Four Paso wineries rank in ‘101 Best Wineries in America’ list
Four Paso Robles wineries named in ‘101 Best Wineries in America’ ranking done by online publication
The Daily Meal, an online publication devoted to ranking food and drink experiences, recently set out to determine the 101 best wineries in the United States. Four Paso Robles wineries made the list. They are: Peachy Canyon Winery, Tablas Creek Vineyars, Saxum Vineyards and Caparone Winery.
Peachy Canyon, Tablas Creek, and Saxum all placed in the top 50, and Caparone made the list at #69. Jess Novak of The Daily Meal explained “… we invited our panelists to assess the wineries’ quality-to-price ratio. While we did not weight this last factor as heavily as we did the other two aspects, we felt that value should be considered in our ranking strategy. This accounts in part for the absence from our list of some of the most famous Napa Valley trophy wines, priced at many hundreds of dollars — though it is also worth noting that our panel didn’t vote for some of these at all.”
Unlike typical wine competitions, the wineries were not able to submit themselves for consideration. Selections were based on individual bottle quality, narrowed by the consistency of the winery’s complete offering, and narrowed further by the ratio of quality to price. Nominations were made by a distinguished panel chosen for their excellence in the industry, consisting of the following sommeliers, restaurateurs, chefs, and wine writers:
Matthew Allen: Sommelier, Director of Wine and Spirits at Seafood R’evolution restaurant in New Orleans
Colman Andrews: Editorial Director, The Daily Meal
Maxine Borcherding: Chef, Sommelier, French wine scholar, Spanish wane educator, Lead Chef Instructor at Oregon Culinary Institute
Daniel Boulud: Chef and restaurant owner of Daniel
Peter Eastlake: Owner of Vintage Berkeley wine shop, past national wine buyer for Cost Plus World Market and Wine Director for Best Cellars, New York
Daniel Grajewski: Sommelier, Director of Beverage for Mina Restaurant Group
Nate Hoffa: Sommelier, Beverage Director at Trentina restaurant
Daniel Johnnes: Sommelier, wine importer, James Beard Outstanding Wine Professional of the Year 2006, Wine Director for Dinex Group
Rachael Lowe: Sommelier, Beverage Director at Spiaggia
Julian Mayor: Sommelier, Wine Director of Four Seasons hotel and Bourbon Steak, Washington D.C.
Catherine Morel: Head Sommelier at Bourbon Steak Los Angeles
Roger Morris: Wine and Food Writer for Wine Enthusiast, Beverage Media, Sommelier Journal, Drinks Business (UK), Robb Report, Intermezzo and Sommelier News
Pamela C. Pajuelo: WSET Level II, CSW, wine educator, blogger, and writer for The Latin Kitchen
Elissa Rae: General Manager of Trade restaurant, Boston MA
Gabe Sasso: Wine and spirits columnist for The Daily Meal, founder of Drink Dry Creek, and freelance wine writer
Courtney Schiessl: Sommelier, WSET, wine consultant, freelance wine writer for The Daily Meal
Elizabeth Schneider: Sommelier, WSET, wine educator, wine blogger
Raj Vaidya: Head Sommelier at Daniel restaurant
Norman Van Aken: Chef, multiple James Beard Award recipient, cooking school founder, author, radio host, restaurateur
Alice Waters: Chef, author, proprietor of Chez Panisse, Vice President of Slow Food International
Robbie Wilson: Chef and partner of Mattei’s Tavern, past Executive Chef at Matsuhisa in Aspen
The full list of wineries honored by The Daily Meal is available online: http://www.thedailymeal.com/america-s-101-best-wineries-slideshow
Only four?!?
Seriously? Of all the amazing wines around here, you are placing Caparone in the top 100?
Seriously? Of all the amazing wines around here, you are placing Caparone in the top 100?
Does Caparone even still exist? Are we sure 100 isn't the judge's age?
Congrats to my friends at Peachy Canyon Winery…
To those questioning the Caparone call, note that "we invited our panelists to assess the wineries’ quality-to-price ratio". Also, my guess is that they may have tried to provide a range of styles from the massive Parker style (Saxum) to the more elegant and restrained but still complex (and including excellent whites) of Tablas Creek to old school low oak, no fining or filtration wines at a low absolute price point (Caparone). (I'm not familiar with Peachy Canyon.)
These rankings are always controversial and necessarily miss great and interesting producers. I'm glad to see Caparone on there. Great value wines that pair well with food and lay down (and include Zins with elegance and modest abv instead of just brute force).
Side note: In a pure accident I recently came across a 1981 Caparone Cabernet Sauvignon at a wine shop that was going deep into inventory (properly stored, just not properly tracked) to clear out odds and ends. That 1981 is not a typo. It was from a vineyard Caparone sourced from way back when (Tepusquet). Low risk for $15. Had it and it was incredible, drinking like classic well-aged Bordeaux from a decent source.
Different strokes I say. Some folks just don't like the Caparone style – in wine and attitude. The founder owns his property outright, works the "tasting room" along with family members, is courteous but far from obsequious, makes wine they way he wants, and is is happy whether you come or go.
True. I think it's also important to note that for a lot of average consumers — not just us spoiled folks in Paso 🙂 — the normal price for a bottle of wine shown on this list is pretty high… The majority of wines sold in the US are well under $20/bottle, so it would be disingenuous of the judges (who are listed above with their impressive qualifications) to not include some wineries who work toward a less expensive price point.
Only four?!?
Seriously? Of all the amazing wines around here, you are placing Caparone in the top 100?
Seriously? Of all the amazing wines around here, you are placing Caparone in the top 100?
Does Caparone even still exist? Are we sure 100 isn't the judge's age?
Congrats to my friends at Peachy Canyon Winery…
To those questioning the Caparone call, note that "we invited our panelists to assess the wineries’ quality-to-price ratio". Also, my guess is that they may have tried to provide a range of styles from the massive Parker style (Saxum) to the more elegant and restrained but still complex (and including excellent whites) of Tablas Creek to old school low oak, no fining or filtration wines at a low absolute price point (Caparone). (I'm not familiar with Peachy Canyon.)
These rankings are always controversial and necessarily miss great and interesting producers. I'm glad to see Caparone on there. Great value wines that pair well with food and lay down (and include Zins with elegance and modest abv instead of just brute force).
Side note: In a pure accident I recently came across a 1981 Caparone Cabernet Sauvignon at a wine shop that was going deep into inventory (properly stored, just not properly tracked) to clear out odds and ends. That 1981 is not a typo. It was from a vineyard Caparone sourced from way back when (Tepusquet). Low risk for $15. Had it and it was incredible, drinking like classic well-aged Bordeaux from a decent source.
Different strokes I say. Some folks just don't like the Caparone style – in wine and attitude. The founder owns his property outright, works the "tasting room" along with family members, is courteous but far from obsequious, makes wine they way he wants, and is is happy whether you come or go.
True. I think it's also important to note that for a lot of average consumers — not just us spoiled folks in Paso 🙂 — the normal price for a bottle of wine shown on this list is pretty high… The majority of wines sold in the US are well under $20/bottle, so it would be disingenuous of the judges (who are listed above with their impressive qualifications) to not include some wineries who work toward a less expensive price point.