Paso Robles 2023: Vintage report and top wines tasted

The defining narrative of the Paso Robles 2023 vintage was the breaking of a three-year drought and a record-setting year for rainfall.

Three major rain events arrived in January, followed by continued precipitation into April and May, when rain typically ends in March. It was not a deluge but rather steady and persistent.

Established in 1983, Paso Robles – meaning ‘Pass of the Oaks’ in Spanish – is a region with 16,500 hectares planted, making it a sizeable player in California.

The region with 11 sub-districts has the greatest diurnal temperature swing of a California wine region, with temperature variances ranging from 2-10°C in one day. This allows the grapes to ‘refresh’ at night and retain acidity.

The growing season is extended due to these diurnal swings. That, coupled with regular late-season rains, allowed grapes to benefit from more hang time, resulting in wines with mature, ripe fruit characters plus strong acidity.

The region also benefits from the Templeton Gap effect. Openings in the coastal Santa Lucia Mountain range funnel cooler coastal air into the valley, allowing the grapes to rest and refresh. The Willow Creek and Adelaida sub-districts on the west side of Paso consistently produce the region’s highest-quality, most balanced wines.

Paso Robles 2023: Cohen’s picks

Vintage rating: 4.5/5

Wines of the vintage

White Saxum, James Berry Vineyard 96pts

Red LXV Wine Meso G2N Cabernet Franc 95pts

A welcome change of pace

‘2023 was a welcome growing season to be able to get out of the multi-year drought scenario and give the vines a break,’ says Staci Seay, director of vineyards and community relations at Hope Family Wines.

In the Templeton Gap sub-district, Hope Family recorded 700mm of rain in 2023, compared to the 350mm average in the City of Paso Robles. By comparison, Brecon Estate recorded 1450mm, well above its 650mm average. Saxum Vineyards logged 1,160mm at their James Berry Vineyard in Willow Creek and 1,520mm at York Mountain.

‘The rain washed out salts that had built up in the soils, which is very typical of year-over-year drought conditions,’ says Seay.

When salts accumulate in the soil, vine performance suffers, leading to imbalance and reduced production. The rainfall, combined with moderate temperatures, restored canopy health, which had been weakened by salt buildup.

Beyond the rain, it was an even Spring, with little to no frost pressure. The Hope Family experienced a couple of frost events due to their position at the bottom of the often cool Templeton Gap.

Paso Robles: Know your vintages

2022: The harvest came in hot. It was a vintage defined by a relentless 10-day heat spike of 40°C or hotter from 31 August through 9 September, forcing vintners into a sprint to pick early. Growers reckoned with raisining and sunburned bunches, resulting in huge amounts of fruit having to be dropped. 4/5

2021: After a challenging 2020 vintage, 2021 arrived in this key region in California’s Central Coast with near-perfect conditions, though with lower-than-ideal yields. Where successful, the best examples showed power and balance, with acidity as a welcome foil. 4.5/5

2020: A difficult vintage from all sides, including drought, dramatic heat spikes and smoke from nearby wildfires, coupled with pandemic-related stressors, including face masks. Widely mixed quality, depending on the producer. Not all producers made wine due to smoke taint or potential smoke taint issues from the wildfires. 3/5

Hang in there

Overall, the season was cool, with a mild summer and no meaningful heat spells. The growing season unfolded slowly and steadily, with later-than-normal budbreak and flowering. Summer temperatures were consistently in the 90s (°F – 32°C), without spikes or heat waves.

Harvest was late for most producers due to the cooler season. ‘Towards the end, I was concerned some of our late ripeners, such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Mourvèdre, wouldn’t ripen,’ says Chris Eberle, winemaker at Eberle Winery.

The 2023 vintage marked the latest harvest start by approximately two weeks, with picking beginning on 17 September.

Brecon Estate experienced a similarly delayed harvest, starting two to three weeks later than usual, allowing the team to be patient in making picking decisions. ‘A smooth, consistent harvest and a Goldilocks vintage,’ says Alex Kemp, winemaker at Brecon Estate.

Hope Family Wines also began harvest slightly later. Seay recalls that, once a modest heat arrived in September: ‘I saw some of the best hang time in seven years with nice, even ripening.’

Not without its challenges

However, the extended growing season also introduced logistical challenges. At Saxum Vineyards, the combination of a cooler year and exceptionally large crop loads required early intervention.

The team proactively dropped fruit to handle the large load, knowing that excess fruit would delay ripening. With an already cool season, they wanted to avoid making the issue worse. For Saxum, the 2023 harvest arrived four weeks later than in 2022, a contrast driven by early picking during a heat spike in 2022 and a prolonged ripening period in 2023.

This longer hang time and large crop load resulted in nearly all sites ripening simultaneously. It was the largest harvest the winery has ever handled, compressed into a three-week window rather than the typical six to eight weeks.

‘We found our limit of how much fruit we can fit here,’ says Justin Smith, owner and winemaker at Saxum Vineyards.

As a result, the winery stepped away from two vineyard partners, Heartstone and Paderewski, to create capacity for its two new estate vineyards, soon coming online, Old Creek in the San Luis Obispo Coast AVA and V2 in the York Mountain AVA.

Yields for the vintage ultimately varied by producer. Eberle recorded the highest yields of any vintage to date. Hope Family Wines reported average yields, while Brecon Estate saw yields slightly above average.

‘We needed a vintage like this because after the heat, stress, and drought of 2022, we needed a break,’ says Eberle.

In the glass, the wines show power and balance, with lively, fresh aromatics. ‘If I could order up a vintage, this would be the one,’ says Smith.

Many producers, including Smith, noted savoury spice and herbal elements rather than the more common, overtly fruit-forward profiles, likely due to the cooler season and extended hang time. Fruit expression leans toward blue and black fruits rather than red.

Cohen’s conclusions on the 2023 wines

Where firm tannins defined the wines of the superb 2021 vintage, the 2023s display more moderate, balanced tannin structures. Their early approachability is linked to cooler conditions, which allowed extended ripening and tannin development without excessive sugar accumulation.

Ageability is expected to be a hallmark of the vintage. ‘The 2023 vintage is a unicorn that will be tasty in the beginning, and even better in five years,’ says Smith.

Eberle agrees, saying: ‘The longevity of these wines will be massive. 2021 is the only other vintage that will age as well as 2023.’

The distinction lies in accessibility, as the 2023s are already showing well, while the 2021s have yet to fully emerge. By contrast, 2022, often described as a ‘drink now’ vintage, was not built for long-term ageing.

Smith continues: ‘The 2023 wines are more complex and intellectual, whereas 2022 is just hedonistic pleasure.’

Cabernet Sauvignon, which accounts for just under 50% of Paso Robles plantings, stands out as one of the most ageworthy varieties of the vintage.

Eberle points to his own Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, while Kemp highlights both Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat as top performers for longevity in 2023.

Cohen’s pick: 20 Paso Robles 2023 standouts

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• Willow Creek: Paso Robles’ coolest sub-region
• Paso Robles looks to Bordeaux for sustainable insights
• Paso Robles 2022 vintage: Best wines from a challenging year