Paso Robles is at the moment one of the most interesting appellations in California. One thousand vines were planted already at the Mission San Miguel Arcangel by the legendary Franciscan monk father Junipero Serra in 1797. At that time, the Mission grape (a Spanish grape known as Listán Negra) was the only grape planted, today Paso Robles is known for its Zinfandels, and various southern French varieties. Zinfandel came with Italian immigrants already in the late 1800s, and you’ll still see some vines from that time.During the 1920s, more Italian families moved to Paso Robles to grow wine. Most of those families, like Pesenti, Dusi, Bianchi and Martinelli, planted Zinfandel, and during the time of Prohibition (1920-1933) they sold their grapes to home wine makers all over the country, or to the very few wineries with a license to make wine for the church.
Paso Robles is a unique Californian wine region. Not only is it the region with highest fluctuation in temperatures day and night. It can fall from 40+ degrees Celsius daytime to just under 10 degrees during the night. That creates very special growing conditions, and full bodied wines with intense and ripe fruit flavors, great structure and fine natural acidity. Also, the geological aspects are unique – Paso Robles offers a wide selection of soil types and is one of the few in California where you will find limestone.
Since gaining it status as appellation, AVA, in 1983, Paso Robles has slowly developed into a highly interesting wine region with lots of personality. There’s now 10 560 hectares of vines planted, and from having only a few dozens of producers in the 1990s, there are today more than 120 wine producers.
One of the recent stars is Edward Seller, a pilot and sailor with passion for wine who founded his wine company in 2004. At the time, he didn’t have his own winery, so his custom crushed his grapes at Paso Robles Wine Exchange, and still do so, but now at Denner Vineyards.
From only buying grapes, Edward Sellers now owns 12.15 hectares of vines (1.60 hectares of that is planted to green Rhône varieties).
The wines from Edward Sellers are very fine examples of the Rhône varieties, they can easily be taken for being French if tasted blind – and that’s why Paso Robles has become the home of so many Rhône Rangers.
Today Edward Sellers makes around 5 000 cases annually, and for their price level, they are outstanding!
2008 Estate Blanc / 91 p
This is normally a blend of approximately 50-55 percent Grenache Blanc, around 25-30 percent Roussanne (from a block white snow white limestone soil) and 15-20 percent Marsanne from the estate vineyard in the cooler part of western Paso Robles. The juice is fully barrel fermented, but since Edward doesn’t use new barrels, there’s no toasted of vanilla sweet flavors in the wine. Just a small fraction of the wine went through malolactic fermentation, and in total, the wine spent just 6 months in the barrels.
Oh, what a lovely and elegant nose, rich and intense with notes of sweet lemons, white flower and honey. There’s a serious stuffing on the palate, white peaches, honey and an almost sweet lemon flavor that lingers for a while, and the aftertaste is just fantastic. The first sip may make you think you’ll find be some kind of sweetness on the palate, but there’s no sweetness at all, just a silkiness to make the aftertaste even more seductive. As in many wines from Paso Robles, this wine has a fine and refreshing acidity, which is very important for the overall balance. I’d love to see this wine with seared scallops, lobster of king crab. Serve it at 10-12 degrees Celsius.
Drink it 2011-2014.
2007 Vertigo / 92 p
A range of varietal wines is complemented by a few blends, and the Vertigo is a very fine blend of approximately 70 percent Grenache, 15-18 percent Mourvèdre and 13-15 percent Syrah. The wine has spent 18-19 months in French oak barrels, of which 40 percent were new. This is a quite rich and intense wine, reminiscent of those of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but with a more lively acidity.
It’s dark cherry red, high intensity. On the nose, it offers a range of dark barriers, but more of an earthiness that’s quite attractive and that adds complexity, and there are no traces of oak at all. Poured blind, it could easily been taken for being a blend from south of France, which is not so uncommon for fine red blends of Paso Robles. At Ed Sellers and some of his colleagues, this is even more common. On the palate, it offers a medium to full body without being overly ripe, rather intense and fruit driven, relatively high in alcohol (15 percent) but by no means out of balance, and with a fine tannic structure to hold everything together. In the finish, there’s a slight bitterness that will soften with one or two more years of bottle age, but already today you’ll find a very attractive fruitiness. Again, France would be a great guess if poured blind. Serve it at 18-20 degrees in large glasses.
