Rozet Vineyard, Paso Robles

Just a couple of miles west of downtown Paso Robles, the Rozet Vineyard is situated amid a classic "old California" landscape: tall, rolling hills, crowned by magnificent old oak trees. In the summer the early part of the day is dominated by blazing sun, and gathering heat. Yet, by midafternoon, a marine influence is brought to bear as cooling winds come, gently at first, then whistling, as they build up steam, through the famed Templeton Gap.

The combination of warm days, cool nights, and clay-loam soils featuring a high proportion of calcareous material (from ancient times when the region was a seabed), provide the kind of conditions that lend themselves to growing high-quality wine grapes, and most especially the varieties indigenous to the Côtes du Rhône, in Southeastern France.

So, in 1998 planting began, roughly thirty acres, under the tutelage of John Alban, one of California's finest grapegrowers of the "meridionale" persuasion (though he does "septentrionale" equally well, I think all would agree). The sites were chosen, the rootstocks and scion matches selected, and into the ground went plantings of Roussanne, Viognier, Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Counoise, and, in '99, Marsanne.

This was a monumental undertaking, and I have to applaud the foresight and the courage of the Rozets, who were willing to believe in the place these varieties deserve in the pantheon of wine grapes in California, and to take what must, at times, have felt like a big gamble.

Also to be applauded are John Alban, for his considerable skills and steady hand in the development of this beautiful vineyard, and Troy and Marnie Neighbors, and Aaron Nevarez for their very hard work and tireless attention to detail and their bottomless spirit and enthusiasm through the long months of bringing this project to fruition.

The first results, from the 2000 harvest, exceeded my expectations, and I'm convinced -- this vineyard is going to ROCK!!!