Cass Vineyard & Winery

This new boutique winery is located due east of the Templeton Gap wind tunnel on the west, or coastal side of Paso Robles. Evening breezes are stronger here than they are in the eastern part of the appellation, but the winery is far enough inland to get the warmth they need to ripen their specialty grapes – Rhone varietals. All wines are, for now, estate grown, and all are from ENTAV certified clones. ENTAV (Establissement National Technique pour l’Amelioration de la Viticulture) has certified over 90 percent of the fruit planted in new French vineyards, and have recently made these clones, selected for their “sanitary and agronomic characteristics,” available in California.

This Syrah, from clone 383, is very bright and vividly colored. It is a well-saturated ruby with crimson and violet highlights. On the nose the wine has notes of tar, earth, dark berry, plum, and vanillan. On the palate it is big, round, and unctuous with dark berry fruit, low acidity and balanced oak and alcohol. The finish is very oaky. Overall this wine is very much in the big-boned, fruit forward, and sweetly oaked Australian style. The winery’s website recommends red-sauced pasta dishes, grilled meats, wood-grilled pizza, and smoked gouda cheese.

Reviewed July 18, 2007 by Catherine Fallis.