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Cass Winery in Paso Robles

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Cass Winery in Paso Robles

Cass Winery in Paso Robles

Cass Winery in Paso Robles – hidden on the eastside

Cass Winery in Paso Robles is one of our favorite wineries. It is tucked away on the backroad countryside east of Highway 101. We have the Cass Winery on our wine trail “Hidden Wineries Eastside” in our Paso Robles Wine Region section. A few things we like about the Cass Winery: The countryside is fantastic. We love the rolling hills of vineyards amid the picturesque oak trees. We like the peaceful picnic area. Sitting under an oak tree and enjoying food, wine and the vineyards is tough to beat. Lastly, we very much like the Cass Winery lineup of Rhone-style wines. They are some of the best from the Paso Robles wine region. Steve Cass is the owner; the winemaker is Sterling Kragten. The Cass Winery is open daily from 11am to 5 pm. Food and wine pairings are available on the wine tasting menu. Nearby wineries include Penman Springs and Clautiere.

Additional Paso Robles Wine Country Details

Wine and food at Daou Vineyards & Winery

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Daou food and wine pairing

Bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with manchego cheese, date & berry jam, balsamic reduction

We try the wine and food at Daou Vineyards & Winery

There are many ways to have fun in the wine country centered around wine tasting. Put this one on your list to try when you are in the Paso Robles wine country. It is wine, food, and breathtaking views at Daou Vineyards & Winery. This is a relatively new winery in Paso Robles and the folks at Daou certainly spared no expense in building this spectacular winery and tasting room. It is quite an experience to say the least. We stopped in around 1 pm to explore the wine and food tasting at Daou Winery. It is scheduled daily from 12 to 4 pm. Ask your tasting host for the wine and food pairing menu and select your choices. For each appetizer a wine is paired, but other wine choices are also suggested for that small plate. We decided to order two appetizers and share. We had the Bacon-wrapped dates pictured above, and the Pork Sliders.  Both appetizers were very tasty.  Three pork sliders were served on the plate, one too many for us but we did managed to devour them. The star wine of the day for us was the red blend wine Daou calls “Unbound.” It is a blend of 70% Peitie Sirah, 16% Tempranillo and 14% Tannat. It is an absolutely delicious wine and it paired very nicely with our bacon-wrapped dates. Unfortunately, the wine is well above our wine pocketbook, at $65 a bottle. It was $10 by the glass on the pairing menu and it was a healthy pour. You can sit outside on the patio area. The seating is ample and situated around the winery’s back area. Everywhere are amazing views of the Paso Robles wine country. It can get windy at Daou because the winery is situated at 2000 feet elevation. When wind comes, take your small plates inside. Other nearby wineries are Alta Colina, Adelaida Winery and Lone Madrone.

Other helpful details on Daou and Paso Robles wine country.

Daou Winery & Vineyards Slideshow

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Daou Vineyards in Paso Robles

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Daou vineyards

The view from Daou Vineyards and Winery in Paso Robles

About Daou Vineyards in Paso Robles

This is one of the latest wineries in Paso Robles (2007) and perhaps the winery with the most breathtaking views. Imagine yourself sitting on these chairs with a glass of wine pondering life. This is about as gorgeous as it gets in any wine country. The winery is situated on the west side of Highway 101 in Paso Robles. It sits at an elevation of 2000 feet. It may be hot in Paso Robles during the growing season, but this hilltop site is cooled by the breezes coming from the Pacific Ocean through the Templeton Gap. The soil here is all calcareous, and the Daou folks believe this is the ideal terroir for producing Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varietals. Although the emphasis is on Bordeaux style wines they also produce some lovely Rhone style white wines, namely Viognier and Grenache Blanc. The winery is owned by Georges and Daniel Daou, two brothers who were successful business entrepeneurs in the medical industry. Daniel Daou is also the winemaker. The vineyards are Sip Certified, meaning sustainable farming is in practice throughout the estate. The tasting room is beautiful, and visitors are welcome to Daou Vineayrds in Paso Robles daily from 11am-5pm. The current tasting fee is $20, but waived with a purchase of wine. There are also food pairings available. Check the Daou Vineyards website for complete visiting details and other details about the winery.

