries
    • Lake County Wine Country
    • Yolo County Wine Country
  • Tasting Room Guide
    • Tasting Room Etiquette
    • Napa Valley on a Budget 2022
    • What to Pack for a Wine Country Picnic
    • How to Taste Wine
    • Bocce Wineries
    • Organic Wineries
    • Vineyard Year
    • Best wine country backroads
    • Winery Wine Clubs
    • Buying Wine at a Winery
    • Wine Varietals
    • Wine Appellations
    • Solar Wineries in California
    • How many bottles of wine in a barrel?
    • Hiking in Wine Country
  • Wine Guide
    • Pairing Food & Wine
      • Which wines for dinner?
    • Which Wine Glass
    • Decanting wine
    • Which Corkscrew works best
    • Corkage Fees
    • Corked Wine
      • Preserving Wine – what to do with the unfinished bottle of wine
    • Hosting a Wine Tasting Party – How to pull it off
      • Hosting a Serious Wine Tasting Party
      • How to Host a Fun and Casual Wine Tasting Party
      • Wine Scoring Sheets | Wine Tasting Forms | Wine Scorecards
      • Checklist for Successful Wine Tasting
    • Wine Gifts for Wine Geeks
      • Best Wine Books
      • Top Ten Wine Cookbooks
      • Best wine fiction books
    • Best Wine Bargains
    • Wine Collection Tips
  • Wine Country Insider
    • Wine Trails off the Beaten Path
    • Quick Getaways
    • Hiking in Wine Country
    • When to Visit Wine Country
    • Which wine region to visit and why
    • Redwoods and Vineyards
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • Site Map
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
You are here: Home / Archives for California Albarino

Brecon Estate – shifting wine styles on Vineyard Drive

April 3, 2015 by Joe Becerra

Brecon Estate

Brecon Estate stands where the old Norman Winery existed

Brecon Estate is where the Norman Monster Zin once roamed

One of the old standby Paso Robles wineries, Norman Vineyards, sold its facilities and vineyards on Vineyard Drive in 2013. It is now Brecon Estate, with a totally different approach to winemaking.   The Norman winery continues to operate in a warehouse area of Paso Robles. In 2014, Brecon Estate opened the newly-remodeled tasting room. There are some big plans for making the area even more comfortable for the wine tasting crowd. But for now the tasting room is very sleek and modern with beautiful artwork displayed on the walls. The room is bright and inviting. The best part of the Brecon Estate are the wines. We spent three days tasting wines in Paso Robles, mostly at the latest wineries to open their doors in the area.  Overall, we thought the wines at Brecon Estate were the most delicious of the wines we tasted. The winemaker is Damian Grindley, a veteran of 20 years of making wines around the globe. We started with the Albariño wine. The grapes come from vineyards very near the Pacific Ocean, within two miles of the ocean according to our server. This is so similar to the climate conditions of  the famous Albariño region of Spain, Rias Baixas. The Rias Baixas wine region is just off the Atlantic Ocean. The Brecon Estate Albariño in my estimation is the best California Albariño I have tasted. There is a certain richness to the wine, but the appealing acidity and citrus characters of this great Spanish wine grape are not sacrificed. Another white we enjoyed was the Conviction, a Rhone blend of Viognier, Marsanne, and Rousanne. It is a joy.  All the red wines we tasted were perfectly balanced, with a great velvety mouthfeel.  The Brecon Zinfandel was our top red choice, so vastly different in style from the popular Norman Monster Zinfandel. The reds were all in the mid-14 percent alcohol range. These are all delicate and approachable wines to be enjoyed with food. The prices for the wines are in the premium range, above $40 for the reds, and the white wines in the mid-twenties. We miss the old Elvis cutout at Norman and the informal atmosphere of the tasting room. Brecon Estate is more Napa Valley like. Is this a good thing for Paso Robles wine country?

Along Vineyard Drive there are several other wineries nearby to visit. We have outlined our favorites on the Vineyard Drive Wine Trail. It is a good idea to pack a lunch because picnicking at Paso Robles wineries is encouraged. At Brecon Estate, sip a glass of Albariño with your deli lunch along side the vineyards. Life can’t get much better than this.

Additional Paso Robles wine country details

  • Dining in Paso Robles
  • Lodging in Paso Robles
  • Paso Robles wine map

Brecon Estate Slide Show

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Filed Under: Paso Robles Wine Country Tagged With: Brecon Estate, California Albarino, Norman Vineyards

Latest from the Blog

  • 13 Reasons to Visit a Working Winery
  • Tracking Down Old Vine Zinfandel
  • Russian River Valley
    Russian River Valley Wine Country
  • Paso Robles Big Three Wineries
  • Where to go in California Wine Country 2023
-->

CALIFORNIA WINE COUNTRY REGIONS:

Carneros • Livermore • Lodi • Mendocino • Monterey • Napa Valley • Paso Robles • Santa Barbara County • Santa Cruz Mts. • Sierra Foothills • Russian River • Sonoma Valley

Connect With Us

Want to keep up with Wine Country Getaways? Follow us across our social networks!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Sign up for wine country news from Janelle and Joe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2023 · Wine COuntry Getaways

 

Loading Comments...