I realize that last week, after wrapping up the Napa Valley AVA digest, I stated that I’d be taking a much needed break from California. Then I tried some California wine that for the first time in a while, got me excited about California… and isn’t that what this is all about anyways?

Paso Robles

The American Viticultural Area of Paso Robles is huge. Located in the Central Coast AVA, nearly halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, you’ll find 180 wineries and 40 varietals planted over 26,000 acres of vineyards. To give some perspective to Canadians, this is nearly 3 times the entire vineyard plantings of British Columbia (BC Wine Institute). As to be expected with any area of 640,000 acres, there’s an array of geography, elevation (700-2000ft), and soil types, all combining to make many different mesoclimates. One of the unique characteristics that separates many of these vineyards from the rest of California, is the predominance of calcareous soils (chalky and alkaline), which are the base for many famous growing regions around the world. Paso Robles is the largest of 4 AVAs in San Luis Obispo County.

Although Cabernet and Merlot make up over half of Paso Robles’ plantings, it’s the reputation for varietals from France’s Rhône region that I find exciting. Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre in the red category and Roussanne, Marsanne, Grenache Blanc representing the whites are all planted and producing interesting wine here.

Many member wineries of the Rhone Rangers are based in Paso Robles, including Tablas Creek, founded by the famous Châteauneuf-du-Pape producer Château de Beaucastel. The Perrin family of Beaucastel chose the western part of Paso Robles for its similar climate, limestone soils (calcareous) and rugged terrain.

For more info on all things Paso, plus a pretty site, check out Paso Robles Wine Country.

Broc Cellars ‘07 “Luna Matta Vineyard” Mourvedre
Broc Cellars is the work of Chris Brockway (@brocwine) out of his urban Berkeley winery from sourced grapes grown sustainably, organically, or biodynamically. Chris also collaborates with Brian Terrizzi of Giornata to produce a couple wines under the label Broadside, which I have still to try.

This was his first vintage of Mourvedre from the Luna Matta Vineyard out of the Westside of Paso Robles. Farmed ‘beyond organic’ with no copper or sulphur and the finished wine has only been sulphured at bottling.

The colour is dark and inky with a bright purple edge. The wine packs characters of dark purple fruit and a dusty cocoa powder with subtle flavours of black pepper and leather. The body is on the weighty side of medium with present powdery tannins. The bright and vibrant fruit characters are fantastic, and I especially love the powdery chocolate texture strung throughout. I’d love to drink this alongside a peppery roast, or pretty much anything meaty. Very good. $30 @ William Cross in San Francisco. Arlequin also carries a good selection of Chris’ labels.

Coincidentally, Chris is presenting a release party tonight (Dec 13th) from 1-5pm at Broc Cellars (805 Camelia St in Berkeley). It’s $15 for a selection of his wines paired up with food from Naked Lunch. More info here.

As always, please feel free to contribute any information, experience or tasting notes that you feel are relevant and check back next Sunday.

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