Drink it 2012-2017.
Paso Robles is a unique Californian wine region. Not only is it the region with highest fluctuation in temperatures day and night. It can fall from 40+ degrees Celsius daytime to just under 10 degrees during the night. That creates very special growing conditions, and full bodied wines with intense and ripe fruit flavors, great structure and fine natural acidity. Also, the geological aspects are unique – Paso Robles offers a wide selection of soil types and is one of the few in California where you will find limestone.
Since gaining it status as appellation, AVA, in 1983, Paso Robles has slowly developed into a highly interesting wine region with lots of personality. There’s now 10 560 hectares of vines planted, and from having only a few dozens of producers in the 1990s, there are today more than 120 wine producers.
One of the recent stars is Edward Seller, a pilot and sailor with passion for wine who founded his wine company in 2004. At the time, he didn’t have his own winery, so his custom crushed his grapes at Paso Robles Wine Exchange, and still do so, but now at Denner Vineyards.
From only buying grapes, Edward Sellers now owns 12.15 hectares of vines (1.60 hectares of that is planted to green Rhône varieties).
The wines from Edward Sellers are very fine examples of the Rhône varieties, they can easily be taken for being French if tasted blind – and that’s why Paso Robles has become the home of so many Rhône Rangers.
Today Edward Sellers makes around 5 000 cases annually, and for their price level, they are outstanding!
2008 Estate Blanc / 91 p
This is normally a blend of approximately 50-55 percent Grenache Blanc, around 25-30 percent Roussanne (from a block white snow white limestone soil) and 15-20 percent Marsanne from the estate vineyard in the cooler part of western Paso Robles. The juice is fully barrel fermented, but since Edward doesn’t use new barrels, there’s no toasted of vanilla sweet flavors in the wine. Just a small fraction of the wine went through malolactic fermentation, and in total, the wine spent just 6 months in the barrels.
Oh, what a lovely and elegant nose, rich and intense with notes of sweet lemons, white flower and honey. There’s a serious stuffing on the palate, white peaches, honey and an almost sweet lemon flavor that lingers for a while, and the aftertaste is just fantastic. The first sip may make you think you’ll find be some kind of sweetness on the palate, but there’s no sweetness at all, just a silkiness to make the aftertaste even more seductive. As in many wines from Paso Robles, this wine has a fine and refreshing acidity, which is very important for the overall balance. I’d love to see this wine with seared scallops, lobster of king crab. Serve it at 10-12 degrees Celsius.
Drink it 2011-2014.
2007 Vertigo / 92 p
A range of varietal wines is complemented by a few blends, and the Vertigo is a very fine blend of approximately 70 percent Grenache, 15-18 percent Mourvèdre and 13-15 percent Syrah. The wine has spent 18-19 months in French oak barrels, of which 40 percent were new. This is a quite rich and intense wine, reminiscent of those of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but with a more lively acidity.
It’s dark cherry red, high intensity. On the nose, it offers a range of dark barriers, but more of an earthiness that’s quite attractive and that adds complexity, and there are no traces of oak at all. Poured blind, it could easily been taken for being a blend from south of France, which is not so uncommon for fine red blends of Paso Robles. At Ed Sellers and some of his colleagues, this is even more common. On the palate, it offers a medium to full body without being overly ripe, rather intense and fruit driven, relatively high in alcohol (15 percent) but by no means out of balance, and with a fine tannic structure to hold everything together. In the finish, there’s a slight bitterness that will soften with one or two more years of bottle age, but already today you’ll find a very attractive fruitiness. Again, France would be a great guess if poured blind. Serve it at 18-20 degrees in large glasses.
Drink it 2012-2017.
