Today’s post is simple…there has been talk off and on about dividing up Paso Robles wine country into many AVA’s rather than simply use the current Paso Robles AVA. My personal opinion is that this is not good for the area. Most of the people that come to Paso or that buy Paso Robles wine do not know Huer Huero, Templeton Gap, Pomar, Estrella, and so on; which could hurt the business of Paso Robles wine. I just think Paso is still a bit young to have a division like this. Much of this talk comes down to a more simplified separation of west versus east with the dividing line being Highway 101.
What do YOU Think About Paso Robles Wine Country?
So what say you? I’m open minded and willing to listen. I’m curious as to how the division would help Paso Robles…or, will it just help the wallets of those pushing for the breakdown?
Keep it Paso Robles AVA. I am surprised how many people do not know where Paso is located! We try to educate them about the wonderful wineries and terrific experiences that await anyone who visits the area. Even though I have been there many times, I would not recognize those appellations myself! Here’s to teh best wine area in the USA!
I happen to agree with you April, and I appreciate your comment. I think this could have devastating results if the break up does occur. And when I say devastating I mean it could really hurt many of the wineries and the overall flow of money through Paso. Cheers to you!!
I agree that it should be divided ! West side vineyards produce different wines than East side vines ! This should be highlighted and ackowleged as it will help the consumer to understand the diversity and quality our our world class wines ! Make highway 101 the dividing line !
Luis…I appreciate the comment and your opinion. If we were absolutely going to divide Paso, I would much rather divide it that way than to see 5, 10, or 15 different AVA’s here. My only issue with the east and west thing, is that many seem to think west side fruit/ wine is better…so what does that do to Paso and what does that do to the east side? Especially when it’s well known that there are east side wineries that buy west side fruit and west side wineries that buy east side fruit. Cheers!
Agreed there has always been a quality issue west side versus east side ! West vineyards, winemakers and wines put P.R on the map ! As we have grown the east side has also started to grow world class wines as its sister the West side! Our quality of wines are as good as the west side or better ! We produce power Zinfandels with outstanding fruit and strong alcohol masked by a rich and smooth core ! This is the east side, powerful sun, high summer temperatures and cool breeze nights with exceptional soil that give us the best Zinfandels in the world ! Both West and East side are Paso Robles and each should be given its recognition in helping Paso Robles become one of the worlds greatest wine regions !
Luis…I’m not 100% accurate on the history of Paso but I thought it was people like and wineries like Estrella, Meridian, Gary Eberle, Tobin James, Ken Volk, and Chuck Ortman that put Paso on the map. Yes? No? If yes, these folks are a mix of west and east, but most from the east side as far as putting Paso on the map. Unless you are referring to the recent boom of Paso getting on the wine map…then yes, seems west side gets more notoriety.
Correct Matt The east side wineries you mentioned were the first! As far as putting P.R on the map it was Opolo ,Peachy Canyon, Norman, Christian Lazo and many not mentioned. These wines gained much recognition throughtout the U.S and brought consumers and tourists to our beautiful city!
No need to make separate East side or west side AVA’s. What is good for West is good for East, namely Paso Robles name recognition. Some people like west side grapes better than east side. Blind tastings I’ve done with people and they find out they like them both. There are differences but that does not mean that the differences are negative. Sub AVA’s is good. Paso Robles AVA, West side, along with vineyard designations all good. Many wineries already put this on their labels. Blended wines might have to just say Paso Robes. THis just adds another layer of regulation that will not really benefit Paso wineries in the long run.
Bruce….I tend to agree with you on this. Part of my thought is that Paso is still too young for this type of division.
I think it’s time to make a wine that is 50% Eastside Fruit and 50% Westside Fruit…call it “Bipartisanship” or “The Great Compromise”. (Must be the election fever that’s getting to me…)
Mitch…I LOVE that idea man!!
