Winemaker Interview Series – Daou & Patrimony – Daniel Daou – February 2025

On Saturday, February 22, 2025, we had the opportunity to once again interview Daniel Daou, this time from his new winery project in Italy. Daniel is the winemaker for DAOU and Patrimony wineries. We covered six current-release DAOU wines and two Patrimony wines during the interview. We covered several other DAOU wines in previous tastings, which we will also include in this post. We last interviewed Daniel in March 2024; you can read that post here. Finally, Daniel shared some updates since the last chat, so check out what we learned.

Before we get to the wine reviews, I thought I would share a few tidbits we learned during the tasting with Daniel.

• • What is new at Daou?
    • The marriage with Treasury is off to a very good start.
      • They left the winemaking team the same.
      • Daniel expects to release two Napa Cabernet’s in the fall. He wants us to blind taste them against peers.
        • One will be from the Diamond Ranch on Diamond Mountain.
        • The second will be from the Gamble Ranch in Oakville.
      • In 2025 Daniel expects to release two wines from Australia.
  • Paso Vintage Updates
    • 2022 was the hardest vintage that Daniel has ever experienced.
      • One positive is the Petit Verdot was good. PV likes heat, not cooler.
      • That said, in 2022 they received grapes that usually come in over 2 months, in a very compressed 2-week period of time.
      • They had to make sacrifices, but they feel they make the right ones.
      • In 2022 they only made 1,000 cases of Soul of the Lion. They usually make 5,000 to 7,000 cases.
    • 2023 Very Good Year – PV not so good.
    • 2024 Difficult vintage. Crazy heat wave in August. Lower yields but decent fruit.

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.

1) DAOU 2022 Chardonnay “Estate” (Adelaida District) $100 (KWGTP 95.5)
2) DAOU 2022 Red Blends “Cuvee Lizzy” (Paso Robles) $85 (KWGTP 94.5)
3) DAOU 2022 Malbec “Estate” (Paso Robles) $100 (KWGTP 96)
4) DAOU 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon “Estate” (Paso Robles) $95 (KWGTP 96)
5) DAOU 2022 Red Blends “Mayote” (Paso Robles) $125 (KWGTP 95)
6) DAOU 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon “Soul of the Lion” (Adelaida District) $150 (KWGTP 96.5)

We also covered another other previously that is still available.

7) DAOU 2023 Chardonnay “BodyGuard” (Paso Robles) $40 (Ken 94)
8) DAOU 2022 Red Blends “Unbound Reserve” (Paso Robles) $64 (Ken 93)
9) DAOU Cabernet Sauvignon “Reserve” (Paso Robles) $60 (KWGTP 92.5)
10) DAOU 2022 Red Blend “Seventeen Forty Reserve” (Paso Robles) $75 (KWGTP 92.5)
11) DAOU 2022 Red Blend “Bodyguard” (Paso Robles) $40 (Ken 92.5)

1) Patrimony 2021 Cabernet Franc (Adelaida District) $275 (KWGTP 97)
2) Patrimony 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon (Adelaida District) $275 (KWGTP 96.5)

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