More about the Paso Robles wine country

Which are the best wineries to visit in Paso Robles?

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We first posted our Paso Robles Wine Trails section on WineCountryGetaways.com in 2004. Maybe at that time there were 100 wineries in the area. Since that time, the area has experienced astonishing growth and now the number of wineries stands at over 200. The last couple of years, we have visited the Paso Robles wine country on several trips with the goal of revising and adding wine trails to our Paso Robles wine region.

When we first began exploring Paso Robles, the wine region was most noted for its big and bold Zinfandel wines. Peachy Canyon, Tobin James and a few others were gaining attention and popularity for their Zinfandel wines. But things are changing, and particularly on the Westside of 101, with many wineries concentrating on Rhone-style wines. The pioneer winery in this area is the Tablas Creek Winery. They imported the rootstock of several Rhone varieties from France and planted them on land they felt was similar in soil and climate to that of southern France. Tablas Creek has a nursery, and local wineries can purchase budwood and grafted vines to pursue the making of Rhone wines.

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Turtle Rock Willow Creek Cuvée rocks in Paso Robles

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Note: Since the writing of this article, Westberg and Turtle Rock are closed.

Rarely do I get overly excited about a wine, but in this case, I must write and rave about a wine I discovered while in Paso Robles a couple of weeks ago. Janelle and I were traveling the backroads of Paso Robles on the west side of Highway 101. We stumbled upon a winery by the name of Westberg Cellars. It is a very hidden winery and for whatever reason, the winery is not listed in the local wine guide produced by the Paso Robles Wine Alliance.

Don Burns of Turtle Rock Vineyards and Westberg Cellars

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Paso Robles Wine Country – We Recommend

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We just spent three days and two nights in the Paso Robles wine country. Once again, upon our return to this wine region, we find new and interesting places to visit. From our very enjoyable experience this past week, we have two wineries and two restaurants to highly recommend next time you visit Paso Robles.

Lodging – Paso Robles Inn
Nothing new to report here! We always stay at the Paso Robles Inn in the newest section of the Inn built after the earthquake in December of 2004. The Paso Robles Inn is comfortable and very reasonable and, best of all, within easy walking distance of several of wine country’s best restaurants. During the week and off-season, the rates are just around the $100 mark per night.

Wineries – Venteux and Calcareous
The names of these two wineries both have to do with the terroir (climate and geology) of the wine region west of Highway 101 in the Paso Robles area. In the case of Venteux, the word means windy in French. The wineries in this western portion of Paso Robles are in the Templeton Gap corridor. Each day in the afternoon winds from the Pacific Ocean roar through this area bringing cooling temperatures to the vines. Calcareous is an adjective describing rock composed of calcium carbonate or limestone. This is the predominant soil type that is found along the rolling hills of this beautiful area. The geology of this area is similar to the same soils found in the famous wine regions of Champagne and the Rhone Valley in France.

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Paso Robles – Moving Upscale

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This trip to Paso Robles marks our tenth year in a row of traveling to this wine country. Much has changed since 1999, some good and some bad. The earthquake of December 2003 and the onslaught of many new wineries have brought about many changes to this old California farming town. In many ways it still is a town in transition. There is still a lot of the old; cowboys strolling the streets, McClintock’s Saloon, Corrigan’s barber shop and others. But for sure, Paso Robles is trying to go upscale. Each year we visit, there are always a few more tasting rooms in town and new wineries to visit. Last year two new fancy hotels opened catering to the wine crowd and the affluent. This year, on Highway 46 West just before Vineyard Drive, a huge winery is under construction. It looks quite out of place in the Paso landscape of rolling hills, oak trees, and beautiful vineyards.

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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

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