A veritable explosion of flavor and aroma, where blueberries, blackberries, black cherries and blackcurrants intertwine with licorice and sweet tobacco. Small hints of flowers give the wine an extra, very balanced touch of freshness and elegance. A wine that can be stored for years.
97 POINTS
Robert Parker
“Wow”
The 2019 Soul Of A Lion is a blend of free-run Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot, aged 22 months in 100% new French oak. Opaque ruby in colour, it offers aromatic contrast between dark, savory cherry fruit, chargrill and graphite, and top notes of green pepper and rose petals. The palate explodes with detailed flavors and its tannins are already resolved and chocolaty, with seamless acidity and exotic spicy layers emerging on the extended finish. Wow!
97 POINTS
Falstaff
“BEAUTIFUL AND BOLD”
A lovely, pure note of blueberry and ripe plum defines the nose. The palate is full of fruit, intense, vivid like an explosion of red, crushed berry and plum. A seam of fine acidity provides a guiding light while oak adds a mellow vanilla lift and velvety tannins are smooth. This is full-bodied, concentrated but also fresh. Beautiful and bold. Drink 2028-2040.
96 POINTS
Yep Dunnuck
“VOLUPTOUS”
Always a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot that’s brought up in new barrels, the 2019 Soul Of A Lion sports a dense purple hue as well as a beautiful nose of pure crème de cassis, currants, chocolate, crushed stone, and tobacco. It’s rich and full-bodied, with a voluptuous texture, beautiful tannins, and a great finish.
95 POINTS
Wine strength2
“BORDEAUX ON STEROIDS”
Red violet with a brownish tinge and heavy curtains. The aroma has roasted and burnt notes in the direction of grilled beef. In addition, blackcurrant extract mixed with a touch of herbs, eucalyptus and menthol. In the mouth hot, concentrated and bordering on raw. All the dark berries are boiled down to a plump and rich essence, but the 15% Cabernet Franc in the blend contributes a certain herbal freshness. A bit of a mouthful. Points for the sleek style. Popularly, one could categorize the wine as a bordeaux on steroids, Yes, the price is correct.
95 POINTS
Wine Enthusiast
Toasted espresso bean, charred walnut shell and seared meat aromas ride atop a dark cassis tone, all contributing to the portrait of a brooding wine. That classic toasty, woody element spreads through the palate, as dark cocoa dust sprinkled across rich berry sauce flavors get a light pop of mint on the finish.
About DAOU
It all began when Joseph and Marie Daou were married in Lebanon. Beirut was then known as the Paris of the Middle East, a modern and cosmopolitan city, and Joseph Daou ran one of the most successful furniture companies in the entire Middle East. Daniel grew up here, together with his brother Georges and the two sisters Marie Jo and Michelle. After many visits to their grandfather’s olive groves, they fell in love with a rural lifestyle. In 1973, however, civil war broke out and a missile landed on the pavement in front of the family’s home, sending shrapnel through the house. After two years of repairs, physical as well as psychological, the war escalated and the family fled to France. Cannes became the destination and it was here, surrounded by vineyards, that Daniel and Georges found their love for wine.
In the early 1980s, however, they moved to the United States, where they started a computer company, far from vines and terroir. It was only in 1998, when the brothers sold the company, that an old dream with roots in France took over: It was time to open a winery. The brothers looked for the best terroir for Cabernet Sauvignon and found DAOU Mountain – a mountain that Russian oenologist André Tchelistcheff had called a jewel decades before. In the years after Prohibition in the United States, he was one of the country’s most influential winemakers, so it was something the brothers took seriously. They therefore bought the old Hoffman Mountain Ranch, which had produced good wines with the help of Tchelistcheff in particular, and set it up.
On the mountain, they found the same soil as in Saint-Émilion, with limestone and calcareous clay – perfect for Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varieties. The mountain has slopes of up to 56% and is cooled by the nearby Pacific Ocean. In true American fashion, the brothers don’t put their lights under a bushel and call the climate the best in the world for Bordeaux varieties and Cabernet Sauvignon. Also better than Bordeaux.
The yeast from DAOU Mountain is used in more than 30 countries worldwide
Daniel Daou was one of the first to bring Cabernet clones to Paso Robles and planted many vines on steep slopes. With a scientific approach, he created his own phenolic system, which ensures some of the most intensely colored, aromatic and ageable Bordeaux-based wines in the world. After cultivating hundreds of wild yeast spores from DAOU Mountain, he isolated one yeast that ensures excellent wines that thrive in high temperatures – and to this day, DAOU Mountain yeast is used in more than 30 countries around the world.
Daniel Daou focused from the beginning 100% on froak casks, but soon he would create his own casks from rare French Rosé Bois with pink wood and barrels from trees in Jupille. Dishes which are considered to be some of the finest and rarest in the world. The innovation does not stop here, however, and 4-6 times a year Daniel conducts various experiments to achieve new vinous heights.
Ten years ago, Paso Robles was known for Zinfandel and Rhone grapes, while world-class Cabernet sounded a bit like hubris. Nevertheless, DAOU Mountain’s first Soul of a Lion scored 96 points in Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and made it clear that Paso Robles should be watched when it came to California – and not just Napa Valley.
Today, perhaps the best Cabernets on the Central Coast come from DAOU Mountain – wines that like to measure themselves against the best in the world. At the same time, the rest of Paso Robles has opened its eyes to Cabernet and other Bordeaux varieties to such an extent that 57% of Paso Robles is now planted with those grapes. Today, Daniel is somewhat of a champion of Cabernet in Paso Robles, sharing his experiences with friends and neighbors in the Paso Robles CAB Collective, working to mark the area among the world’s elite.