Hooray for you Hoot. The one thing good that came out of the east/west fur ball is that we got conjunctive labeling for Paso now. Only Napa has it in the wine industry. What it means is that any wine made in Paso must have Paso Robles on the label along with any other designation. Now to sub-appellations. How many are in Napa? Can you name them? Can you name 2 wineries in each? Thought not. The important name on the label is Paso Robles. As to east/west wines I would love to see a a legitimate tasting that shows that anyone can pick out the differences, i.e. which is east and which is west. I’ve done several blind tastings and have a reasonable palette and can’t tell. And as to limestone don’t get me going. I am sure that less than 1% of the rocks in the entire Paso AVA can qualify as limestone, and I think there is a pretty good chance that there is more “limestone” on the east side of 101 than the west. What is important is who grows the fruit, and who converts it into wine. I also am a strong believer in wine comps. Send your wine to Orange Co. No fee and only winemakers as judges. We sell about half of our wines through the tasting room and I really think it is because we do so well in the wine comps. We enter 9 or 10 and diplay only gold medals. I would like to see more Paso wines in the results from these comps. It would do the entire AVA good as well as the wineries that win.
Gary…you know we love you and I definitely look to you as someone with immense knowledge in the wine world and in the Paso wine world. I agree with your thoughts and agree even more with the blind tastings…the one true way to taste wine. It’s a sticky situation based on recent conversations that I’ve had and it seems to be more of a greed or money thing for those that want the separation…but who knows, maybe I’m way of base. Cheers Gary, I/we REALLY do appreciate your opinion and knowledge on these issues!!
Leave it as one!
I agree Kevin…cheers to that!
From afar, Paso has a very positive association for me but I don’t know the areas at all that you mentioned being considered for an AVA. So I’m inclined to stick with one big happy Paso brand identity. If they did go in the AVAs direction a lot of education would be needed.
I hear ya David, that’s what I worry about. The average consumer will be confused by it.
What a complicated issue… but I’ll throw this view out there:
I think an at least one additional sub-AVA’s would make sense: West Side Paso Robles. Look at the AVA map and note the huge swaths of vineyards that cover east Paso out to Creston (http://www.pasowine.com/ava-map/). The fact is most labels that include the Paso Robles AVA are made with wine from the east side. When l visit restaurants outside of California, inevitably the Paso Robles wine I come across is mass produced juice from the east side. The restaurant may feel that they are ticking the Paso Robles box on their wine list and may not be aware that they are missing the nouveau Paso styles wines that gaining so much press. What a shame for someone’s first exposure to Paso Robles wine to be “eh, just another cab…”.
(of course there are east side wines that are very worthy, but surely it’s recognize that that quality east side wine can get lost in the volume produced there)
Customers should have the sub-AVA available to them so they can ask their sommeliers, wine shops and distributors specifically for the wine they’ve been reading about.
Terrence, I completely understand your point. Further questions would be: who are the average consumers buying Paso wine? Would sub-AVA’s confuse or enhance that demographic? Is Paso Robles too young to start separating it. Would actually help the overall wine business of our area? If there is any separation I think it needs to be small. If we throw 5 or 10 AVA’s at people…it will be crazy confusing.
I am still waiting for some “proof” that the west side fruit makes better wine than east side fruit. I’ve made wine from grapes from both sides for 40 years and I still can’t tell which is which in double blind tastings. Besides the claims to the contrary I just don’t see it. In my opinion the scenery and back roads are a lot prettier and “romantic”, but better wine? In quality I really think it’s a toss up depending on the winery and winemaker.
As to the uniqueness of the west side it has the hottest and coldest sites, the wetest and dryest sites, the highest and lowest sites , and the most fractured soils in the AVA. The only thing unique about the west side is that there is nothing unique about it except it’s beauty, and I don’t think qualifies as producing better wine.
Based on most things that I hear Gary, I tend to agree with you. It would be interesting to have more double blind tastings go on in our area to test more of this theory out.
Good luck with that.
Gary…are people against doing the double blind tastings?
Yes. Their felings get hurt when they don’t win, and a wine they consider inferior to theirs scores much higher. This is not a business for the thin skinned. Unfortunately there is so much BS in our business that it is often hard to find the facts.