On Sunday, March 10, 2024, we had the opportunity to interview Daniel Daou again, from his new winery project in Italy. Daniel is the winemaker for DAOU and Patrimony wineries. We covered three current-release DAOU wines and two Patrimony wines with Daniel during the interview. We covered five other DAOU wines in a previous tasting, which we will also include in this post. We last interviewed Daniel in January 2023. That said, Daniel had a lot of news to share since that last chat, so check out what we learned.
Before we get to the wines, Here are some of the tidbits Daniel shared.
- We interviewed Daniel on a Sunday afternoon because he is in Tuscany, Italy working on his new winery with his daughter.
- We covered the last 5 wines below together. The first 5 wines were covered in a prior tasting.
- They are planting 100,000 vines at the new winery.
- He noted that Tuscany can be cold and have high humidity.
- We talked about the sale of DAOU and Patrimony to Treasury for close to $1B.
- Treasury was looking to find their next Penfolds brand and they think they found it in DAOU.
- DAOU is in 80 countries. However, they were not strong in Asia. Treasury is very strong in Asia.
- The deal excluded his Italian project.
- Daniel will still be overseeing winemaking operations.
- He is also excited to make some Napa and Australian wines under the DAOU label.
- The Napa offering with be a 2023 vintage with fruit from Diamond Mountain and Oakville.
- “Mayote” wine is named after his mother. The wine used to have Syrah, but he changed the blend in 2019 to its current blend which he learned in Italy.
- We talked about how well Petite Verdot does in Paso Robles.
- Daniel stated that Petit Verdot likes the heat. It doesn't like cooler vintages.
- Petit Verdot did well in 2021 and 2022. Not so well, in 2023.
Below is a summary of the terrific wines from DAOU and Patrimony that we covered. The links below are to our full reviews. If you are interested in ordering and trying these wines, you will find some of these wines via your favorite fine wine shop or on top quality wines lists. You can also purchase these wines on the DAOU website. For Patrimony wines you can see the offerings here and join their waitlist here.
- DAOU 2021 Chardonnay “Estate” (Adelaida District) $100 (KWGTP 94)
- DAOU 2021 Red Blend “Cuvee Lizzy” (Paso Robles) $85 (KWGTP 92.5)
- DAOU 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon (Estate) “Cuvee Katherine” (Paso Robles) $85 (KWGTP 93.5)
- DAOU 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon “Estate” (Paso Robles) $95 (KWGTP 94.5)
- DAOU 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon “Soul of the Lion” (Adelaida District) $150 (KWGTP 97)
- DAOU 2021 Malbec “Estate” (Adelaida District) $100 (KWGTP 95)
- DAOU 2021 Cabernet Franc “Estate” (Adelaida District) $95 (KWGTP 95)
- DAOU 2021 Red Blend “Mayote” (Adelaida District) $125 (KWGTP 95.5)
- Patrimony 2020 Cabernet Franc (Paso Robles) $275 (KWGTP 96)
- Patrimony 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon (Adelaida District) $275 (KWGTP 97.5)
You can find reviews of past and future DAOU and Patrimony wines that we cover on the respective DAOU and Patrimony KWG winery pages on our website. We hope you enjoy these terrific wines as much as we did. Cheers! — Ken