Thirteen miles from the Pacific Ocean, in the Willow Creek district of Paso Robles where coastal breezes and morning fog roll in through the Templeton Gap, Pius Estate sits on some of the most remarkable vineyard land in California. The soils here — calcareous clay over a limestone subsoil, with a naturally high pH that reduces the need for acidification and a calcium content that builds disease resistance and beneficial stress in the vines — are, as the estate puts it, reminiscent of the great terroirs of Saint-Émilion. The climate, moderated by those Pacific influences, echoes Napa Valley. It is a rare and powerful combination, and Anthony Versochi, the estate’s winemaker and founder, makes the most of every acre of it.

Versochi is a winemaker of genuine originality and conviction — a man who approaches the vineyard with what he describes as childlike curiosity, free from rules and expectations, and who believes that a great wine is not a product but an experience: something that encourages you to slow down, engage your senses, and discover what lies beyond the obvious. The vines are dry-farmed where possible, deficit-irrigated where necessary, hand-tended multiple times throughout the season, and farmed organically with biodynamic principles — a commitment to the land that is evident in the depth and purity of the wines that result.

The PRD Cabernet Sauvignon is Pius’s expression of Paso Robles Cabernet at its most accessible and complete — a wine sourced from vineyards across the region that captures the bold, sun-warmed character and rich fruit that have made Paso Robles one of California’s most exciting appellations for the variety. Deep and structured, with the firm yet approachable tannin framework that is the hallmark of great Paso Cabernet, it leads to a smooth, lingering finish of real persistence and complexity. The 2022 vintage — shaped by intense heat and cool resilience, an early harvest that concentrated the fruit and defined the wine’s character — is a Cabernet of genuine depth and sophistication. At £60.00, it is Pius Estate at their most compelling.