Daou Patrimony Cabernet Franc Paso Robles 2018 (750ml)

This mountain has stood for millennia, honed by the elements into an unsurpassed terroir.  Since arriving here, we have been impatient with its potential, and driven by its promise.  We now reap all that we have learned and worked for, marshaling it into a wine that claims new ground.  This is our inheritance, and our legacy.

 

In the end, this land is not ours - it is an inheritance forged by faith, family and heritage.  We are called to be its shepherds, and to prepare it for those who come after.  Patrimony is the summit of this calling.

 

2018 Patrimony Cabernet Franc by Daou

 

Patrimony is the creation of brothers Daniel Daou and Georges Daou, Proprietors of Daou Vineyards & Winery.

 

With this wine, we aim to provide pleasure in the deepest sense of the word, signifying purity and grace.  And through such pleasure, we achieve purpose: to leave a lasting mark that all may enjoy.  George J. Daou & Daniel J. Daou

 

Winemaker Notes

 

Reflecting the elegance of the vintage, this wine opens up straight out of the glass with a floral perfume and notes of cigar ash, leather, spice, cedar and an abundance of red and black cherries.  Complex and layered, it is full- bodied and very well structured to sustain great potential for aging.  The tannins are silky and velvety - accompanied by a great balance and freshness.  The finish is long and will not stop on the palette.  Incredibly concentrated yet elegant, it keeps you coming back for more.

 

Hailing from Lebanon by way of Paris, France, Daniel and Georges moved to the United States as young men and soon achieved business success.  But that was just the beginning.  From their family history and worldview was now imagined a fearless goal - to produce the world’s finest Cabernet Sauvignon, and to curate a lifestyle to match.  From terroir to winemaking to architecture, they leave no detail unexplored, so that this wine, and this place, may never fail to astonish.

 

Daniel J. Daou

 

Daniel combines the mindset of an engineer - honed through an engineering degree - with the sensitivity of an artist.  These providential gifts have enabled him to master both the science and creativity necessary to make transcendent wines.  Daniel’s heart lies primarily in the vineyard, where he spends his time living amongst the vines - attentive to every possibility for cultivating the purest expression of terroir.

 

Georges J. Daou

 

Georges is a creative visionary and a man of many interests.  He holds a degree in engineering and maintains a passion for polo.  Yet it was only on Daou Mountain that Georges discovered his true destiny.  “The raw jewels of this mountain have been here for thousands of years,” Georges says.  “But it will take great imagination to unlock the full truth of this terroir.  This is the quest we are wholly engaged in.”

 

Winemaking

 

“Our family comes from the Old World where the rites of fellowship, hospitality and luxury have been ingrained for more than two thousand years.  Patrimony is an extension of this inheritance, and a desire to share it with others.”  Daniel J. Daou, Winemaker & Proprietor

 

In the Santa Lucia Mountains west of Paso Robles is a gem cut from the rough of the coastal forest, ascending into the skyline with pyramidal grace.  This is Daou Mountain, in the Adelaida District.

 

Patrimony is rooted in the mountain's unmatched alchemy of soil, aspect and climate, and realized through meticulous vinification of our most noble vineyard rows.  The phenolics produced here are known to be among the highest in the world, fostering an immensity of color, depth and structure that is only enhanced by the rigorous viticulture required to make Patrimony.

 

“There is a relentlessness required to make a wine like Patrimony.  No resource, not an ounce of effort is spared in its pursuit.  But the soul of the wine - that comes not from a heavy hand, but rather a discerning touch.  We are ever mindful of this balancing act.”  Daniel J. Daou, Winemaker & Proprietor

 

Patrimony fruit undergoes state-of-the-art optical sorting to ensure absolute flavor integrity.  Fermentation proceeds exclusively with wild yeasts cultured from DAOU Mountain, imbuing the wine with native texture and character.  The wine is made entirely from free-run juice.  Maturation unfolds for 30 months in rare French oak barrels prized for their fine grain and distinctive elegance.  Only after further aging in the bottle for one year do all of these aspects coalesce into complete symmetry.

 

The result is a most pure expression of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape - abundantly layered, extravagant in depth, and intricately poised to the end.

 

Barriques

 

The Patrimony aging program is built around the most coveted French oak barrels that are accessible only through personal relationships with top cooperages.

 

These barrels are: (1) Taransaud T5 barrels coopered from five-year seasoned staves cut from centuries-old Tronçais forest trees; (2) limited Tonnellerie Sylvain barrels made from 362-year-old fine-grain oak, originating from a forestry program initiated during the reign of Louis XIV; only 35 of these barrels were produced from two fallen oaks in the Futaie des Clos plot of the Bercé royal forest; and (3) a proprietary Daou barrel created from rare, super fine-grain pink oak, or , that is also seasoned in the elements for five years.  This proprietary barrel is custom toasted with a low flame to avoid char and ultimately accentuate the wine with extraordinary length.

 

Collectively, these barrels provide for absolute oak integration and staggering complexity over a maturation period of 30 months, all without encroaching upon the pure qualities of our Daou Mountain fruit.

 

 

Daou Vineyards

 

Daou Mountain stands alone at an elevation of 2,200 feet, rising from the heart of the Adelaida District in the rugged coastal range west of Paso Robles.  It is a terroir of symmetry, power and purity.  We are consumed by the task of transposing these qualities into our wines, so that they may be wholehearted provisions of trueness and pleasure.

 

All fruit from Daou Mountain is hand picked, then sorted both by human eye and cutting-edge optical technology to ensure absolute fruit purity.  Using only 100-percent free run juice, Winemaker Daniel Daou initiates fermentation with native yeasts cultivated from the estate.  Each fermentation is customized by measuring phenolic composition and using sensory analysis, enabling Daniel to orchestrate natural balance and texture.  With these and other proprietary techniques, he is able to make ageworthy wines that exhibit depth, structure and first-growth elegance.

 

All Daou estate wines are aged in 80-percent new French oak barrels selected from France’s best cooperages, including Sylvain, Boutes and Taransaud.  Winemaker Daniel Daou also supervises the coopering of his own proprietary barrels made from a fine-grain pink oak known as bois rosé.  This rare wood is aged in the elements for up to five years, and is prized for imparting an array of complex yet subtle flavors.  The bois rosé barrels are also finished with Daniel’s custom toasting, which reduces char in order to bring nuance and length to the wine’s finish.

 

“If we are to extract this mountain’s promise, we must become its humble shepherds.  Nothing can be left unconsidered in this responsibility.  The forces of art, physics, technology and philosophy are all in play.  Only then can we fully express this place in the bottle for those fortunate to enjoy it.”  Georges J. Daou, Proprietor

 

"We have challenged ourselves to produce first-growth Cabernet Sauvignon that will rival the greatest.  There is no question that we have the terroir.  Success will come through reverence for this land - the idea that we are not ‘making’ something from it, but rather mirroring all that is already there.”  Daniel J. Daou, Proprietor / Winemaker

 

Brothers Georges Daou and Daniel Daou set forth across California to find an unrivaled terroir for producing Cabernet Sauvignon, a quest that led them to a place of foretold greatness: Daou Mountain in the Adelaida District of Paso Robles.  Here, their vision is to make California “first growth” wine, fulfilling the district’s destiny as the world’s next benchmark for Bordeaux varieties.

 

Daou is ultimately built upon unbreakable family bonds from brother to brother, generation to generation, Old World to New World.  These bonds now extend to those who lend their hands to this land, and who partake in what it produces.