Paso Robles really is one of the best kept secrets of the California Wine Industry. I have a soft spot for this Central Coastal area California wine region as a former boss of mine helped to build the region into one of the world’s finest wine producers.
More than a third of the wine that comes from the region is cabernet, though Paso Robles has a very “hit or miss” history in my opinion with producing cabs that equal or rival the region’s northern big brother in Napa Valley.
Occasionally, however, Paso Robles wineries produces superb wines that give their northern brethren a real run for their money in both quality and value.
The 2009 Liberty School Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon is one of those bottles.
This wine packs a great combination of mouth puckering fruit filled wine with just the right amount of tight, lip smacking tannins that you might expect from a bottle 30-40% more.
The 100% cabernet bottle is a superb companion to just about any meal. I enjoyed this bottle with a great pizza and salad. I think it would be equally great with a nice piece of grilled beef. I found this bottle at Costco for under $12 and would encourage you to pick up a bottle or two. As we enter into the summer months remember – red wine is not supposed to be served at “room temperature” if the room is over the average temperature of a French wine cave. This bottle, and in my opinion any bottle of red, should be served at around 65 degrees.
As wine.com rightly notes, take the advice of Ursula Hermacinski, the former Christie’s wine auctioneer, when it comes to knowing what temperature at which to serve a wine: “Twenty minutes before dinner, you take the white wine out of the fridge, and put the red wine in”.
Cheers!
The Cork Scrooge 
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