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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nDAOU Vineyards was founded in 2007 by Lebanese-born brothers Georges and Daniel Daou. It\u2019s not every day you hear of Lebanese-born winemakers making waves in California, so here\u2019s their story: Fleeing civil war, the Daou family immigrated to France when the brothers were young. Later, Georges and Daniel moved to the U.S. to pursue their education. After graduation, though their father hoped they would return with him to Lebanon, the brothers instead invested his financial support into launching a tech startup in California\u2014one that became enormously successful. Despite their early business triumphs, they sold the company at a young age to pursue their true dream: founding a winery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the next eight years, the brothers explored wine regions around the globe, ultimately drawn to Paso Robles. Why? Daniel Daou, the winemaker, had been searching for calcareous clay soils, and a simple Google search revealed that Paso Robles possessed exactly that. Soon after, they purchased a mountain property for sale, naming it DAOU Mountain. That marked the beginning of DAOU Vineyards and, with it, a new era for Paso Robles wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn 2007, when DAOU was founded, Rh\u00f4ne grapes dominated the region\u2014accounting for over 60% of plantings. Today, that number has flipped, and Cabernet Sauvignon makes up nearly 60% of plantings. This dramatic shift owes much to DAOU. Despite skepticism from peers, the Daou brothers planted Cabernet Sauvignon on their mountain estate and boldly declared: \u201cPaso Robles is Cabernet country.\u201d Daniel Daou, deeply involved in the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, began to persuade neighboring vintners. As DAOU\u2019s Cabernet gained acclaim, others followed, planting more Cabernet vines throughout the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow did consumers respond? With critical praise suggesting DAOU\u2019s wines could rival those from Napa, the winery quickly rose to national prominence. In fact, DAOU Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon recently became the top-selling Cabernet over $20 in the U.S. Recognizing the brand\u2019s potential, global wine giant Treasury Wine Estates acquired DAOU Vineyards in November 2024 for $1 billion\u2014a strategic move to strengthen their premium California portfolio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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In May of this year, Neb Lukic\u2014who had been leading DAOU since 2019 and is now President of Luxury Sales & Marketing at Treasury Wine Estates\u2014visited Korea. Over the course of two days, a series of tastings and dinners showcased DAOU\u2019s full lineup, including both wines already available in Korea and those set to launch soon. While the flagship labels such as Soul of a Lion and Patrimony were predictably outstanding, the entire portfolio impressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The soon-to-be-released Sauvignon Blanc stood out with a unique style\u2014free from the overripe notes sometimes found in California Sauvignon, and offering a character distinct from New Zealand versions. The core DAOU Cabernet Sauvignon, which earned the brand its No.1 title, proved to be an easy-drinking yet solid option, perfect for a casual barbecue. And the DAOU Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon\u2014despite its relatively accessible price point in Korea\u2014delivered a level of elegance usually reserved for far more expensive wines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DAOU Vineyards: Home of America\u2019s No.1 Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles is emerging as California\u2019s \u201cnext Napa.\u201d Unlike Napa or Sonoma, located north of San Francisco, Paso Robles lies further south. The region was once best known for Rh\u00f4ne varietals such as Grenache and Syrah, and its reputation was built by the so-called \u201cRhone Rangers.\u201d In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[42,141,142,29,72,30,143],"class_list":["post-750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","tag-californiawine-en","tag-daouvineyards-en","tag-pasorobles-en","tag-wine-en","tag--en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wineadventure.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wineadventure.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wineadventure.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wineadventure.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wineadventure.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=750"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wineadventure.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":754,"href":"https:\/\/wineadventure.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750\/revisions\/754"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wineadventure.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wineadventure.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wineadventure.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wineadventure.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}