Calcareous Vineyard received awards for four of their wines. Photos by Don Sonderling.

Nine Paso wines from five different Paso wineries were recently featured in the WineSpectator.Com online tasting review by Augustus Weed, “9 Powerful Reds from Paso Robles.”

Weed states: “If California’s Rhone-style reds have been off your radar in recent years, then you’ve been missing out.”

The following five wineries, encompassing 9 different Paso Robles wines, were highlighted:

• Calcareous Vineyard, winemaker Jason Joyce received awards for four of their wines:
-Tres Violet, 2012 received a 92 point rating, a blend of mourvedre, grenache and syrah
-Grenache, 2012 received a 91 point rating, 100% Grenache
-Moose, 2012 received a 91 point rating, a syrah, petit verdot blend
-Syrah Devil’s Canyon 2012 came in with a 91 point rating.

Caliza Winery’s Carl Bowker.

• Caliza Winery, Carl Bowker received acclaim and a 90 point rating for his 2012 Sympatico, a tempranillo, grenache blend.

• McPrice Myers received a 90 point rating for his 2012 Luna Matta, a blend of grenache, syrah, and mourvedre.

• Tablas Creek had two blends reviewed. The 2013 Cotes de Tablas, scored 90 points, a blend of grenache, syrah, counoise and mourvedre. And their flagship 2012 Esprit de Tablas, received a 90 point rating, blending mourvedre, syrah, grenache and counoise.

• Eberle Winery rounded out the review with their 2012 Cotes–du-Robles, which received an 87 point rating, a blend of grenache, syrah, mourvedre and durif.

Weed goes on to say about the Rhone grapes grown in Paso Robles: “Winemakers in Paso have a particular knack for mixing those grapes in various combinations to create red blends that are as distinctive as the names they bear.”

Today’s Paso winemakers, by using and blending a variety of grapes, including some not so well know varietals, are creating constant excitement in the Paso Robles wine scene. Don’t miss out on trying these, and so many other great Paso Rhone wines.

-Don Sonderling