Yesterday I posted on some of the stellar wines of Paso Robles. Today we toast a stellar winery from Paso Robles creating a very special wine from Napa Valley fruit. Good fruit is good fruit, no matter where it is grown.

In the mid-1980s, around the same time, Jerry Lohr was developing what would become J Lohr in Paso Robles, he acquired a pristine vineyard nestled into the Silverado Trail in what is now the St. Helena AVA, naming the vineyard Carol’s Vineyard after his now late wife. Though the heart of J Lohr Cabernet Sauvignon has always been in Paso Robles, the similarities between this Napa vineyard and Bordeaux create something quite different than the Cabernet from Paso.

J Lohr Carol’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ($60) reveals a luxurious silky texture, with structure and subtlety, elegance, and beautiful balance with ripe fruit notes enhanced by the valley floor location of the vineyard. Gravely, well-draining soils allow grapes to slowly absorb water and nutrients, with a long-slow growing season, ensuring ripe flavors meld with fresh acidity. Aged for 17 months in partially new French oak, giving a nice spicy, toasty note to the wine-filled with dark cherry, currant, and cassis, melding with black licorice, roasted almond, and nutmeg. Bonus, the wine is a “Cabernet with a Cause,” supporting the J Lohr Touching Lives program which started in 2008, providing mammograms and services to support early breast cancer detection.