2019 Epoch Estate Wines York Mountain Vineyard Grenache

Epoch Estate Wines in Paso Robles was established in 2004 by Bill and Liz Armstrong. The couple owns a major oil and gas business in Denver and they have long been interested in making Rhone-style wines. To establish Epoch, they purchased two historic Paso Robles vineyard properties. One was once owned by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, the famous Polish pianist, who fell in love with Paso Robles in the 1920s, bought property, and eventually made wine there. The other property was the York Mountain Vineyard, which was a source of grapes for winemaking starting in the 19th century. The Armstrongs replanted both vineyards and hired celebrity winemaker Justin Smith of Saxum Vineyards as consulting winemaker. They also hired Jordan Fiorentini as the estate winemaker. Epoch currently has 95 acres of vineyards, with nearly 200 more acres slated for replanting. The estate makes red, white and rose Rhone blends. The wines earn ratings in the mid- to high 90s from reviewers including Wine Advocate, which has called Epoch “one of the up and coming estates in Paso Robles” and “an estate that goes from strength to strength.”

Central Coast AVA is a huge wine producing area that extends from Santa Barbara County in the south to San Francisco in the north. With more than 100,000 vineyard acres, it includes parts of six counties near the Pacific Ocean. Nearly 20 smaller AVAs lie within the Central Coast AVA. Central Coast earned appellation status in 1985. Included in the appellation are parts of the counties of Contra Costa, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz. Nearly every grape varietal grown in California is grown somewhere in the Central Coast AVA, though Chardonnay accounts for nearly 50% of the entire wine grape crop.

One of the most popular red varieties planted, it ripens late and prefers hot dry climates. It probably originated in Spain, where it is still widely grown. Grenache is best known for its use in Southern Rhone wines, including those of Chateauneuf-du-Pape.