95pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a barrel sample of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon maturing for 21 months in 100% new French oak and is due to be bottled in June of 2024. It features baked plum and cassis aromas with nuances of lavender and graham cracker. The full-bodied palate is bright and floral with graphite-laced flavors, gently chewy tannins and impressive new oak integration for this early stage. It's shaping up to be approachable and easy to drink.

91pts Wine Enthusiast

It's amazing that the Daou brothers can produce a formidable Cab that is this accessible at such a young age. The palate combines rich blackberry sauce with espresso bean and cocoa, as lingering, sappy tannins extend through the finish.

Winemaker Notes

The 2022 DAOU Cabernet Sauvignon exemplifies Paso Robles. The nose is highly perfumed, showing aromas of black cherry, cassis, plum, desert sage. sandalwood and dusty minerality. Secondary aromas reveal notes of cigar box, leather, bay leaf and black olive. The palate is rich and weighty, offering generous flavors of black raspberry, spicy currant and blueberry compote with impressions of Bing cherry, Boysenberry, fig, and baking spices. Ripe, fine-grained tannins carry into a structured finish with lingering accents of cherry, espresso and vanilla.

Blend: 77.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15.6% Petit Verdot, 6.5% Merlot, 0.4% Cabernet Franc

Barrel Aged: 8 months in 50% new French oak

About The Wine Maker:

Brothers Georges Daou and Daniel Daou set forth across the globe 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. DAOU Family Estates is a family owned and operated winery committed to producing collectible, world-class wine to rival the most respected appellations. Situated on a 212-acre hilltop estate in the Adelaida District of Paso Robles, this remarkable mountain was once described by André Tchelistcheff, legendary winemaking authority, as "a jewel of ecological elements."

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. The steep slopes here reach up to 56 percent, with uniform exposure to the elements across the estate. It is a terroir of power, purity, and symmetry with every natural asset necessary to pursue the perfect Cabernet Sauvignon—including calcareous clay soils that emulate Bordeaux’s Right Bank and a climate that mirrors St. Helena.