What goes into the actual hands-on production of fruit-forward and food-friendly wines? Certainly we have to start with excellent fruit from the vineyards. There are hundreds of mistakes we can make in the cellar to ruin a good batch of wine, but if we do not begin with the best grapes that the Paso Robles terroir has to offer, nothing we do will help.

The three main contributors to terroir are weather, soil and the vines. Paso Robles weather is ideal for winegrowing, as we have warm days and cold nights during the ripening season. This diurnal cycle results in concentration of flavors, as the vines must metabolize the sugars produced in the sunlight to keep going at night. This process allows ripening to extend late into the fall. Our soil is clay-loam, which holds tightly to both moisture and nutrients, so we can control vine vigor and hold back on regular irrigations. This keeps the bunch weight low, and the low juice to berry ratio allows for higher extraction of color, body and flavor from the skins. The vines themselves are the vehicle for converting the sunshine and water into fruit, and most were planted twenty years ago from cuttings tried and proven by the pioneers of this region decades ago. In addition to these mature vines, we have several hundred acres of new vineyards comprised of many clone and rootstock combinations never attempted before in Paso Robles. As we experiment to find the best vines for our terroir, our wines should gain in complexity vintage after vintage. Already we have outstanding results with Clone 6 (Jackson clone) of Cabernet Sauvignon, and we will be getting first crops shortly of Dijon clones of Chardonnay.

In the cellar, the key ingredient in winemaking is passion. Certainly we utilize state-of-the-art processing equipment, high-tech lab analysis and high quality oak barrels at our facility, but we have found that the greatest results come from a well-trained team that is knowledgeable and focused, and most importantly, enjoys the craft. We baby the white wines by gently pressing the hand-picked fruit using a "Champagne style" press regimen that is time-consuming but results in clean, low-solids juice. Cold fermentation temperatures hold in the crispness and tropical fruit. For red varietals, we use a unique method to selectively extract the soft tannins from the skins, thus EOS red wines are famous for having supple textures without sacrificing intensity.

Every year we experiment with different yeast strains and, in our barrel-aging program, different wood sources and toasting methods. New procedures that work are incorporated into our overall plan, ensuring a constant evolution towards greater quality.

All of us on the winemaking team are enthusiastic about the craft, and thrive on the fulfillment of putting out a great bottle of wine. We hope you have as much fun enjoying the wine as we do making it!