If You Think This Cabernet Sauvignon Hits Different, Wait Until You Meet The Winemaker

The Lebanese culture that I grew up with is very generous. Hospitality and generosity are very much part of our identity, says Daniel Daou, chief winemaker and cofounder of Daou Vineyards in Paso Robles, California. You can go to Lebanon and you walk on the street and meet somebody, and two minutes later, they invite you to the house and treat you for dinner. I want to feel that, when I make the wines  that they are generous.

Daou is everything youd imagine a successful wine wizard to be: personable, passionate and incredibly informed about the nuances of high-quality wine. Charmingly nerdy about the process, he explains the soil sorcery and climate specifics required to create a cabernet sauvignon that tastes clean, mildly fruity and just complex enough. In short, its a lot of science sprinkled with a little bit of magic.

He is also not necessarily who youd imagine if you know who the American wine industry is composed of. Daou was not born into this world; he fell into it, one taste at a time. 

Daniel Daou and his brother and partner in wine, Georges, were born in Beirut. After a rocket attack on their home during a raging civil war, their family fled to France to start over. Thats where their wine curiosity began. Daou reminisces about tasting from a bottle of cheval blanc as a young teen that his father had gotten a great deal on. I still can taste the wine, which is crazy, he says. I have this thing where if I drink a great wine, I never forget it. I can remember the taste 20, 30, even 40 years later.

Though Daou fell swiftly in love with wine, he never imagined hed get to be part of the creative process of winemaking. As so many immigrant stories go, he came to the States at 18 to study something sensible. And while Daou graduated with an engineering degree and thrived in the tech world this is an understatement, since he retired as a multimillionaire in his 30s his heart eventually brought him back to wine.

Throughout his tech career, Daou said, hed talk about pivoting. Everybody thought, Oh, Dannys having one of his dreams again. Im a dreamer. I dream a lot.

When reflecting on whether the industry felt open to immigrant winemakers and winemakers of color, Daou says, Lets put it this way. Ive been a winemaker for 20 years. And I think I finally started seeing some movement in the [last] five to seven years. Before that, honestly, no.

When Daou Family Estates launched in Paso Robles in 2007, the industry was not racially diverse and it still isnt . Wine educator Julia Coney has been one of the most powerful voices  in bringing attention to the lack of diversity in the wine world. Because of her experiences being discriminated against as a Black, female wine professional, she began advocating for more racial and gender inclusion in 2020. Because of Coney and other frustrated professionals of color, the industry is finally beginning to reckon with its insularity.

Daou said that when he and his brother started their winery, people would visit and ask, Youre Lebanese   how come youre making wine? 

I used to joke that when Jesus wanted to have his bar mitzvah, where do you think he got his wine from? he says, grinning. Lebanon is known for wine . Theres a big industry for wine in Lebanon but nobody knows about it.

Ultimately, the Daou brothers success in the wine world is fueled by their status as both insiders and outsiders. At the vineyard, a reverence for the foundational tenets of winemaking is palpable  from where the grapes are planted, harvested and processed to the meticulousness of the blends. Yet tweaks in irrigation mindfully reduce the vineyards carbon footprint  and thats crucial, given Californias ongoing water crisis . The winerys ability to preserve whats sacred while innovating along the way led to its recent acquisition by Treasury Wine Estates, with Daou remaining on as chief winemaker.

Daous selection is robust, but it zeroes in on what this region of California is best known for because of its soil and climate: cabernet sauvignons and Bordeaux blends. These wines are rich, full of life and yet gloriously accessible .

Lebanese culture is reflected in both the regally rustic aesthetic of the tasting room and the hospitality of the kitchen. Food pairings inspired by the Daou familys background from spicy lamb meatballs to pita salad, hummus and yogurt dips  punctuate the tasting experience. On special occasions, theres hookah, Lebanese music and performances by belly dancers.

While these moments of flair are fun and entertaining to the patrons, they represent a small but spectacular shift in American vineyard culture. In some ways, injecting Lebanese influences into this Eurocentric space feels like a form of decolonization  they are cracks of light in a formerly impenetrable wall blocking so many people from enjoying wine culture. This shift is especially crucial to young wine consumers of color who want to participate in a more intentional, more inclusive space.

I think theres a little bit of an awakening in terms of allowing people who, maybe, dont fit the traditional mold to come in and actually bring that diversified approach, Daou says, emphasizing the changes hes begun to see in the industry. 

Evolution is crucial, even when it comes to an institution as rigid as the wine industry. And theres a reason some of us simply prefer a blend over a varietal  everythings more fun when we add a different flavor.